BonVivant

What we ate after an 8 hour walk. It was a Sunday and nearly everything was closed in the north but we were prepared and got the food the day before. Fish Papas arrugadas and mojos Another beautiful day on the island born of fire Some photos from the walk: Beautiful aloe. There are several types of aloe plants here and they are extremely common but this is the only one I saw with white thorny border. The one and only time I saw it, in a villager's front garden. I guess islanders don't eat snails. They are absolutely everywhere. So many of them that they look like flowers in a field. New life on a lava rock Finally reached the mirador. We had company so I waited here for awhile. They decided to take their chances having a photo session on a protruding rock. The boyfriend took her instructions as the young miss went into a series of different fake poses. Had to go up and along the side to get to the other side. Another 3 hours from here to get home. One lone palm tree and a big volcano Looking back where we had just come up from. Looks closer and easy but it's not. You can't walk fast in the heat, need to stop often to drink water. One last look as it was our last walk in the north. @heidih, on Lanzarote they use the mojos (picon and verde) for dipping everything in or as condiments. They are brought to your table almost immediately, every time.

Spent a day Düsseldorf this week. 5 of each to make these dark December days a bit brighter. More about Düsseldorf tomorrow. Today: I ate the Bauernmischbrot (farmer's bread half rye) with other things. Bought it at Hinkel baker in Düsseldorf. The pastries are also from Hinkel. Poppy seed "snails". I ate 1 bite for the poppy seeds, the partner ate the rest. We split the quark balls right down in half. I like these as they are not sweet. They don't have a quark filling, the quark is actually in the dough which is deep-fried in hot fat. One of the most popular food items at Christkindlmarkt. Also got some new snacks: peanut "flips". Hinkel bakery is so famous now that there's English language option on their site.

Half way through eating stuff I brought back from Lanzarote so I had better make a couple of photos before it's all gone. From Murcia, Andalucia. Murcia is one of the big producers of these dried/salted fish products. "Smokey" tamari wings. I added some liquid smoke to the marinade. 2 plates of vegetables in the background. Just for fun, ordinary household items or things from a different perspective. One - Two - Three - Four - Five - Six - Seven - Eight - Nine - Ten - Eleven - Twelve

Octopus with gochujang Kale with Korean warm black bean sauce (thinned with some broth) and Korean sesame oil. Already gone through half of the conservas brought back from Lanzarote. Salted tuna from Murcia, Spain. In Andalucia it's served with almonds as part of tapas. At home I like to smear some tomato paste on bread and top it with oil-drenched mojama slices. North Sea shrimp My fishmonger no longer has boxes of 12 oysters, only 25. I ate half today. Can't use chopsticks worth a damn but no problem with snacks as I can grip them.

Got some food to go after returning from a walk. This local restaurant is always full, until closing time. Possibly the best (home-made) food in the north, and reasonably priced as well. All this food lasted 2 days. Octopus salad. I can eat the raw onions grown on the island. Not too sharp and a bit sweet. Saucy meat balls Delighted to see churros de pescado was still available (they usually go fast). Big chunks of meaty fish in a batter and deep-fried. They are a Canarian speciality. I'm not the only one who's enthusiastic about churros de pescado. Spaniards/tourists from the mainland love it, too. Muy rica! Goat stew Nice island wine. Tiny label round the neck. Haria's own hard cheese (to take home). Seller has a vacuum sealer, she knows you'll want to take it home with you. Fruits and herb from an organic produce stall at the weekly market in Haria. The dragon fruit are so juicy and sweet. But the tiny mango is the most incredible. Found only one source with the same photo of sweet marjoram (Origanum majorana) like in photo below. Seller said it's oregano. The most intense and interesting, not to mention pretty, oregano/marjoram I have ever eaten. There's a clear menthol "bite"/taste to it. I took 2 huge bunches home and ate as much as I possibly could in so short a time. Not the bougainvillea and green doors again! They look just like flowers but they are not. Aeonium balsamiferum (?) is native to Lanzarote. It's everywhere in the wild. A lookout on a misty cliff. This is why the north is so green and fertile. Being higher and receiving more rain and mist then the rest of Lanzarote. The mist has cleared a bit, down below is Caleta de Famara village. That's where I'll stay on another trip. @farcego, I did not stray far from the north, where things are much simpler and on a smaller scale. Did not see morena on menu. Maybe on future trips to the Canary islands. Thanks.

