Gran Canaria for 
Farmhouse Products
Gofio
The origins of gofio date back to the Canary indigenous.
Flour made from grinded wheat or corn, during centuries it has formed the nutritional base of the Canary population.
It can be stated that gofio is very useful in the Canary cuisine, like coffee with milk and gofio, or vegetable stew with gofio. Also it is used in more ellaborated recipes like scalded gofio or kneaded gofio, and is equally included in the newest recipes of Canary cuisine like gofio mousse and the gofio crème caramel.
Mojos and Marinades
These sauces are made with a base of garlic, salt, oil, vinegar and spices, and are used as accompaniment of most Canary dishes, especially those with a mild or sweet flavour. Among the mojo, the red and green mojos stand out.
The red one is mainly used with meats and papas arrugadas, and the green type is more used with fishes, though there is a great variety of mojos that differ one from another basically due to their added herbs or spices.
The marinades consist in grinded garlic, salt and oil that give taste and are used to cook all types of meats and fishes.
Pork Products
Traditionaly they were prepared at home, for own consumption, during the period of animal slaughtering.
This tradition is practically extinguished, but it has given place to the marketing of several products produced by small family industries that continue using the traditional recipes.
Among them, both the chorizo of Teror, in its different varieties (white or red), mainly employed to spread it on bread, and the sweet blood sausage, stand out.
Pastries
Confectionery in Gran Canaria has a great variety of products, among which we can point out the Bienmesabe (paste of almonds), marzipans of La Cumbre or the sponge fingers of Moya, also known as “Moya sighs”.
There are some exquisite pastries, traditionally linked to Christmas Season though they can be enjoyed all the year throughout, like the meat pies and the truchas stuffed with yam or sweet pumpking filling.
Cheese
Gran Canaria has a broad production of cheese, counting with a lot of varieties and flavours depending on the area of the island.
They are both industrially produced and farmhouse cheeses, made with milk of goats, cows, sheep or mixing various types, and the climatic characteristics of each area give them their particularities.
There are four area groups of cheese production in Gran Canaria: The Southern cheeses, the cheeses of La Cumbre (mountainous centre part) and the Southern and Eastern Medianías , the Northern cheeses and the cheeses from the Centre Medianías.
There are certain special cheeses that stand out, like the Cheeses Flor de Guía, with the particularity that it is elaborated with rennet from the flower of the cotton thistle.
They can be found in different varieties: fresh cheeses (of mild taste that must be consumed in short), half-cured cheeses (with a greasy texture) and cured cheeses (with a strong and fairly spicy taste).
Wines and Liquors
In the island of Gran Canaria there are wines of excellent quality, ideal for washing down any meal.
These wines have received two Spanish O.D. (origin denomination) certifications of their quality, which are “Monte Lentiscal” and “Gran Canaria”.
On one side, the wines with O.D. “Monte Lentiscal” come from, as its own name indicates, the area of El Monte Lentiscal, in the inland zone and produce young, red and white wines, very fruity and with a strong bouquet. On the other side, wines with O.D. “Gran Canaria” are produced in different areas of the island excepting the zone of El Monte Lentiscal. This variety includes both red and white wines, being in general, young and fruity.
Apart from wines, in Gran Canaria there is a strong tradition regarding farmhouse production of liquors, especially “Rum”, which started to be prepared when the farming of sugar cane was introduced in the Island, later becoming an integral part of our culture.
Nowadays the Rum production has been industrialized and new genuine products have been created, like for instance the Cacao, Hazelnut or Coffee Liquors, the Banana or Honey-Rum Creams, which have experienced a great success.
