A visit to Tenerife means that you get to try some of the local cuisine. As the Canary Islands are owned by Spain, there is a Spanish influence on much of the food. Tapas is very popular in the hot Tenerife weather, as the small snack like dishes mean you can eat small amounts and not feel too bloated on a hot day. The word tapas come from the old tradition of using bread as a lid to the small tapas dishes to keep the flies and insects away. The word tapas mean top or lid.
When you visit Tenerife there are so many different tapas bars to choose from all selling so many different dishes! It can be really difficult knowing which ones to try. Here’s a quick rundown of our favourite ones. Remember, you can get cheap flights to Tenerife and go try all this for yourself on a tiny budget.
Alitas de pollo – these are chicken wings
Atun en salsa Rojo – tuna in tomato Sauce
Carne con Papas – meat and potatoes
Chipirones – baby squid brushed with garlic oil and griddled
Chicharrones – cooked pork and crackling, sometimes on wooden skewers
Chorizo Iberico – Iberian pork, a spicy cured sausage
Garbanzos – chickpea stew, strongly flavoured with garlic and spiced ham
Jamon Serrano – sliced traditional pork
Lapas – limpets with olive oil, fresh coriander and garlic.
Olivia – olives, green and black
Paella – traditional rice dish with yellow spices, served with either fish or meat
Papas arrugadas – salty new potatoes- un-skinned. A traditional Canary Island dish.
Pulpo – Octopus. Delicious.
Queso curado – sheep’s cheese in olive oil
Salchichon Iberico – another Iberian pork salami type sausage
Tortilla Espanol –omelette made with potato, onion, and normally served with aioli, a yoghurt and mint sauce
If you are away and fancy sampling some of the local beverages, you can’t go wrong with the local beer. Tenerife makes Dorado, which comes in a brown bottle with a bright red label. Beer comes in small bottles to stop it getting warm in the sun.
Local rum is also worth a taste. Rum may have even been invented in the Canary Islands, way back when sugar cane was a popular export and before the slave trade. Locals drink Cuba Libres, or un Cubata for short. This is rum, coke, fresh lime and lots of ice.
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