where the volcanoes create Canary Islands...

unique gastronomic experiences

The Canary Islands provide you with the opportunity to enjoy a tasty experience during your holiday…

discover and enjoy their rich culinary tradition.

The Islands’ cuisine is a reflection of their volcanic origin, the purity of their land and products, their traditions and the influence of other cultures and eras.

Canary Islands... where the volcanoes create unique gastronomic experiences.

Ourcheeses

Canary Island cheese is part of our cultural heri-tage, and a jewel in our culinary crown. Clear evidence of its excellence can be found in its acknowledgement on an international scale, with Canary Island cheeses having won 43 World Cheese Awards since 2003.

The Canary Islands is the Spanish region with the greatest production and consumption of goats’ cheese, and our “Queso Majorero” was the first to obtain Protected Designation of Origin status.

The main reasons why Canary Island cheese is an unforgettable experience for the most demanding of palates are: the fact that it is made by means of traditional processes, the islands’ magnificent herds of autochthonous livestock (largely, goats and sheep) and the large variety of local plants which, used as part of the animals’ diet, give our cheese unique aromas and flavours which are different on each specific island.

The origin of cheese in the Canary Islands was probably the production of sour milk cakes similar to those made in some part of northern Africa today. There is evidence that cheese-making was well known in the 15th century and, when the Canary Islands were annexed to the Crown of Castile, these cheeses were so appre-ciated that they were even used as currency.

The goats’ milk most commonly used when making cheese in the Canary Islands, has unique qualities and great personality. In some of the islands, it is mixed with cows’ milk.

Canary Island cheeses are made by means of traditional processes which have passed on, like a valuable legacy, from one generation to another.

Their origin

The raw material

Production

The process starts with approximately 7 litres of raw milk, in order to obtain just 1 kilogram of this extraordinary product. The animals are usually milked, and the milk filtered, by hand. Cheese is made by enzyme-based coagulation from suckling pig rennet, although some high-quality cheeses use thistle (Cynara sp.). The resulting mixture is pressed but not cooked, thus main-taining its excellent original properties.

Depending on their degree of ripeness, the product is sold as fresh, tender, semi-cured and cured. In the Canary Islands, semi-cured and cured cheese is usually either smoked or coated with olive oil, gofio, paprika or flour.

OurWines

Vine growing and wine making were brought to the Canary Islands by the conquerors in the 14th and 15th centuries, and the different varieties soon adapted to the gentle climate. So popular were Canary Island wines in Europe that their exports made fortunes for local growers and wineries throughout the 16th century.

The Canary Islands is now home to an incomparable range of grape varieties. Some of the best wine is made from “malvasía” and “listán” grapes.

Wine is one of our best letters of introduction: a glass of malvasía or listán is an example of the way that Canary Islanders respect and care for their environment, providing a volcanic experience of the senses.

In the Canary Islands, vineyards are an integral part of the landscape. They occupy approximately 10% of the land used for crops, although the yield per acre is quite low, because of limited rainfall and the fact that this land is still worked by hand. Vines grow on volcanic soil, fertile, light, permeable, rich in mineral nutrients and with a somewhat acid pH.

The vineyard

Vines benefit from the local climate, with limited rainfall and long days of sunshine. The trade winds, loaded with humidity, blow practically all year around, clearing and refreshing the atmosphere, and reducing the heat, ensuring average annual temperatures of 18ºC-24ºC. Vines are found everywhere on the islands, except on Fuerteventura, where there are only a few occasional vineyards.

The islands house nearly 100 catalogued varieties. As Phylloxera never reached the are, its vines are pure and long-living.

ProductionLocal wineries use state-of-the-art technologies to obtain high profile wines. Different white, rosé and red wines are made, depending on each island’s different conditions and microclimates.

The yeast in the must undergoes alcoholic fermenta-tion in tanks at low temperatures, thus obtaining the slow transformation of sugars into alcohol, producing wines with specific characteristics.

The islands and their cheese

Tenerife

Gran Canaria

Fuerteventura

Lanzarote

La Palma

El Hierro • Cheese made from a combination of different milks, as combined herds are common on the island.• The most traditional cheese is finally smoked with dried cactus leaves and the wood from fig trees, providing a peculiar, strong aroma.• A salt-free cheese is made from cows’ milk, in order to make a typical dessert called “quesadilla”.

• Cheese made from whole raw milk from palmera goats fed on grass. • Most of the production is either tender or smoked.• It has the “Queso Palmero” Protected Designation of Origin. • One culinary curiosity is the small “Queso de Cañizo” cheese that ripens in the smoke produced by cooking.

