Las Canarias V: Fish Spa

That's right, I said fish spa. 

This is my last post about our Canary Island adventure, and it's about a very different cultural experience. When Rob and I went to the playa roja, "fish spa" was not what we had in mind either! 

Blowing through the desert along the south coast between Santa Cruz and Playa de las Americas, Rob and I detoured from the expressway to explore the town of Medano because I had fallen in love with a photo of a windswept red mountain in one of the guidebooks. The town lived up to its image. The red mountain defines the horizon and the beach below it is striking; rust-colored sand sparkles surrounded by an unusual geological wonder: fossilized sand dunes. A beautiful sunset with a full moon exaggerated the beauty of the landscape. Despite the lateness of the hour I persuaded Rob to climb the mountain (or most of it). But on our way back into town we stumbled upon something we weren't expecting.  

When Rob read the words "fish spa" all I could think was, "that's the worst translation we've seen yet!" And that includes some pretty epic fails. 

Upon closer inspection, though, the fish spa really was a fish spa! Although Rob's usually the one to shell out for a tourist thrill (Dad and I owe him our thanks for the crazy boat ride into the Iguazu waterfall!), I had to insist on this one! For fourteen euros we could let a bunch of hungry minnows chow down on our extra foot skin--sign me up! 

Now what would be your first thought if you were considering having your pedicure performed by fish? Would it hurt? Would it bea real-life version of the 1980s horror flick Piranha? For your average, sane person, it would probably be something that never even occurred to us: Would it tickle?

Every passerby within earshot of our fish spa experience knows the answer to this question. It turns out that hundreds of little mouths nibbling between your toes seriously tickles. Whodathunkit. Rob was a man about it, but I spent a good sixty seconds of catharsis completely overtaken by uncontrollable laughter. We actually gathered a small crowd. How is it possible that the tickle factor didn't occur to me? It's almost as unlikely as accidentally buying a plane ticket to the wrong continent. 

Are you ticklish? Would you be able to suck it up for a ridiculously contrived pedicure experience? 

Las Canarias IV: Canarian Cuisine!

Gluttony is my favorite sin, I'll admit it, so I'm always eager to try new things, especially foods that I can share with friends and family back home. In fact, trying new foods is one of my favorite parts of traveling! On our trip to the Canary Islands Rob and I kept pretty busy and consequentially had to grab whatever was available to eat wherever we ended up--and the results were varied. You might remember the photo below, which, believe it or not, was taken at a "Mexican" restaurant. Rob thought he had ordered something like a fajita, but apparently all cuisines come with a side of chips in tourist hell! We had a good laugh at this meal. In the thick of the tourist areas of Tenerife, you will find restaurants of every imaginable ethnicity that all strangely resemble British or German restaurants. If you step outside of the resorts, though, the Canary Islands offer a rich variety of local produce and unique dishes. Here are some of the foods we absolutely loved--

Rob was a little surprised by his dinner!

1.  mojos 

Mojos seem to be the most prolific Canarian flavor--typically coming in "red," which has a little kick, and "green," which is cilantro-based. Rob and I loved them both and deciding which color to bring home was difficult, so we took the easy route and went with both! Mojos can be eaten with bread, on fried cheese, or most traditionally, with potatoes. 

 

Mojos with fried cheese, yum!

2.  papas arrugadas

About those potatoes. The best thing to eat with mojo is papas arrugadas, or wrinkly potatoes! There are a variety of potatoes grown on the island, but the best are patatas negras. They're tiny, delicious, and cooked to salty perfection. You dip them in the mojos and eat them with your hands. My favorite patatas were from a traditional restaurant in Santa Cruz with an exceptionally friendly staff.  The waiter patiently listened to all of my ignorant questions and was happy to explain and share his culture.

Me: "How are the black potatoes different from the regular potatoes?"
Waiter: "They're the same, but better!"

He emphasized the word "better." I guess we'll take the black potatoes! The waiter, as I mentioned, was really friendly and brought us both kinds so that we didn't have to take his word for it--The black ones really were better! 

