Food in Gran Canaria: A wide new menu to taste

Thanks to the temperature and climate, the local cuisine features many different and abundant healthy and fresh products from the land and the sea. The most popular dishes of Gran Canaria boast a cutting edge cuisine, always with the same base product and always with a great variety.

The visitor has a wide menu of dishes to choose from. Goat and baby goat, pork, veal and not to forget chicken and rabbit are the most common meats used in the cuisine of Gran Canaria. Regarding seafood, parrot fish, bass, bream, tuna and different species of snapper are among the favorites. As appetizers, the most common seafood served on the Canary Islands includes mollusks, sea snails, octopus, together with sardines, which are consumed both fried and dry. Fresh fish is definitely not missing on a good table in any part of the coast.

Some of the most popular dishes of Gran Canaria include the famous goat compound, “Tollos” in sauce (unsalted baby shark 'Cazón' , flavored with a sauce made of garlic, cumin, saffron, paprika, olive oil and vinegar), the “Carajacas” (calf liver with sauce made of thyme and garlic among other ingredients) “Ropa Vieja” (chickpeas with veal and chicken with fried potatoes and a sauce made of onions, tomatoes, white wine, saffron, bay leaf, thyme, parsley and black pepper). At any time of the day one can enjoy a roasted pork leg. But the king of the dishes on the table is the “Sancocho Canario”. It's a fish called “Cherne” with salt, potatoes, sweet potatoes and “Gofio” (corn flour). Another typical meal is of course the Spanish Paella, all seasoned with "Mojo" (typical island sauces). All of these dishes are a true delicacy.

Typical entrees include the fish soup “Potajes” as well as “Puchero” and “El Rancho” ( both thick soups), fish broth and other varieties of the island's most traditional dishes.

No visitor can leave Gran Canaria without trying one of their most typical traditions: the 'Enyesque'. It's a variety of snacks, including marinated olives, “Papas Arrugadas” (wrinkled potatoes) and “Mojo Picón” (which is served with almost any dish) or the great Canarian cheese varieties. The diversified cheese production of the islands boasts exquisite types of cheese. One must try the soft cheeses, cured, semi-cured as well as the “La Cumbre” cheese with flower (curdled with thistle flower).