Went to the capital again on my last Friday on the island. Chickpeas and corvina Salt cod An Iberico pork cut On the way to the beer bar Visited a supermarket on the way back to the bus station. Bought a few things to take home, including cheese. I looked it up. Apparently, toxic in large doses. How much is a "large" dose then? I want to get rue next time. Sweet potatoes and waxy small potatoes are still grown on the island. Small waxy potatoes are used for papa arrugadas (served with every meal). Conservas! There are a bunch of "high-end" conservas as well as others in different price categories. Grilled steak flavour Also chorizo and truffel The garlic flavoured one is too mild. Never again. But the jamon... they nail it good, the smell and the jamon taste! Another tin of sardines Had to do it once... imitation baby eels. So quaint, so Canarian. Golden (hour) alleyway

Potato noodles and other things. Mince, prawns, bamboo shoots, seaweed, crispy shallots, Oaxaqueños chillies.

Back in (food) hell... North Sea shrimp shell broth Turkish pickled vegetables

Thanks, @Smithy! - - - Bodega La Geria, from the main wine producing heart of Lanzarote. Smooth and full-bodied, and yet not like full-bodied wines from other hot places. (How vines are cultivated on the island: light reading) This island only produces goat's cheeses. From right to left: soft-ish, medium firm and firmer. Roe, pâté-like. The bottom photo on the cover of the guide book is from Haria! All the day-trippers make selfies standing in front of the dripping bougainvillea over snowy-white walls. Many industrial beers from the mainland are also common here. Goat stew. One thinks it's so hot, no appetite for soups and stews. The temperatures outside make no difference, islanders love their soups and stews year round. Octopus served with a green sauce is a typical local dish. All the octopus-loving countries they get it right every time. Octopus is always perfectly cooked. - Nice house with a hanging balcony across the street from my lodging. It has Portuguese and Andalusian influences. Small sloped "roofs" have no tiles. - Only the north has bus stops in this style. Name of the stop on the right, a planter with 2 cactuses, lava rock wall, 2 small seats facing the direction of approaching bus. Streets are clean it hurts my eyes. As mentioned previously, at home we have rubbish and dog crap as national decorations. - From one of the walks, you can see the sea in the photo. So frustrating that they don't make a path all the way to the sea from here. The lava reached the sea, 7 kilometres away, so we could walk there in 90 minutes instead of taking half a day by bus. - We have done numerous walks in the area and seen Haria from every angle and elevation. Haria is such a peaceful green oasis. - This makes my brain happy. Faces, voices, dogs, children, traffic etc my brain can't filter out any of that.

@Duvel, so cute and clever! - - - - The small potatoes they use for Papas Arrugadas in the Canaries are waxy type. These days they are most likely shipped in from Tenerife and/or Gran Canaria. Plenty of people on Lanzarote grow potatoes for own consumption but no longer enough to go round since mass tourism started in the 60's. 3 sauces. I didn't touch the white one, fearing it might be mayonnaise. You always get the standard mojo verde and mojo picon for potatoes and whatever else you order. Limpets Cherne/wreckfish is one of the most common fish in Canarian waters. Very meaty, flesh is firm. Only half a squid! 😅 Blue Dolphin, yes, I use my tins all the time, too. This was from a couple of years back. Smoked sprats, linguine with garlic bread crumbs. My costume today, my dogs', and my baby's.

Almost every jamón you get in Spain and the Canary islands tastes much better than anything money can buy at home. I'm here for a limited time so I try to eat it as often as I can. Mussels in (spicy) vinegar, "escabeche". The beautiful colour comes from paprika. Every time I try to sit outside (my lodging's front garden) I get butchered by mosquitoes and other biting bugs, even through clothes. Day trip to nearby island La Graciosa. Food after biking around the island. "Broken eggs" with jamón Ibérico. Meaty and firm chunks of white fish. "Churros de pescado" is a common tapa on the island. So good. Odd that they have "beef teriyaki" at this little tapas restaurant. Not my choice, but the dish isn't bad at all. Don't like sweet things but I have a soft spot for custardy, wobbly flans (but not Mexican, which is much too firm for my taste). Some photos from La Graciosa island: - The road is sooooo bad. And when you get off it you have sandy paths like this, which is also not good. Easy to slip on loose sand. My bikes in front of a volcano. There are only 2 communities on the island, this one is where the port is located. Streets in the villages are not paved, as are other roads around the island. Typical island houses. - Why tourists are hated around the world. This creature suddenly appears in my photo. OK, I can move or wait until his broadcasting show is over. The very moment he arrives he jumps on a dune and cruelly tramples on the vegetation, kicking it and flattening it to find a comfortable spot! Signs everywhere telling you to respect the natural state of the environment. After flattening the plant he starts his various fake posing positions, and right on cue the girlfriend makes a series of photos. No respect at home and no respect when abroad. Some countries charge foreign tourists an extortionate fee to enter some sites and some of that money goes into hiring rangers or guards to keep an eye on tourists.

