The cuisine of the Canary Islands is not that extensive and refined, but it has its own eating and drinking habits, specific dishes and drinks, which are not only tasty, but also interesting to know. Moreover, you will get to know the Canarian culture better! It is even more fun to cook Canarian dishes at home using simple and tasty recipes!
Canarian recipes
- Gambas al ajillo (fried garlic shrimp)
- Ropa vieja (Canarian stew)
- Canarian meal soup with watercress (potaje de berros)
- Churros de pescado (fried fish pieces)
- Papas arrugadas (jacket potatoes with a salt crust)
Gambas al ajillo (fried garlic shrimp)
Baked garlic shrimp, in Spanish: gambas al ajillo, is not a typical Canarian dish, it is eaten as tapas everywhere in Spain.
Ingredients for 3 to 4 people
- 600 grams of rose shrimps (boiled and peeled)
- 6 to 8 cloves of garlic
- olive oil
- sea salt
- 4 round, flat baking dishes
To prepare
Preheat ramekins in the oven.
Preparation method
- Peel the cloves of garlic and cut them into thin slices.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the garlic slices in it.
- As soon as the garlic slices turn light brown, add shrimp and fry for a while. Season a little with sea salt.
- Divide the shrimps with the oil and garlic among the 4 heated oven dishes and serve immediately.
- Delicious with baguette and a fresh salad.
Tips
This recipe is also prepared with a fresh red pepper. Depending on how spicy you want it, I would also start with a quarter pepper. Chop it as finely as possible and fry it in the oil together with the garlic. Instead of a red pepper, you can also add a handful of fresh parsley. Chop it fine and fry it in the oil together with the garlic.
Ropa vieja (Canarian stew)
Ropa vieja literally translated means ???? old clothes ???? because for this stew, the leftovers from the previous day, such as leftover meat, are used. You can therefore use different types of meat for this dish: pork, beef or chicken. In the recipe described below, beef is used that you simmer with vegetables and chickpeas over a low heat. Ropa vieja is not only found in Gran Canaria, but also in South America.
Ingredients for 4 people
- 1 kilo simmer steaks (beef)
- ½ kilo chickpeas (dried)
- 2 onions (finely chopped)
- 4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 ounce of bacon
- 1 large red pepper
- 1 large green pepper
- 2 cans of peeled tomatoes
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 glass of dry white wine
- olive oil
- pan with a thick bottom
To prepare
Soak the chickpeas in cold water overnight. When you are going to use them, drain water and drain the chickpeas in a colander.
Preparation method:
- Put the simmer in a pan with water and some sea salt and bring to the boil. As soon as it boils, put it on a low heat and let it cook until it is three quarters cooked.
- Then add the chickpeas to the meat and bring to the boil again. As soon as it boils, reduce heat and cook until everything is cooked. (about half an hour)
- Remove the meat from the pan and cut it into small pieces.
- Cut bacon into pieces.
- Also cut green and red peppers and peeled tomatoes into small pieces.
- Sauté finely chopped garlic and onion in olive oil together with the bell pepper.
- Once the onions are translucent, add bacon and fry.
- Then add a glass of white wine, tomato, bay leaf and tomato and mix well.
- Then add the meat, the chickpeas and bring to the boil. As soon as it boils, put it on a low heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Season with a little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper if necessary.
Canarian meal soup with watercress (potaje de berros)
Potaje is Spanish for a hearty meal soup. Pots are often on the menu as a starter, but the best – especially the potaje de berros – are in the interior of Gran Canaria, in the villages. The watercress (berros) grows in abundance in the interior of Gran Canaria, along clear water streams and therefore you can buy them fresh at the market every day. Watercress is not only very tasty, but also very healthy, it purifies the blood and is good against inflammation.
Ingredients for four people
- 300 grams of fresh watercress (available at AH)
- 1 large winter carrot
- 1 large onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- piece of pumpkin (about 300 grams)
- 1 zucchini
- 2 potatoes
- 2 corn cobs
- 2 bacon rolls without rind
- 1 jar of white beans
- 2 stock cubes
- olive oil
- water
- pan with a thick bottom.
Preparation method:
- Fill the sink with water and rinse the watercress well.
- Grab a handful of watercress each time and cut into pieces with a knife (not too fine).
- Cut the bacon into small cubes.
- Cut the garlic into slices.
- Cut the corn cobs into thick round slices.
- Cut all other vegetables into large pieces.
- Put a dash of olive oil in a pan with a thick bottom and fry the diced bacon steak together with the onion and garlic.
- When the onions are starting to turn translucent, add carrot and pumpkin and let it cook for a while.
- Then add the corn and watercress.
- Then add water until all vegetables are covered.
- Bring to the boil and when it boils, crumble 2 stock cubes in the pan and mix well.
- Let it simmer for 15 minutes on a low heat.
- Then add the potatoes and the zucchini and let the pot of white beans and everything cook for about another 15 minutes on a low heat until the potatoes and zucchini are soft.
Tips
Delicious with baguette and a spicy cheese. For a vegetarian version of this soup, just leave out the bacon.
Churros de pescado (fried fish pieces)
Churros de pescado are crispy fried pieces of fish that are very popular in the Canary Islands as tapas, but also as a meal. There are different variations of the churros de pescado recipe. They are best when the fish is marinated in advance as described in the recipe below.
Ingredients for 4 people
- 800 grams of cod fillet or another white fish fillet
- 150 grams of flour
- 1 egg (beaten)
- half glass of beer
- juice of 1 lemon
- pinch of sea salt
- half a bunch of parsley (finely chopped and only the leaves)
- olive oil
To prepare
- Cut the fish into elongated pieces 3 cm wide and 8 cm long.
- Put the pieces of fish in a bowl and marinate with lemon juice, parsley and a little bit of sea salt.
- Leave covered in the refrigerator for two hours.
Prepare
- Make a batter of the flour, beaten egg and beer.
- Stir everything together until it is a nice, smooth batter. (Not too thick)
- Add the fish pieces to the batter and mix carefully.
- Then one by one remove the fish pieces from the mixing bowl and fry in plenty of oil (fresh oil!).
- Note: not too much at the same time and the oil must be very hot.
Tips
The churros de pescado are delicious with a garlic sauce. If you don’t like beer in the batter, you can also omit it. In order to get the batter fluffy – because that is what you get by adding beer to the batter – you can replace the beer with milk – about 80 ml. And you have to heat the milk in the microwave for a while.
Papas arrugadas (jacket potatoes with a salt crust)
Papas arrugadas literally means wrinkled potatoes. The potatoes are boiled with the skin and all and because salt has been added to the water, they get a wrinkled coat. You could say of this Canarian specialty that it is not only symbolic of the Canarian cuisine, but also for the Canary Islands themselves. It is the most popular and most typical Canarian dish together with the mojos (the sauces) that are always served together with the papas arrugadas. Papas arrugadas can be found on every menu in every restaurant ?? so also in the tourist south ?? and is served with almost every dish. It is also very common to order papas arrugadas as tapas with a beer.
It is best to use small new potatoes for the recipe. For example, you can use baby potatoes in the Netherlands. On the Canary Islands themselves, the Bonita of Gran Canaria, the Ojitos (small pink potatoes) and the Papa Negra (Tenerife’s famous black potato) are very suitable. Nice to know is that the dish was born out of necessity. In the absence of fresh water, the Canarios cooked their potatoes in salt water. (in many Canarian cookbooks it is recommended to use salty sea water)
Ingredients (for 2 to 3 persons)
- 1 kg waxy new, small potatoes
- 1 to 2 tablespoons of coarse sea salt
- 10 grams of fine sea salt (table salt is also allowed)
- water
Preparation method:
- Wash the potatoes with the skin thoroughly (possibly with a brush).
- Put them in a saucepan, add the coarse sea salt and pour in enough water to cover the potatoes.
- Boil the potatoes for about 15 to 20 minutes. (if they are small potatoes, the cooking time is shorter, about 10 minutes).
- Drain the water and add the rest of the fine sea salt to the potatoes.
- Return the pot with potatoes to the heat. Note: on low heat.
- Then move the pan with potatoes back and forth on the fire, until a thin layer of salt has formed on the skin and the potatoes look a bit wrinkled.
- Remove the salt remaining in the pan and serve immediately.
Tips
Papas arrugadas are best served with mojos (cold sauces based on oil and vinegar). You can read the preparation method on the following recipe. This potato dish is still tasty the next day. Just heat it up in the microwave for a few minutes and the taste is still just as good.