Lanzarote Top Ten Eats

Don’t opt for burgers and international cuisine in the land of volcanoes, a holiday in Lanzarote should be an eruption of flavours, a real eating experience. 

We count down our top ten dines on fresh fish, wrinkled potatoes and Mojo sauces all washed down with Canarian wine. 

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1.Papas Arrugadas con Mojo - Wrinked Potatoes

The Canaries outstanding contribution to gastronomy is Papas Arrugadas con Mojo (pronounced “mo-ho”), which translates as wrinkled potatoes with sauce, or in other words, tender sweet new potatoes, crusted lightly with salt and served either with a coriander based sauce (Mojo Verde) or more commonly, a mildly hot red sauce (Mojo Rojo) made with local dried red peppers or both. These two sauces may also appear with fish, particularly vieja, an excellent local fish, as well as other dishes.

2.Croquettas de Pescado - Fish Croquettes

A simple fish potato snack often served as tapas. For those who are partial to the less usual offerings of the sea, there are superb garlicky griddled limpets, Lapas alla Parillada, surprisingly tender, or fantastically tender grilled pulpo (octopus).

3.Potage Canaria - Potato Stew

Soups are so chunky they’re almost stews and stews have so much liquid that they are almost soups - try Potage Canaria, with sweetcorn, sweet potato, and beans, or the Puchero with pork, beef and chicken and practically every vegetable going. Caldo de Pescado is a thick, rich fish soup.

4.Queso Fresco - Goats Cheese

The local fresh goats cheese, Queso Fresco, is light and milky, excellent in salads, especially with local avocadoes and tomatoes. You will find kid, cabrito, on most menus, fried with lots of garlic, or occasionally stewed or roasted.

5.Bienmesabe - Caramel Pudding

A divine sticky concoction of caramel, almonds and egg yolks served on its own or over ice cream. Delciously cool in the hot Lanzarote sun!

6.Gofio - Toasted Flour

Definitely one of the more bizarre Lanzarote dishes. Gofio is toasted flour, ground from wheat, barley, maize, chickpeas or any other suitable grain or pulse. This is a direct inheritance from the Guanches, the original inhabitants of the Canaries, and is used both as flavouring and thickening, in soups, stews and doughs. Flan golfio resembles a semolina pudding and has an African influence.

7.Mojo Verde – Coriander Based Sauce

Mojo Verde is really just a coriander and garlic vinaigrette; in other words, very easy to make. Use as a dip, or spoon over boiled new potatoes, or better still, lightly cooked fish, especially tuna. Try it as a dressing for avocados and tomatoes, too.

8.Sancocho - Fish Stew

Another dish to try is the traditional fish stew called Sancocho made from salted sea bream, stone bass or wreckfish.

9.Paella - Rice Dish

Of course, Lanzarote is a Spanish island so the paella is popular at local restaurants, the meat paella is a mix of chicken and rabbit but the seafood is wonderful with generous amounts of mussels, prawns and shrimps.

10.Lanzarote Wine and Rum Honey Liqueur

Lanzarote produces delicious home grown wines to accompany the local dishes. In this seemingly barren landscape it’s hard to believe wine could be produced. In Lanzarote you see vineyards in symmetry - the black volcanic ash is hollowed out, vines planted in the bottom and stone walls built to protect the vines and conserve any moisture gathered through dew and condensation. The system works amazingly well producing 200 kg of grapes per season. Drive to the Valle de la Geria and stop off at a bodega to do some wine tasting. Most good restaurants will give you a taste of the local rum honey liqueur as they hand you the bill. It rounds off a meal nicely.