Food and drink

Open-air community barbecue

In festival programmes an «asadero popular» is a community barbecue: meat or fish grilled over embers, often with potatoes and gofio, for the whole village.

Canarian for young goat

A Canarian word of pre-Hispanic origin for a young goat. It is also used affectionately and in the names of events and venues: Tindaya's Baifo Extreme, for instance, is a muddy obstacle race.

A toast offered to everyone present

After the pregón or a tribute the organisers often offer everyone a glass to raise a toast: «brindis para todos los asistentes».

Kid goat, the island's signature meat

Kid or goat meat, stewed with spices and wine or roasted: together with cheese, the hallmark of an island of herders.

Hot chocolate for everyone

A communal snack of thick hot chocolate, often with churros or cakes, offered by the festival organisers.

Fried dough sticks dipped in hot chocolate

Sticks of fried dough, crisp outside, for dipping in thick hot chocolate. At festivals they are sold from a churro stall, often until late at night.

Snack to go with a drink

Enyesque is Canarian for the nibbles that go with a drink: cheese, papas arrugadas, salted fish, olives. An “enyesque popular” is a get-together in the square with something to eat.

Canarian sweet of cornmeal and milk

Frangollo is a traditional Canarian dessert made with maize flour (millo), milk, sugar, raisins, almonds, cinnamon and lemon peel.

Toasted grain flour, a staple of Canarian cooking

Gofio is a flour of toasted grains (maize, wheat or blends), a staple of Canarian cooking for centuries: eaten kneaded with water, milk or broth, in 'pella' and in many desserts. An emblem of island identity.

Fish split open, salted and sun-dried

Jareas are fish split open, salted and dried in the sun and wind: an old way of preserving the catch, typical of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. They are grilled over embers and eaten with potatoes and gofio.

Afternoon snack

The afternoon snack, around five or six. In a programme it means something to eat is offered to participants after the activity.

Canarian sauce, spicy red or green

Cold sauces of oil, garlic, vinegar and spices: red mojo, or picón, with chilli and paprika, and green mojo with coriander or parsley. They go with papas arrugadas, meat and fish.

Small potatoes boiled in very salty water

Small potatoes boiled in their skins in very salty water until it evaporates, leaving the skin wrinkled and dusted with salt. Eaten with red or green mojo, they are the quintessential Canarian side dish.

Nibbles to share

Spanish for small bites to share: cheese, cured meats, olives, fritters. «Con picoteo» in a programme means food is provided. In the Canaries it is also called enyesque.

Hearty stew of meats, chickpeas and vegetables

A slow-cooked one-pot dish of several meats, chickpeas and vegetables such as pumpkin, potato, sweet potato and corn on the cob. The broth often goes into gofio escaldado.

Fuerteventura goat cheese with protected origin

Cheese made from the milk of the majorera goat, with protected designation of origin: fresh, semi-cured or cured, its rind often rubbed with paprika, oil or gofio. It is the island's best-known product.

Traditional Canarian ring-shaped sweets

Traditional sweet rings, fried or baked, often flavoured with aniseed or lemon and sometimes glazed. They are made mainly for festivals.

Salt fish boiled with potatoes and mojo

A Canarian dish of salt fish, often wreckfish, soaked and boiled, served with potatoes, sweet potato, a gofio dough ball and mojo.

Small portion to go with a drink

A small portion of food served with a drink. «Ir de tapeo» or «tapear» means going from bar to bar, or stall to stall, trying tapas; food trails often have a fixed price for a tapa plus a drink.