Not exactly like the photo on the package. Contains no grainy bits and no squid or any species classified under cephalopoda. It's like a thick stew/soup with vegs and mussels. Squid in own ink. I'm partial to cuttlefish but squid is fine, too. Wine from this island. "Semi sweet" but not too, and quite palatable. I would describe it as "Feinherb", which refers to German Riesling classifications in the system of quality. But of course, it's nothing like (Mosel) Feinherb Riesling, which is complex and sublime. El Grifo is one of the most recognised wine producer on Lanzarote. On this day we did a walk called "Camino de los Gracioseros", which starts in Ye village 2 hours on foot from my base village. To our horror, the entire way down there were only loose lava rocks of all sizes, and also razor sharp rocks, with absolutely nothing to hold on to, and is completely open on one side. All interest in photography was suddenly diminished. I put all my energy into looking at the rocks and be mindful of where I put my feet down. On the way back up I saw a handful of people wearing flimsy fashionable sandals. How did they do it? They must be experienced and highly confident trail walkers. It was a big relief to finally touch the flat ground. Took us 1 hour of walking very slowly and mindfully to get off the trail. Another half an hour to the beach. Just came down from up there! The best beach is an empty one. Took only half the time to get back up. More people were coming down by then, some of whom asked how much farther and if we were mountain goats (for making it back to the start of the trail so quickly). Views from the start of the camino. La Graciosa island is visible from here. Ye is a tiny village at the foot of the omnipresent volcano La Corona. All the tourists come by car, we use the bus and/or walk. Ye village is so rural there are only a couple of bus departures a day. In this photo you can see the typical architecture of Lanzarote... houses are in cube style, starch white, and the roof is flat. Some newer houses have loped roofs, but tiles are rare. Oh, here comes my bus, only 15 minutes late (quite normal). Ye has one restaurant and serves only meat dishes. Tiny potatoes grown in the village. At home they would bin this kind of tiny and 'ugly' potatoes. Tender goat. Leg meat, mostly. Pluma cut of 100% Iberico pork. @Paul Bacino, most tourists take a lunch or coffee break here in Haria (ah-REE-ah) on a half day side trip to the north. I wanted to base up here for the tranquillity and to do walks in the area. We don't want the crowds and noise of the pulsating tourist resorts in the south where most (package) tourists stay so Haria is perfect.

Sorry you didn't get to try the local blood sausage. It's quite a different kind of blood sausage and it's delicious! Nobody knows what I'm talking about unless they have tried it . Drinking, Duesseldorf style. I'm partial to Altbier. After 5 days of Koelsch pub scrawl I could finally slag it off. Koelsch is not for me. I'm no coward, had to do it to find out for myself. I love southern style, too. My first love of German beer began in Bamberg, Franconia. But, in Franconia sitting in a rural Biergarten under a linden tree contemplating the universe and realising how lucky you are to be able to enjoy the little things in life. It's not like drinking yourself into a coma like Oktoberfest kind of event. In awe. Respect, please. Another favourite spot of mine in Duesseldorf for Hausmannkost (home-style food). On the same day they had a football match. This pre football match experience was just as brutal as in Rotherham, but here everyone was calm and considerate. I would not want to experience this again in Rotherham (or Sheffield), where I happened to be on that day, quite unknowingly.

Some snacks after a 5 hour walk. It's a simple local bar in the village's plaza. We went there for the ice cold beer. October is still so hot here. Fried cheese Tuna croquettes Back at my lodging shortly after... Goat's cheese from neighbouring island Fuerteventura. The mojo picon is not "spicy" at all. Something must have gone wrong here. Squid in sauce ("salsa americana"). The sauce is nice and spicy, unlike the worthless mojo picon above. Sliced roe sac, fish species not specified. Radishes from a market stall. Still full of soil and ugly, best of all they are sharp and flavourful like they should be. Supermarket radishes have been modified so much that the sharpness is gone. FYI, re sardinas/sardinillas, the species is not disclosed. Simply "small sardines", as stated on back of the tin under ingredients. - When to they fire up the BBQ? Probably during golden hour, surely can't be sitting outside near a fire in this heat. It's 29C/84F today. - 3 volcanoes seen from this part of my base village alone. The crater of the first one from left is visible. That's the one I walked to first. - Right outside my front door. Streets here are clean and calm. Meanwhile at home, a high-tax "western country", our national decorations are rubbish and dog crap.

A type of razor clams (shorter and wider than the usual jackknife). Good sardines, Spain sources from Croatia. Most of the time they come from Spanish territory. Canarian/Tenerifean black pork. The partner says "told you, we should have gone to Tenerife". Met a Belgian pensioner at a bus stop who whinged bitterly about Lanzarote and how "everything is better and easier on Tenerife". Here on Lanzarote it takes half a day just to travel by bus for 12 kilometres (each way and back. The bus goes only once in a while. Tender octopus Kitchen - Conservas aisle! Tomatoes. - From a recent walk in my area: volcanic farming. My base village seen from the mirador. The trail to the mirador leads you right through terraced farms. Another mirador high on a cliff. From here you can see another part of the island and clearly how arid and barren it is, unlike in the north, where I'm based. @Kim Shook, thanks!

