The Canary Guide

Canary Islands Food & Drink

Wrinkly potatoes with mojo, fresh Atlantic fish, volcanic wine and strong coffee — what to eat and drink in the Canaries, and where.

Photo: Tamorlan · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · scaled

Wrinkly potatoes with mojo, fresh Atlantic fish, volcanic wine and strong coffee — what to eat and drink in the Canaries, and where.

Eat & drink like a local

A Canarian meal of roasted chicken with papas arrugadas, mojo and salad on La Palma

Canarian Food: What to Eat

The island kitchen in a nutshell — the classic dishes, where they come from and what to order first.

Canarian papas arrugadas (salt-wrinkled potatoes) served with spicy red mojo sauce

Papas Arrugadas & Mojo

Salt-crusted little potatoes with two punchy sauces — the dish that defines Canarian cooking.

Vines growing in black volcanic ash hollows in the La Geria wine region of Lanzarote

Canary Islands Wine

Vines grown in black volcanic ash produce wines found almost nowhere else — here's how to taste them.

A bowl of gofio, the toasted milled grain flour that is a staple of Canarian cooking

Gofio: The Canarian Staple

Toasted milled grain that has fed the islands since before the Spanish arrived — in soups, desserts and even ice cream.

A wheel of Queso Majorero, the protected goat's cheese of Fuerteventura

Canarian Cheeses

The islands punch far above their weight in cheese — from Fuerteventura's world-champion Majorero to smoky Palmero.

Polvito Uruguayo, a layered dulce de leche and biscuit dessert popular in the Canary Islands

Canarian Desserts & Sweets

Almond creams, caramel puddings and gofio sweets — the island desserts worth saving room for.

Casa Pepe, a traditional guachinche country eatery in La Victoria de Acentejo, Tenerife

Guachinches & Canarian Tapas

Tenerife's home-run 'guachinches' serve the island's most honest food and wine — here's how to find the real thing.

A barraquito, the layered Canarian coffee with condensed milk, Licor 43 and cinnamon

The Barraquito & Canarian Coffee

The islands' show-stopping layered coffee — condensed milk, liqueur, lemon and cinnamon — and how to order like a local.

Grilled vieja (parrotfish) with papas arrugadas and mojo, a classic Canarian fish dish

Canarian Seafood & Fish

Fresh Atlantic fish is the islands' glory — the species to look for, the dishes to try and how to order it by weight.

A shot of ron miel, the Canarian honey rum, topped with cream and cinnamon

Canarian Drinks

Beyond the wine — ice-cold Dorada and Tropical, honey rum, Arehucas and the island soft drinks worth trying.

Papas arrugadas with green mojo, a naturally vegan Canarian dish

Vegetarian & Vegan in the Canaries

Papas, mojo, gofio and grilled veg make the islands easy going meat-free — plus a growing plant-based scene in the towns.

A restaurant plate of mixed grilled fish and seafood served in Gran Canaria

Eating Out: How It Works

Meal times, the menú del día, tipping and the difference between a tasca, a guachinche and a beach chiringuito.

A layered barraquito, the classic Canarian coffee served in a glass, Tenerife

A Canarian Breakfast

Strong coffee, tomato-rubbed toast, fresh pastries and gofio — how the islands really do the most important meal of the day.

A Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis), the source of palm honey, on La Gomera

Miel de Palma (Palm Honey)

La Gomera's dark, treacly palm 'honey' — tapped from Canary palms and drizzled over everything from cheese to desserts.

A bowl of almogrote, the spicy hard-cheese spread of La Gomera

Almogrote & Island Specialities

Beyond the classics — La Gomera's fiery almogrote, hearty rancho canario and the regional dishes worth hunting down.

Food stalls inside the Mercado de Nuestra Señora de África market, Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Canarian Street Food & Snacks

Pinchos, filled bocadillos, empanadillas and churros — the market and festival snacks to eat on the move.

Ropa Vieja: the Canarian Classic

“Old clothes” — chickpeas, shredded meat and potatoes in one honest pan. The islands' great use-it-up dish.

Sancocho Canario

Salt fish, wrinkly potatoes and a fist of gofio — the Sunday dish that tastes of the Atlantic and of hard times turned good.

Conejo en Salmorejo

Rabbit steeped for a day in garlic, paprika and wine. The mountain dish that rewards a drive inland.

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Canarian Soups & Potajes

Thick, cheap and deeply local — the pots that fed the islands long before tourism, and still fill the best village bars.

Mercado agricola vega san mateo gran canaria

Canarian Bakeries & Bread

Find the panaderia with the queue at eight in the morning, and you have found the best breakfast on the street.

What to Eat in Tenerife

Tenerife eats differently north and south. Here is what to order in each, and the guachinche habit worth copying.

Mercado del Puerto-fachada poniente-Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

What to Eat in Gran Canaria

From the flower-curdled cheese of Guia to the tapas lanes of Vegueta — the island's plate, region by region.

What to Eat in Lanzarote

Food grown in black gravel and cooked over a volcano. Lanzarote's kitchen is stranger and better than the resort menus suggest.

Goat - El Cofete - Jandia - Fuerteventura - 03

What to Eat in Fuerteventura

An island of goats, wind and almost no rain — and a kitchen built entirely out of what those three things allow.

The Best Restaurants in Tenerife

Where to eat well on Tenerife — from a plastic chair by the harbour to a tasting menu above the clouds.

Teatro perez galdos principal las palmas gran canaria

The Best Restaurants in Gran Canaria

A capital with a real restaurant scene, a coastline of fish shacks and mountain villages that still cook the old way.

Michelin-Star Restaurants

The islands hold more stars than most visitors expect — and the cooking leans hard on what grows here.

La Playa de Las Canteras en el día de Reyes de 2015 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

How to Read a Canarian Menu

Vieja, cherne, carajacas — decode the menu once and you will never order badly on the islands again.

Gluten-Free in the Canaries

Plenty of the local cooking is naturally gluten-free — but one island staple is not, and it turns up everywhere.

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Canarian Christmas Food

Sweet-potato pasties, almond nougat and a late, long Christmas Eve dinner — the islands do December their own way.

Mercado agricola vega san mateo puesto gran canaria

Food Souvenirs to Bring Home

What actually survives the flight home, what is worth the luggage space, and what to leave on the shelf.

Ron Miel & Canarian Rum

Sweet, warming and served far too easily — the honey rum that ends most Canarian meals, and the real rum behind it.

2015 La Gomera 414 150702 Playa de Santiago La Chalana

Dorada, Tropical & Canary Beer

Two beers, two islands and a rivalry locals take more seriously than they let on. Plus what to ask for at the bar.