Tasty Tenerife – a new foodie heaven?
Grisin sticks with Iberian Stile Ham
A few years ago I went to Los Gigantes in Tenerife and if I’m honest I wasn’t that enamoured with it. For me it lacked a certain “Canarianess”. I know it’s a tourist resort and that Tenerife is in the main a mass-market destination (more on this in another post), but one thing that bothered me was that I was on a Spanish island and there was hardly a hint of Spanish food about.
You could get a wide variety of foods at Los Gigantes’ restaurants serving ‘international menus’ – generally covering things like Cordon Bleu and Lasagna, and granted, I had a fantastic meal at one of the restaurants there. But the problem was authentic Spanish/Canarian fodder was in short supply.
I was therefore delighted on my recent visit to discover island delicacies and Michelin-starred chefs intent on putting the island on the culinary map.
My first experience of real Canarian food was on a visit to a banana plantation with the British Guild of Travel Writers which I posted on here. This use of bananas in savoury as well as sweet dishes showed the island had plenty of fresh ideas to appeal to foodies.
The following day we were treated to what I consider the best meal of my trip (and there were many good ones!). Lunch at La Plantacion del Sur hotel, in Adeje, was prepared by it’s two-starred Michelin chef.
Cheese cookies complete with edible flowers
We started with tapas – grisin sticks with Iberian Stile Ham, unusual but tasty cheese cookies (I believe these were fried slices of cheese, similar to cheese saganaki found in Greece) served with pastry puffs and edible flowers, and some of the most juicy and delicious shrimps fried with garlic – a particular favourite on my table.
Hot on the heels of the starters was a fish course of cod in onion sauce with leek and ginger, my least favourite part of the meal, but I’m not a big cod fan. Still, like all the courses served at the lunch, it was beautifully presented.
Canarian Nouvelle Cuisine - Cod in Onion Sauce with Leek and Ginger
The fish was followed by beef tenderloins with almogrote cheese – a rather salty but delicious cheese paste from Tenerife’s neighbouring island of La Gomera. This was served with papas ‘bonitas’ with red and green mojo – tiny purple Canarian potatoes with a green coriander-based sauce and a spicier red chilli-based sauce.
All of this was served with an array of fine Tenerifian wines. Yes, Tenerife produces award-winning wines from vineyards dotted across the island. We had a crisp white with the starters and fish, and naturally, red with the main. Many of Tenerife’s reds are full-bodied and toasty due to the volcanic soil on the island.
Dessert was an exotic sounding trio – Bienmesabe, Prince Albert and Quesillo. Up to now I can’t really tell you what they were or which was which of the three tasty nuggets on my plate but they were to die for. A chocolate mousse dome with a crunchy filling, a caramel-like cheesy slice (guessing that’s the Quesillo!) and a rich chocolate ice-cream served with pansies – yes, you can eat those too!
Bienmesabe, Prince Albert and Quesillo
The only problem with the dessert was that we had to leave half of it behind as we were running late for an afternoon tour. I’m still mourning the loss of this delectable pudding!
Still, the rest of the trip had more scrumptious treats in store. In the following days I had everything from traditional hearty meals with things like gofio – toasted cornmeal and revuelto de morcilla – scrambled egg with a sweetened black pudding (sounds icky and I’m not normally a fan of black pudding but it was out-of-this-world-good) at Santa Cruz’s renowned La Hierbita, chicken, fish and ham croquettes and roasted piglet (be warned complete with a wee trotter) at Meson Castellano in Los Cristianos, and tapas including mixed chorizo in honey and chilli at the dinky Pink Parrot Cafe in Las Galletas (more info on this fab little find here).
I discovered Tenerife is an island rich in incredible local food so get away from the resort restaurants and, most importantly, bring your appetite.
If you enjoyed reading this post get the RSS feed here, or sign up by email to have future posts delivered straight to your inbox.
Related posts:
kseverny
2/10/2010
some fantastic food indeed.
the dishes on show here are wonderful
Andy Montgomery
2/10/2010
Hi Sarah,
What a great post on Tenerife’s burgeoning gastronomic expertise – loved it …and feel very hungry now.
Two of the three desserts you had were from La Palma: the Bienmesabe – sponge cake, roasted ground almonds, sugar and grated lemon peel; and the Prince Albert – chocolate, sponge cake and almonds. The Quesillo is fromTenerife (although it may be popular on other Canary Island too) – eggs, milk, grated lemon peel and cinnamon.
It sounds like your chef gave them all a twist of his own and if they tasted even half as good as they look, lunch at La Plantacion is on the menu for my next birthday treat.
Sarah Lee
2/10/2010
Thanks Andy and thanks for the details on the desserts, got a little lost as to what was what in the end. Interesting to learn that they’re from La Palma, clearly the chef was intent on offering us tastes from across the Canaries. The Prince Albert was the highlight of the dessert course. Would definitely recommend it for a special lunch/dinner.
Annie Bennett
2/11/2010
Did you talk to the chef, Javier Mora, at El Gourmet Canario at La Plantacion del Sur? Are the two Michelin stars for that restaurant, or somewhere else? Just puzzled as the hotel’s website doesn’t mention the stars (which is a bit odd), and I can’t find much info about him. Sounds a really interesting restaurant, so would be good to know where else he has worked. And who were the other Michelin-starred chefs you came across? Sorry, bit obsessed! The only Michelin-starred chef I know on Tenerife is Martin Berasategui at Abama, so obviously have come catching up to do!
Sarah Lee
2/11/2010
Hotel’s website doesn’t have much info really does it? I don’t know anymore than their in-house PR told us at the lunch. Didn’t have much time there in the end (you know the usual press trip racing) and I was more focused on the food at the time. Can mail you her contacts though if you wish to find out more.
Don’t know of any other Michelin-starred chefs on the island – just found good wholesome food elsewhere.
inbabia
2/12/2010
Thanks Sarah. Good to know. Get the feeling Tenerife is turning into a bit of a foodie hotspot.
Annie Bennett
2/12/2010
That’s me, Annie, replying above by the way!
Sarah Lee
2/12/2010
Well I was certainly impressed with the restaurants I visited, but still think it’s a case of knowing where to go. That’s where local tips prove invaluable.
Stephen
4/14/2010
It’s great to see a review like this. So many people only see the small part of the Island near to where they stay for the one or two weeks.
You are correct when you say that ‘local tips prove invaluable’ however with the exposure that you, Sarah and others are now giving, hopefully that will improve.
So glad that your experience was a positive one, maybe next visit you will have more time to enjoy your desserts
.-= Stephen´s last blog ..Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-04-13 =-.
janet massey
11/8/2010
Having eaten at the Pink Parrot cafe in las gallatas tenerife,i can honestly say i tasted some of the best food ive ever eaten anywhere.The homemade fish and chips were mouthwatering,and i recommend this cafe to anyone travelling to tenerife,a big thank you to lil and martin proud for making us so welcome and the stay pleasurable.