• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Restaurants
    • England
      • London
      • Berkshire
      • Essex
      • Surrey
    • Ireland
    • Montenegro
    • Serbia
    • Spain
  • Travel
    • England
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • Portugal
  • Work With Me

Greedy Gourmet | Food & Travel Blog

Greedy Gourmet is an award winning food and travel blog. Eclectic recipes from all over the world are regularly published, satisfying the blog's audience of adventurous eaters' needs.

22nd September 2016 a) 30 mins or less

Papas Arrugadas

Papas Arrugadas, meaning “wrinkled potatoes” in Spanish, is a typical Canarian dish found across the islands.

Traditional Canarian Recipe

Cook More Spanish Food At Home

  • Rick Stein’s Spain
  • Tapas Revolution
  • 200 Tapas & Spanish Dishes
  • Seasonal Spanish Food
  • A Sherry & A Little Plate of Tapas

The “wrinkled” concept shouldn’t be confused with the manky potatoes that you’ve left in the kitchen cupboard for weeks at a time, which leaves you wondering whether they are still edible. No. Instead the fresh potatoes take on a shrivelled appearance when boiled in heavily salted water with salt ending up lightly encrusted on the skin.

Raw baby potatoes

The Canary Islands might form part of Spain but in spirit it’s more South American thanks to is history spanning centuries ago. One such example is the use of the word “potato”, which is “patata” in Spanish but “papa” on the islands, the same word used in Quechua, the language spoked in the Andes.

Cooking potatoes in pot

Ages ago, sailors used to boil potatoes on ships with sea water. Salt was highly prized in those days and people living far from the beach, in mountainous areas used to reuse salted water over and over again. Today lots of people eat these potatoes for lunch, an ideal snack because the skin keeps the potato intact and can be enjoyed with a range of sauces but with Mojo Rojo and Mojo Verde in particular.

Sea salt with potatoes

Today there are around 26 varieties of potato grown in Tenerife. These are fussy potatoes that somehow prefer this island’s ideal climate with the correct high altitude. Papas Negras, black potatoes, were used in this recipe and is a local delicacy priced at €6.50 per kilogram. Photogenic they are not but once you bite through the skin you are met with bright yellow flesh with a sweet taste and compact texture. A pure novelty, especially dunked in the red and green sauces, originally adopted from the Portuguese Molho de Piri-Piri and Molho Cru, respectively.

Boiled black potatoes

By now you might have given up on preparing this at home because this potato variety can’t be found elsewhere in the world. Fret not, you can use any type of potato, as long as you cook it whole in its skin. New potatoes will work! What is important is that you use sea salt and after draining the potatoes, dry frying them in the pot afterwards. For some reason the potatoes come out perfectly seasoned.

Potatoes with thin layer of sea salt

Authentic Canarian Cuisine

The recipe was demonstrated to me, thanks to Tenerife Tourism, at El Ancla, a plush restaurant based in Kn Arenas del Mar Beach and Spa Hotel, in El Medano. When you enter the hotel you will be struck by its serenity. Why? No kids! This is an adult only hotel, with a windy beach where the Windsurf World Cup is held every year.

Inside El Ancla

Spain is second country on the list who consumes the most fish in the world and they certainly know what to do with octopus. In this case it was seared and served with two types of sweet potato and a red pepper chilli jam. Pure bliss.

Food at El Ancla in Tenerife

The handsome fellows with me are Juan Carlos Clemente on the left and El Ancla’s head chef, Carlos Dominguez, on the right. Hello!

Chefs from Tenerife

On a completely different note, if you like learning about different cuisines and love your potatoes, check out these Polish recipes: Kopytka and Knedle ze Śliwkami.

1 vote

Print

Papas Arrugadas

Prep 15 minutes

Cook 5 minutes

Total 20 minutes

Servings 4

Author: Michelle Minnaar

Canadian Wrinkled Potatoes – learn to cook potatoes the right way.

Ingredients

  • 1l (4 cups) water
  • 120g (4oz) sea salt
  • 800g (2lbs) Old Canarian potatoes

Instructions

  1. Wash the potatoes.
  2. Cook until tender in the salted water.
  3. Drain the water, place back in pot and fry dry on the hob to frost with salt.
  4. Serve with Mojo Rojo and Mojo Verde.

Recipe Notes

Sea water can be used instead of tap water and sea salt.

Whole potatoes should be cooked in their skins.

Courses Side Dish

Cuisine Spanish

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 201.5g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 154

% Daily Value

Total Fat 0.2g

0%

Saturated Fat 0.1g

1%

Sodium 593mg

25%

Total Carbohydrates 34.9g

12%

Dietary Fiber 4.4g

18%

Sugars 1.6g

Protein 4g

6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

save the recipe to your pinterest board

Arrugadas Papas

Categories: a) 30 mins or less

RECEIVE EVERY RECIPE, WIN EXCLUSIVE PRIZES + MORE

Subscribe to our newsletter to not miss out. We don't do spam.

« Keema Matar
Canarian Ropa Vieja »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Renil M. George says

    24th September 2017 at 11:11 am

    this looks so good, thanks for sharing this recipe…

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

RECEIVE EVERY RECIPE, WIN EXCLUSIVE PRIZES + MORE

Subscribe to our newsletter to not miss out. We don't do spam.

Hello! Nice to meet you!

I'm Michelle, former IT and chess nerd, now food photographer, blogger and mother. Favourite things include books, travel and learning. Find Out More…

vueliotop10badge2017

Footer

Stay Connected

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Services

  • Restaurant Photography
  • Recipe Development
  • Food Photography

MORE

  • Contact
  • Copyright & Privacy Policy
mytaste.uk
Foodies100 Index of UK Food Blogs
Foodies100
blogl

Sitemap

  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Restaurants
  • Work With Me

Copyright© 2018 · Cookd Pro Theme by Shay Bocks

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok