Each week Katie and I purchase a Spanish item we either don’t understand or find looks a bit interesting. Here’s the beginning of our culinary appetite in Gran Canaria, what we found and what it all tastes like…
Tinned Octopus ****
This was to be our starter, we chewed into the pinky-grey rubber
This wasn’t so much a question of taste as total excitement that you could buy the stuff in a tin, like baked beans. It was sort of exotic and looked rather weird with tentacles. This was to be our starter, we chewed into the pinky-grey rubber and if nothing else the smell made us wince. Its a sad 4/10 and was left in the fridge for another 3 days until the spotty legs made its way to the bin.
Papaya ****
Pa-pay-ah!
Fresh fruit that has a cool name: Pa-pay-ah! For some reason we let it sit for a week and only ate it when it began to look bruised. In the end it smelt of bad feet and tasted the same, as Katie noted, ‘Oh yeah, I think I remember, this isn’t actually that nice.’
It had a bright orange appearance, kind of like butternut squash, and so for that reason it gained a few more points.We meet you in the middle at 5/10.
Tarta de Queso *****
We found this in the cheese section, hence ‘queso’ (cheese), and was as big as a protractor. But the name also says ‘tarta’ (cake), which you wouldn’t find in the cheese aisle, but a desert section. Hugely confusing and to this day we’re unsure if this is a desert or cheese and cracker deal. For me it missed flavour and felt grainy; there weren’t even shortbread crumbs at the bottom. Katie loved it and managed the whole thing – whatever it was, this savoury desert got 5/10 from me and 10/10 from Katie.
‘Oh yeah, I think I remember, this isn’t actually that nice.’
Patisserie *********
After 2 ½ hours of shopping we decided to treat ourselves to some goodies. They looked like those pan-o-chocolate pastries; only there’s so much more going on. They were gooey with raisins and were the size of pencil cases. Truly wonderful and much enjoyed: 10 out of 10. Good for breakfast, lunch, dinner or pudding – every hour of every day you will appreciate this culinary delight.
