To understand where the dishes of Tenerife’s traditional cuisine come from, you need to bear in mind that this Spanish island lies in the Atlantic Ocean, a few hundred kilometres off the African coast and about 1,400 km from mainland Europe. Being so far from the rest of the country, the Canary Islands have developed culinary traditions that are distinct and unique. After all, as in many other countries in Europe, every Spanish region has its own culture, including in its food. So forget the cliché Spain = paella. You will not find paella in the Canary Islands. And if a restaurant does happen to put it on the menu, there is a good chance it will be about as authentic and traditional as an Italian pizza in China.
For economic reasons, the Canary Islands export very little of what they produce, neither to Spain nor, even less so, abroad. And that is a real shame, because local products are of excellent quality. In my opinion, finding a restaurant in Tenerife that serves good food is not difficult at all. So if you want to savour something Canarian once you are back home, buy it before leaving the island, because otherwise you will not be able to find it again.
If you would like to know more about this island, I recommend a Tenerife guide with general information, suggestions on what to see, where to stay, and much more. If, on the other hand, your mouth is already watering, here is an introduction to Tenerife’s cuisine.
Traditional restaurants in Tenerife: the guachinches
To discover Tenerife’s classic dishes, avoid tourist restaurants and look for a guachinche. It’s a kind of tavern, usually fairly cheap and serving local dishes.
Originally founded by wine producers, guachinches would open a simple space to the public, often resembling a garage, a barn, or a hall with a beaten-earth floor. They prepared a few very homely dishes, sometimes using produce from their own gardens, and served them with their own wine. When the wine ran out, the restaurant would close until the following harvest.
Today, guachinches tend to be open all year round, although they have retained some of their “garage-like” appearance. Those that are excessively polished have generally lost their original character and have become standard restaurants. This doesn’t mean they are any less good in quality and taste, and they often still have a typical Canarian menu, but they ought to change their name.
Shared dishes
It is important to know that going to a Canarian restaurant almost always involves sharing dishes. Of course, everyone can choose their own, but this is quite unusual among the locals. Local etiquette generally requires that whatever is ordered be shared among all the diners. Normally, a few dishes are chosen by mutual agreement and served in the middle of the table, from which each person helps themselves to a portion on their own plate.
Portion sizes vary depending on the restaurant. However, there is often the option to choose a full or a half portion. The first is a normal-sized dish, while the latter is a smaller serving. What you won’t usually find in traditional restaurants, on the other hand, are the classic Spanish tapas. These are even smaller portions, more like a tasting, typically accompanying an aperitif and originating from mainland Spanish culture. They never really made it to Canary Islands.
The classics of traditional Tenerife cuisine
Now, let us move on to the actual menu and the classic Canarian dishes. Isolated by the sea for hundreds of kilometres in every direction, the Canary Islands have humble culinary traditions based on local products. And almost every meal includes a couple of key elements. Let us start with these.
Papas arrugadas
Like in many other countries, the classic humble side dish is potatoes. From British jacket potatoes to Belgian fries, potatoes dominate, especially in places where bread is not consumed in huge quantities, as it is in Italy or France. However, Tenerife and the other Canary Islands are incredibly proud of their own version and serve potatoes with almost everything. Ladies and gentlemen: the papas arrugadas.
“Well, they are just boiled potatoes!”, you might say (as I did my first time!). And yet, not at all. There is real ingenuity behind these potatoes. First of all, not every variety is suitable for arrugar, meaning “to wrinkle”. The best ones are small potatoes known as papas negras, which are sold at a gold price. They are then boiled in water with their skins on, and salt is added as if there were no tomorrow. The cooking method and the amount of salt give them that wrinkled appearance, which gives papas arrugadas their name. The theory is that each potato absorbs as much salt as it needs. And do not behave like tourists: you eat them whole, without peeling them!
Mojos
Of course, papas arrugadas are accompanied by the other basic element of Canarian cuisine: mojo.
Mojo is a sauce that can be added to almost anything you are eating, including bread. The two most common are mojo verde and mojo rojo (green and red mojo). The first is based on coriander, with plenty of garlic and cumin. Mojo rojo, on the other hand, is made with chilli peppers, typically the spicy ones from La Palma. Both also contain olive oil, vinegar, salt, and other secret ingredients depending on each grandmother’s recipe.
Gofio
Gofio is something so distinctly Canarian that it is found almost nowhere else in the world. It is a kind of flour which, before the conquest of these islands, was the main source of sustenance for the indigenous people. In the past, it was made from hardy plants and certain roots, such as legumes and ferns. Nowadays, it is usually produced from maize or wheat.
In Tenerife, gofio is used on every possible occasion: stirred into hot milk for children, added to soups to give the liquid more body (a great classic is escaldón, made with meat or fish broth), kneaded into desserts, or mixed with honey and bananas for a quick snack. When served hot, it might resemble semolina, but the flavour is quite different. Statistically speaking, if you did not grow up eating gofio, you probably will not like it. I have tried it several times, from cold sweet versions to hot savoury ones, but it never really convinced me.
In the Canary Islands, gofio is so popular that people have even written amusing songs about it, some of them with a certain cultural depth.
Fish like there’s no tomorrow
As you might imagine, fish and seafood are abundant and excellent. In Santa Cruz de Tenerife, there is a wonderful fish market open every day that is well worth a visit. The Mercado de Nuestra Señora de África, in addition to fruit, vegetables, and other local products, offers every type of fresh fish, which can also be cooked and served on the spot. Fancy those huge calamari? Mussels and clams? Or fried octopus? Order a small plate accompanied by a glass of good white wine. Everything is cooked and served absolutely fresh.
Among the many local fish, I would like to mention one: the chicharro. It is a fish about twenty centimetres long, usually served fried. I mention it as a typical dish because it gives the nickname to the inhabitants of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Tradition has it that the current capital was once a small fishing village. Every day, after fishing all night, the fishermen would travel to the then larger town, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, to sell the fresh catch. Since they mainly brought chicharros, over time they became known as chicharreros.
Other classics include lapas (limpets served with mojo verde on a very hot grill), chopitos (tiny fried baby octopus), fried sardines, boiled octopus (a whole tentacle), tollos en salsa (a small local shark, dried and then cooked with plenty of spices), fried moray eel, bacalao encebollado (cod in a tomato and onion sauce) and grouper.
Meat: goat and rabbit
The Canary Islands have very few large native animals. The only ones found in abundance are rabbits, often still wild, and goats. For this reason, the typical meat dishes are rabbit and goat, usually prepared as some form of roast.
Two other traditional dishes are carne fiesta and ropa vieja, which translate respectively as “party meat” and “old clothes”. One wonders who chose that second name… Carne fiesta is pork cooked in a pan with plenty of spices, while ropa vieja is a kind of shredded beef roast with potatoes, peppers and various spices, all mixed together.
Cheese
For someone like me who adores cheese, Tenerife is a source of lactose-fuelled joy. There are many kinds of cheese, mostly fresh or only lightly matured. They are produced mainly from goat’s milk, but the more classic cow’s milk and sheep’s milk are certainly not overlooked. Very fashionable at the moment is mezcla, meaning a mixture of cow’s and goat’s or sheep’s milk.
Among my favourites is smoked cheese. In shops, you will very often also find varieties flavoured with local chilli (which is not terribly hot), rosemary, oregano, pepper or other spices.
In restaurants, it is very common to find queso asado, that is, grilled cheese. A delight for both the eyes and the palate, it consists of a baking dish with two or three types of cheese lightly grilled. It is generally served with mojo or jam.
Fruit: between banana plantations and the tropics
Markets’ fruit stalls are one of the most fascinating things to discover, a true tropical festival. I found fruits I had never seen before, some of which I still have no idea how to cut in order to tackle them properly. They are beautiful and, often, incredibly delicious.
Describing them all is impossible. Just wander around a market and buy a few at random!