Black wrinkly potatoes, yum! 

3. goat cheese and almogrote

Two of my favorite foods are cheese and honey, so Tenerife gets extra points for specializing in both! Goat herding is still a very real occupation here, and you're likely to stumble upon at least a few furry specimens if you explore the mountains. Each island offers a unique variety of cheeses cultivated from their milk. Rob and I sampled quite a few at the market in Santa Cruz--And can I just say yum! One variety even won an award for being the world's best cheese. 

My favorite cheesy Canarian dish is called almogrote, which is like a kind of paté made with cured goat cheese, olive oil, olives, and spices--Absolutely delicious! I'll definitely be experimenting to see if I can replicate this at home, or at least I'll make a visit to the North Market in Columbus to chat the cheese man up about it!

Goat cheese and almogrote with malba toast, yum!

4. fresh fish

After an intense hike one day Rob and I were famished and eager to make it back to a particularly delicious smelling place that we had passed in Taganana--the place to go for fresh fish. We were not disappointed. Our meal was served Spanish style: Staring at us from the plate with head, fins, scales and all! A little bit messy to dissect, but oh so good. 

Rob and some fishy friends

5. gofio 

The friendly waiter from the restaurant in Santa Cruz also served us up some gofio, the epitome traditional Canarian cuisine that originates in the days of the Guanche. Gofio refers to a mix of roasted grains, and can be eaten a variety of ways--such as in a stew or spread on toast. We tried it in a sort of honey-loaf form that tasted nutty and delicious!

That little brown round is gofio

 6. cookies

Who doesn't like cookies? In the Canary Islands they are traditional product made from grains that comes in original flavors like herbs and pumpkin. While we explored the visitor's center on the island of La Gomera we stumbled into a room where traditionally styled cookies were just coming out of the oven. It smelled so good we couldn't help but indulge. 

 They tasted as good as they smelled

 7. potajes

Potaje can refer to a number of different Canarian recipes, but is essentially a kind of stew. Rob tried a traditional one made with an assortment of meats and vegetables, which would definitely be described as less soupy and more stewy. I tried a chick pea potaje that was delicious. Other versions are made with ingredients like watercress and lentils, and I've read about varieties made with gofio, too. I only wish I could have tried them all!

8. Carne secreto Ibérico

I'm including this one last because I doubt that it's local to the Canary Islands, but when Rob saw "secret meat" on the menu, we had to ask. It's pork that comes from the special black-footed Iberian pigs, the friendly waiter explained. Sounds delicious--We'll take it! What arrived, however, looked more like our "Mexican" dinner: Steak and chips! They must have confused our order, we thought, but we were also pretty hungry. Who doesn't like a good steak anyways? In fact, it was one of the most delicious steaks we'd ever had! 

Thinking that I had confused my Spanish, I asked the waiter again, "Is this the secret meat?" Yes, yes, he assured us. "But, didn't you say that it was pork?" Yes, he said, it's pork. "But, are you sure that's what this is?" Yes, he went on, with a laugh. It turns out that Iberian pig is incredibly delicious no matter how you cut it!

The source of all the cheesy goodness in the Canary Islands!

I'll say it one more time--Canarian food, yum!

Las Canarias III: Santa Cruz & La Laguna

The north-east peninsula of Tenerife is a world away from other parts of the island. The climate is wetter, the trees are greener, and the cities are bigger. The capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is a proper city with tall buildings and lots of services. Many of the people we spoke with weren't fond of its modern aesthetics, but museums, markets, and quirky restaurants, all within a stone's throw of colonial towns, sunny beaches, and natural trails, made Santa Cruz a win for me. 

The anthropological museum is well known here, and Rob and I were on our way, but accidentally stumbled into the library first, where I was easily distracted by a flyer for an exhibit on Walter Benjamin, who I am familiar with for his writing on translation theory but was curious to know more about. Unfortunately, I was then sidetracked again as we tried to track down this exhibit and we ended up in a very contemporary display addressing gender stereotypes. Not that the exhibit wasn't interesting, but we left a bit dazed and confused and not particularly motivated to focus our attention on other pursuits of higher knowledge. If anyone knows what secret crime the USA perpetrated against Montevideo that could apply to a hypothetical future of the European Union, please explain it to Rob or me. 

