We were surprised by the wide variety of dishes local to Tenerife. A rich cuisine isn’t one of the characteristics which immediately spring to mind when thinking about the Canary Islands, but of course it makes sense — close to Africa, linked historically to Europe, and with a strong connection to the New World, the food of Tenerife should be special. Here are a few more dishes we loved.
I don’t think it’s unfair to point out that the general populace of Tenerife is a little more… solidly built than on the Spanish mainland. And now that we’re getting familiar with the cuisine here, we understand why. Theirs is nourishing food, served in construction-worker portions. And if you’re not out in the fields all day, or regularly exercising, all that protein has just one place to go.
Despite all the hiking we were doing, we definitely weren’t losing any weight here in Tenerife. And that didn’t surprise me, considering the hearty food, and the outsized portions in which they serve it. But we loved the island’s cuisine, which is quite distinct from that of the Spanish mainland.
We encountered gofio on our very first night in La Gomera, when the proprietress of Imada's lone restaurant set down a bowlful next to our soups. And we've encountered it…
Three months, already gone. As we took off from the airport, rose into the sky, and flew off towards Valencia, we could scarcely believe how fast the time had passed. Tenerife had been far more interesting than we could have ever predicted. Rarely has one of our 91-day destinations so completely exceeded our expectations.
I had thought that the word “guachinche” must somehow be related to the guanches — the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands, who were conquered by the Spanish in the 15th century. But that missing “n” in the root syllable bugged me… “guach” is not the same as “guanch”.
The hikes we map out for ourselves usually tend to be circular. Round trips involve less hassle, and there’s something satisfying about arriving back to where you started; it makes the day feel complete. But we couldn’t resist the one-way hike between Anaga’s Cruz del Carmen and Punta del Hidalgo, ten kilometers away, on the northern coast. The fact that it’s almost entirely downhill might have helped.
Throughout the age of industrialization, the Canary Islands experienced massive immigration to the New World. Later, the current of people began flowing in the other direction. People from across Latin America settled down in the Canaries, including a large number of Venezuelans… and you know they weren’t going to leave their arepas behind.