All the Canary Islands have a huge number of banana plantations. La Palma, in particular, is full of them. Bananas are in fact one of the few things the Canary Islands export. They also make a subtle distinction between banana and plátano. In reality, they are both bananas, to the international ignorant eye. But one of them is a bit sweeter than the other.
To finish the mean: the barraquito
In all the bars in Tenerife you can find all kinds of coffee, and they also add the typical barraquito to the list. It’s a layered coffee prepared with both regular milk and condensed milk, and spiked with a Spanish liqueur, Licor 43. Finally, a sprinkle of ground cinnamon is added on top, along with a piece of lemon peel as decoration. Barraquito is served in a glass so that you can see the different coloured layers, and it can also be ordered in its non-alcoholic version.
Needless to say, it looks beautiful. And, if you like this sort of thing, it is a calorific treat, perfect both to finish a meal and for a mid-day break.
Alcol: the ronmiel
The Canary Islands produce rum of good quality. I am not an expert enough to judge whether it can be compared with the more famous Cuban rum, but I would like to mention one variety that I really enjoy: ronmiel.
As the name suggests, it is rum with honey. Naturally very sweet, it becomes rather dangerous because you do not really taste the alcohol, which is usually around 20–30%. Ronmiel is served cold, in small shot glasses, and restaurants often offer a small glass at the end of a meal.
Where to eat well in Tenerife: recommended restaurants
After all this talk of delicious things to try, are you feeling a little hungry? Let me suggest a few restaurants of typical Canarian food around Tenerife. I suggest checking out another page for a full list of the best restaurants in Tenerife, serving not only Canarian cuisine.
I will start with two guachinches that still have the rural feel they are meant to have. Both are located in the north, slightly lost among the fields, with low prices and a decidedly rustic appearance. Los Gomez has large shared wooden tables, paper or plastic tablecloths worthy of the best homely trattorias, and perhaps three or four main dishes to choose from. First-come, first-served: when an ingredient runs out, it is removed from the list of dishes of the day, and the choice becomes more limited. The setting is pleasant, with a lovely view over the fields and the valley below through the restaurant’s large windows. Bodegón Agustín, on the other hand, looks like a hangar, with a sliding metal door and one enormous dining room, complete with a huge fireplace for grilling. Without neglecting any of the island’s typical dishes, they specialise in grilled meat.
Staying in the north but moving on to restaurants, one of my most recent discoveries is Bodegón Casa Fernando, a restaurant with a small but refined menu. In Puerto de la Cruz, I recommend Confradia de Pescadores, the old fishermen’s guild. It is a little expensive, but the fish is excellent and a sea view always comes at a price. For the fresh catch of the day, you can be taken to the display counter and choose personally what you would like to have cooked.
In Santa Cruz de Tenerife two restaurants are serving typical cuisine right next to each other: La Bodeguita Canaria and La Hierbita. I tend to prefer the former for the quality of the food, but the latter is set in a beautifully preserved old Canarian house with truly exceptional character. For more modest prices, just outside the historic centre of the capital, you will find El Escondite de Lucas. Less refined in style, it offers interesting and very tasty variations on the island’s classic dishes.
In the hills around Candelaria, El Kuarto Tasca Tere and Restaurande Casa D’Andre are restaurants popular with locals. Both are reasonably priced, with generous portions and homely service.
It is no coincidence that I have no suggestions for the southern part of the island, traditionally overrun by tourists. Unfortunately, there is very little that feels truly “typically Canarian” there. In my opinion, the few restaurants serving local cuisine do not offer the best dishes and therefore do not make it onto my list of recommendations for eating well in Tenerife.
If besides enjoying good food, you would also like to visit Tenerife, you could be interested in:
Visit the North Coast of Tenerife
Pilot whales and dolphins sighting tour in the south of Tenerife
Climbing Volcano Teide
The best hikes in Tenerife
Anaga Rural Park
Hiking in Tenerife
Holidays in Tenerife: introduction guide
The best restaurants in Tenerife
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