Although we only made it to the front door of the museum, the anthropological history of Tenerife is interesting and important. The native peoples are now uniformly referred to as the Guanche, but this is somewhat misleading because the six different islands that make up the Canary chain actually had very diverse cultures. Having lived in the geologically comparable Hawaii where the natives had a highly developed seafaring culture, I was surprised to learn that the Guanche had no navigational skills to note. Genetic markers and linguistic similarities indicate that the inhabitants of the islands were most likely Berbers or other peoples from north Africa who had drifted there by chance, and as a result the communication between the islands was infrequent. My favorite anecdote of this cultural disparity is the treatment of criminal justice. While theft was taken quite seriously on most islands (punishable by head-bashing with rock, eye gouging, etc.), in La Palma there was no consequence, as thievery was instead considered an art. 

As in most stories of colonization, much of the original Guanche culture has been lost. This is especially unfortunate in the case of the language, which was curiously based on whistles. The author of the book I read, though, argues that a significant percentage of contemporary population is genetically linked to the Guanche, and that the culture is still alive and relevant today. Rob and I saw this first hand when it came to the tradition of goat herding. On many occasion our hikes were narrated by the faint sound of goat bells twinkling in the distance, and the goats nearly always left their mark on the trails! And the goat herding culture has had a very important impact on the cuisine: The cheeses! Every island has its own, equally delectable varieties. When I was debating which community to select as a preferred placement I briefly considered the Canary Islands because of how happy I was in Hawaii, and I might have gone through with it if I'd been aware of the abundance of savory goat cheeses! But that's just me.

 

Rob makes crazy mojito eyes with some delicious mojos!

Half an hour by tram from Santa Cruz is La Laguna, a very different kind of place. Nobody will complain that the city is too modern, as San Cristóbol de La Laguna has retained all of its two-story colonial charm. The university is located here, and after an afternoon of meandering I confess that I was daydreaming about applying! It's a colorful city that favors pedestrians, and Rob and I were there on a holiday so the streets were extra crowded. I've also noticed that Rollerblading seems to be making a comeback in Spain, as some trendy people wove around us and through the crowd more than once. We ambled through the streets and Rob waited patiently as I gravitated to a few hip shops, then we followed a churros & chocolate sign into a café where we could people watch. 

We snuck in here to break up our walk with a coffee--it doesn't take too much convincing to assimilate this aspect of Spanish culture!

The natural park to the north-east of these two cities is different from the parks below. The roads are equally as ridiculous and winding (they bring a whole new meaning to scenic byway), but the moister climate means greener trees and a completely different landscape. This is as close as the island of Tenerife comes to a proper forest. Many people continue to live traditional lifestyles here, and I was impressed with their ability to cope with the ups and downs. Literally. Rob and I spent a long while breath-taken at a scenic overlook, during which time we observed that someone actually had a zip-line to their home, and we watched as an ancient man slowly emerged from the hillside and took a seat on the side of the road. We offered him a ride to the next town, and on the way he explained to us that he makes that hike most days: Up the mountain, down the mountain, and back again. I smelled hyperbole, though, when he claimed the trip took him only 20 minutes. An athletic person might take at least an hour, and Rob and I would probably take three, so that hunched-over old man would likely land somewhere in the middle! 

We did our own bit of upward climbing during a hike on the north coast of the park. It started off serene, wandering along the rocky coastline, but after the last small village it took a sharp turn straight up. I was more than flushed by the time we reached the last house, with a tiled address that read "1"--I can't imagine who delivers their mail! The trail continued ten times farther up, conveniently tucked into a valley isolated from the permanent island breeze, but we pressed on and like most challenging endeavors, the view from the top made it all worthwhile!

 

Rob and I were enchanted with this beautiful road carved out of rock, and even more impressed that it lead to nowhere!