El Hierro

La Gomera

This island has a complicated layout, with altitudes of up to 4,500 feet above sea level. Grapes are grown in valleys and on hillsides, so they ripen at different times. The vineyards have to be worked by hand and the main varieties are verijadiego and white listán; the island is known for its dry white wines. El Hierro grows one of the best grapes in the Canary Islands, the black baboso. The wine produced on the island is covered by the El Hierro Protected Designation of Origin.

La Palma On this island, with its pronounced gradients, vines grow on narrow terraces, occasionally with a coating of volcanic ash (known as picón) supported by stone walls. The most appreciated grape variety is malvasía, used to make sweet wine. Also interesting are the wines made from albillo, sabro or exclusive tea grapes. The island’s production is included in its own Protected Designation of Origin.

Because of the island’s physical geography, vines are grown on stone walled terraces built with considerable effort on hillsides, creating an impressive work of art and unique landscape. The most representative grape is the white forastera, which is used to make exceptio-nal white wines.

The islands and their wine

La Gomera • Cheese made from raw goats’ milk, occasionally mixed with sheep’s milk.• The cheese is cured for a long time before it reaches the market.• They are usually small cheeses.• Typical of this island is a spicy cheese pâté called “almogrote”.

Tenerife

Gran Canaria

Fuerteventura

Lanzarote

• Cheese made with raw goats’ milk. • It is normally eaten when fresh.• The end product has interesting properties, as the different goats have adapted to different parts of the island.

• Cheese made from three kinds of milk: goat, sheep and cow.• Most of them are semi-cured or cured.• It has the “Queso de Flor de Guía”, “Queso de Media Flor de Guía” and “Queso de Guía” Protected Designations of Origin.

• Cheese made from the raw milk of “majorera” goats• “Queso Majorero” Protected Designation of Origin (first goats’ cheese to obtain such protection in Spain).• Livestock continues to be bred in a semi-intensive manner: the animals are rounded up once a day for milking and supple- mentary rations, and spend the rest of the time ranging freely.

• Cheese made from raw goats’ milk.• It is coated with a layer of paprika or gofio.• It is normally eaten tender and semi-cured.• It has been made for centuries as a basic part of the local diet.

Tenerife

Lanzarote

Gran Canaria Grapes are grown in two very different areas: the low zone and the high zone. The first produces structured red wines and warmer whites. In the high zone, red wines have a reduced robe, with berry-like aromas, and the white wines are fresher. The predominant grape varieties are black listán, negramoll and white listán. The Gran Canaria Protected Designation of Origin covers a large variety of wines.

An island of little rainfall, its vines grow in holes dug into volcanic ash, protected from the wind by stone barriers. This system, the only one of its kind in the world, has been used since the 18th century. They are cared for by hand, and the predominant variety is malvasía, which produces excellent dry white wines. The Lanzarote Protected Desig-nation of Origin covers all the wine produced on the island.

Tenerife produces the most wine of all the islands, and has five Designations of Origin: Abona, Valle de Güimar, Valle de la Orotava, Tacoronte Acentejo (the first to be created in the Canary Islands) and Ycoden Daute Isora. Each production zone is characterised by its weather conditions and growing system. Grapes are grown in the midland areas and on peaks, from the sea to the slopes of the Teide. White listán, black listán, negramoll and tintilla grapes are used to make extraordinary white and red wines.

Combinations of Canary Island cheese and wine

As a general rule, a cheese’s characteristics (how salty it is, the type of milk used, whether it is smoked or cured) have a huge impact on the best wine to serve with it. Gentler, smoother, fresher cheese is best with light, demi sec and “fruity” wine from any of the Canary Islands’ Designations of Origin.

Hard wines, however, require strong wines with personality. The recommended combinations are sweet malvasía wines, sweet muscatel wines, sweet wines made with black listán or negramoll and a sweet red made with the black baboso variety.

Semi-cured goats’ cheese calls for wine with some acidity and more personality, made from malvasía, gual, albillo or forastera grapes. If they are blends, they can be served with more complex, blended wines or with young red wine made from carbonic maceration. Tender and fresh cheeses are also perfect with these wines, although they can also be served with sweeter options.

Smoked cheese or types coated with paprika or gofio can be served with white wines that have spent some time in the cask, such as white listán or malvasía grapes grown in high areas. Another attractive combination is with young, fruity, rosé wines.

Finally, the singular cheese made with rennet of vegetable origin, such as Flor de Guía with its specific bitter hints, is perfect with the islands’ exceptional sweet wines, from malvasía to muscatel, including sweet reds.

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