Las Playas in Las Playitas
Delicious paella. You’ll literally be sitting on the boulevard of this typically Spanish village. The food here is served with complimentary mouthfuls of salty air …
Restaurants
Lunch is often the main meal of the day in Spain, as it is in other Southern European countries. People take their time for lunch, and they usually have a glass of wine or beer with it. More often than not, dinner is a light meal.
Spanish people usually don’t have lunch before 1pm. So if you want to be sure you’ll get a table at a restaurant, make sure to get there before 1pm. Many restaurants open at noon, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to order your food straight away. 12:30-ish is probably more realistic. ?
Almost all of Fuerteventura’s towns are located at the seaside. This means fresh fish is widely available – often the day’s catch. Generally, prices are very reasonable. In most places you can have a decent meal for 10 to 15 Euros.
‘Pets’ at the Pon (Puertito) restaurant.
Cosy patio at Casa Princess Arminda (Betancuria)
Here’s a list of restaurants that have received our seal of approval:
This selection represents our personal preferences. If you join one of our group packages you will get to know one or several of these restaurants yourself!
Fried mussels at Casa Mendez restaurant (Gran Tarajal)
Los Pescadores restaurant (Pozo Negro)
Typical Fuerteventura dishes
Papas arrugadas
Do you like baby Dutch yellow potatoes? If you do, you’ll love papas arrugadas!
‘papas arrugadas’ literally translates as ‘wrinkly potatoes’, referring to the texture of their skin. They are baby potatoes boiled in the skin in salty water. Traditionally people would use sea water, but nowadays people also use tap water with lots of salt. Once cooked, the potatoes are put in the oven to dry.
‘Real’ papas arrugadas are served with mojo rojo or mojo verde (see below). Almost every restaurant on Fuerteventura has them on their menu.
Papas arrugadas with fresh fish at La Rampa restaurant (Las Playitas)
Ingredients
Ingredients for 4 persons:
- 1 kg potatoes
- 200 g salt
Preparation
Rinse the potatoes in their skin and remove any dirt. Put the potatoes in a large pot and add just enough water to cover them. Cover the potatoes with a clean cloth, add [part of the] salt and bring to the boil. Boil until cooked. Almost all the water will evaporate – do not add extra water and do not strain the potatoes! Remove the cloth and sprinkle the potatoes with the rest of the salt. Bring to the boil again and boil until the skins are wrinkly and dry. Enjoy!
Mojo
Mojo is a sauce served with many dishes. Mojo mainly consists of vegetable oil, garlic, vinegar, salt, red peppers, thyme, and coriander or cumin. Mojo originated in the Canary Islands, but other countries have adopted it, sometimes creating their own slightly different version of the recipe.
The two most common varieties of mojo are mojo rojo (red sauce) and mojo verde (green sauce). Fish usually comes with mojo verde, and meat with mojo rojo. Both of them are often served with papas arrugadas (see above).
Ingredients
Ingredients mojo verde (4 persons):
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 bunch of coriander or parsley
- 1 glass of olive oil
- 1 dash of white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- Sea salt
Preparation
Mojo verde is easy to make. Grind the peeled garlic, salt, cumic and parsley or coriander in a mortar. Stir in the vinegar. Drizzle in the olive oil while stirring. Done!
Barraquito
Barraquito is a typically Spanish coffee drink special. It’s a combination of a creamy layer of condensed milk, a shot of espresso, a shot of Licor 43, milk foam, cinnamon and lime peel. Really scrumptious!
A nice ‘cuppa’ barraquito …
Ingredients
For 1 barraquito:
- 25 ml condensed milk
- 200 ml whole milk
- 40 ml Licor 43
- 100 ml strong coffee or espresso
- 1 lime
- cinnamon powder
- a big glass (300 ml)
Preparation
Pour approximately 200 ml whole milk into a milk foamer. Make coffee or espresso while the milk is being foamed. Then start layering the various ingredients into the glass.
- Begin with a layer of condensed milk.
- Then a layer of liqueur.
- Using a peeler, cut a slice of lime peel of about an inch and put it on top of the liqueur.
- Add 6 tablespoons of milk foam into the glass.
- Slowly pour 100 ml of steamed milk into the glass.
- Add a shot of coffee or espresso.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon powder. You can add a cinnamon stick for decoration if you’re feeling creative. ?
Queso majorero
Apart from tourism, goat farming is Fuerteventura’s second largest source of income. In fact, there are more goats than people on the island …
Majorero is goat cheese from Fuerteventura. The name majorero dates back to the era of the island’s first inhabitants, the Guanche. The word ‘majoreros’ is used to refer to Fuerteventura’s native inhabitants.
Majorero cheese comes in three varieties, depending on the finishing of the outer layer – oil, pimenta (a genus of plants that includes allspice) or gofio (see below).
The island has several cheese dairies where you can see how cheese is made. They also offer cheese tastings. Some of these dairies are:
- La Pastora, in La Pared
- Granja La Villa, close to Betancuria (www.granjalavilla.com)
- Finca Pepe, close to Betancuria (www.fincapepe.com/en/)
Gofio
Gofio is a mealy powder that used to be a staple food of the native inhabitants of the Canary Islands (the Guanches); they mixed it with goat milk or broth.
Every day, you can see how gofio is made in the mill museum of Tiscamanita. Every morning the mill manager mixes gofio with oil, water and sugar and kneads the mixture into a fine dough of which you will be offered a sample. It tastes a bit like marzipan.
On the Canary Islands gofio is nowadays mostly made from corn (typically sweetcorn and wheat) and pulses. On Fuerteventura gofio is also made from chickpeas and lupin beans.
Jaula de Oro restaurant (in Ajuy) serves a gofio dessert. It’s rather like chocolate mousse, but with gofio instead of chocolate. Yummy …
Gofio mousse
