Canarian ‘Papas con Mojo Cilantro’

Earlier today, as my mind wandered to memories of days spent in warmer climes, I hit upon an idea – why not cook my way back to some of the lovely places I’ve been to around the world? I always collect up recipes when we travel so why not?

Let’s start today with a really simple and well known Canarian dish – Potatoes with Green Mojo Sauce, or if you’re local ‘Papas con Mojo Cilantro‘. I first tried this dish on holiday in Lanzarote in April 2012 and the flavour takes me right back to sunny afternoons supping cold beer in bars facing the beach. The holiday was a last minute Groupon purchase and whilst the accommodation wasn’t totally grim, it certainly wasn’t the 5* apartment block the pushy timeshare salesman pitched it to be at the ‘mandatory welcome meeting’. Still, all that aside, we managed to dig out some nice places to eat in among the English bars and curry houses and ended up having a really lovely holiday.

This would serve 4 as a snack:

Ingredients:

• 2 lb small new potatoes, skin on
• Coarse sea salt (eg Malden)
• 1 clove garlic
• Olive oil
• White wine vinegar
• Ground cumin
• A handful of fresh coriander

Method:

• Clean the potatoes but don’t peel them or chop them. They need to remain whole. Put in a saucepan with 2 tbsp of coarse sea salt and boil for 20 mins or until cooked through (Test: if they drop off the knife, they’re done).
• Drain the water and leave the potatoes to dry naturally in the pan.The salt will give them a crispy layer.
• Whilst they are drying, make your mojo sauce. Peel and mash the garlic in a pestle and mortar.
• Mix in a tsp of cumin, a dash of white wine vinegar and a tsp of coarse sea salt. Form a paste.
• Add finely chopped coriander and slowly add olive oil to make a vibrant and potent green sauce.

On its own, the sauce will be killer! Very garlicky and highly fragranced from the cumin. The beauty is how this goes with the potatoes. Drizzle it over them and eat them hot or cold. To make a red mojo sauce, add paprika and red peppers, using a blender to puree the peppers. Enjoy!