JILORIO

Gofio, cheese and potato are the staple trinity of Canaries cuisine, which must always include a good wine. Never before had so much been done with so little, nor so delicious. Islanders do enjoy having a good meal, something quite understandable when one lives in a place with excellent fish, produce and meat.  If you feel jilorio, that is, you feel peckish, wherever you are you’ll find a place to have a delicious snack.

It would be unforgivable not to visit a guachinche, where the dinning room is usually a converted garage and the furniture is provided by the family –brother-in-law’s chairs or granny’s table. Guachinches open at the same time as wineries, mainly in the Northern villages of the island. In them you can sample home-made wines with good home-made dishes like stew, ribs, watercress soup, rabbit in salmorejo sauce, goat meat or potatoes and Canaries sauce. And sure enough, there is always some cheese as well. Only people who know them go to guachinches so if you want to stuff yourself, get your Indiana Jones hat and start looking for the treasure. Ask the locals and follow their directions.