One dish that features most commonly on restaurant menus on Tenerife is papas arrugadas con mojos, wrinkled potatoes with sauces. The potatoes are cooked in their skins in heavily salted water. After draining, they are shaken in the same pot over heat to obtain their characteristic wrinkled and salty appearance.

The Canary Islands have several ancient varieties of potatoes, introduced there directly from South America by ships on their way back to Europe. The most prized ones are papa bonita and papa negra.

The potatoes are served with red and green mojo, which is a sauce of olive oil, vinegar, garlic, cumin seed, salt, and red or green chillies. The red version also contains smoked paprika, while the green version includes parsley or cilantro. The word mojo is derived from the Portuguese molho, and it is a mere linguistic coincidence that it sounds similar to mole from Mexico, which was derived from an indigenous language.

Papas bonitas or papas negras are not available here. As you are eating them with skins and the flavor of the potatoes is important, it is best to find the newest potatoes possible, recently harvested. The amount of sauce is sufficient for about 3 kilos (7 lbs) of potatoes.

Ingredients

• small potatoes with skin
• coarse salt

For mojo rojo (red):

• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 red chillies
• 1 Tbsp sweet smoked paprika
• 1 tsp hot smoked paprika
• 1 Tbsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp coarse salt
• 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For mojo verde (green):

• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 green chillies
• 1 Tbsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp coarse salt
• 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 15 grams (1/2 cup) fresh parsley leaves or cilantro

Instructions

Place 1 tablespoon of cumin seeds and 1/4 teaspoon of coarse salt in a mortar and use the pestle to reduce them to a fine powder.

Add 2 chopped garlic cloves and 2 chopped chillies (red for the red mojo, green for the green), and pound into a fine paste.

For the red mojo, add 1 tablespoon of sweet smoked paprika and 1 teaspoon of hot smoked paprika, as well as 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar and 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

For the green mojo, add 15 grams of chopped parsley leaves (or cilantro) and pound until reduced to a paste. Then add 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar and 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Stir to mix.

Clean the potatoes if they are sandy, as you will be eating them with their skins. Place them in a pot in which they fit snugly, barely cover them with water, and add 20% coarse salt by weight. For 900 grams of potatoes, I used 1 litre of water and 200 grams of salt.

Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Check this with a fork. Drain the water and do not rinse the potatoes.

Shake the pan over low heat until the white salt crust is visible on all sides and the skins have wrinkled. Serve the potatoes with the mojos.