Orzola is Lanzarote's northernmost village. Most people go there to take the boat to a nearby island. A short menu Limpets are served just like I had many times on Madeira, with butter and parsley. Seared cubes of tuna I think sea bream - My base village's plaza. Traditionally the doors and windows can only be painted in shades of green and brown. But in coastal villages I also see blue. Bougainvillea is everywhere. Always lovely and a common sight in warmer climes. - The lava reached the sea here. The best beach is an empty one. - The currents here are notoriously strong. Where it's safe to swim you see (lava) steps and stairs.

Sparkling wine exists but I don't do wine tours so I can't buy it at the winery. Finally found one, in a local shop just down the road from my lodging. Got back at peak time for a meal, no free table so I got some things "para llevar"/to go/takeaway. Mostly prawns, some surimi (the partner ate it) and some mussels. My half of the croquettes (fish and spinach) and tortilla Española. - Saturday is "market day", the only day of the week my base village gets loads of tourists. Long-timers come by car from other parts of the island with big bags for the cheese and fresh produce. - I'm only interested in the cheese/bread/produce stalls. It's a tiny market and these stalls have only a few items. I will get the hard cheeses on next market day to take home. - Fruits and produce come from own gardens. - An interesting looking herb (?). - German pensioners/long-timers all got the chard. I would, too. Fresh and high quality looking Mangold/chard. - Everyone has multiple fruit trees and vegetables in their gardens here. Including these, which they also sell at the local market this morning. Taking a break after 2 hours walking up the mountains. Pastries I got from a market stall earlier. Chocolate and raisin rolls. And "Pretzel". Such an amazing island for volcano enthusiasts. Once deemed an "ugly island". Now Spain's former rivals, back in the Age of Looting ...cough... "discovery"/"conquest", are all here and loving it! Lanzarote, you are a nature's work of art to me! The island has over 300 volcanoes it's possible to see them in almost every direction. And to be able to walk right up to the craters is something special!

Lanzarotian/Lanzaroteños volcanic wine One of the things I enjoy in Portugal and Spain is eating conservas. Octopus is the first tin I open. Tender mackerel Hard goat’s cheese from Gran Canaria island. Most things are shipped or flown in from other Canary islands (and also mainland Spain), even drinking water. The cheese is hard and goaty, a bit like Sicilan percorino. Lovely. Parrotfish is very typical in waters round these parts. As it's extremely arid here the goats love the terrain and they thrive. Lanzaroteños eat goat meat at home, a lot. It's less common to see goat on menu, so when you see it you know you just have to try it. I have eaten it many times at home so I know what to expect (bones, fat, not too much meat, tastes good!). Sizzling garlic Typical red and green sauces of Canary Islands. They are multi-purpose mojo rojo and mojo verde. Every household and restaurant has their own recipe. Almost no meal is without papas arrugadas (wrinkled potatoes, cooked in sea water that gives them a thin white-ish salt crust). My table Las comidas típicas de Lanzarote - Wild cactuses are full of fruit at the moment. I ate them in Morocco in December, also in season there then. - They do have cows after all? The sign looks a bit different... - A glimpse of the sea (Arrieta village) - House on the lava rocks (Arrieta village) - The good Lanzarotean life. (Arrietta village). Women who like to fish (as a hobby), this seems to be very normal here, unlike at home. - Rain in the valley below, seen from my walk on the trail high above.

Concervas/tinned seafood Semi hard goat's cheese and local spicy sauce. Jamón, chorizo and queso fresco/young cheese. The conservas are for the coming days. - Approaching the landing strip. Volcanos e.ve.ry.where. One of the amazing approaches. - Bienvenidos! - Vinhos y mariscos frescas bliss awaits. - My little home for the next 2 weeks. Not gonna cook anything besides boiling eggs and water for coffee, however. - Staying in a village in rural Haria, a green oasis and also the highest area on the island. Much of the island is extremely arid and brown. Golden hour across the street from my lodging.

Still hanging on to summer, even though it's a bit chilly now. Potato noodles cooked with some beetroots.. A bottle of garum I brought back from Sicily. Very noice. This is the clams I brought back from Mexico You have red sauce and white sauce. In the autumn there's yellow or orange sauce. Not sure which squash or pumpkin I used, I have too many. Wilted kale with tinned cherry tomatoes and feta. Hot smoked salmon somewhere in the photo, too. Chili flakes, oregano and feta scattered on the pasta Box of 25 oysters. German Riesling and a nice imperial stout.

Get out of the touristy centre and check out some local atmospheric pubs. My favourite is Päffgen (I have been to their 2 locations). The one not in the centre has a different atmosphere and is full of locals (who occupy all the good seats, of course, or they are reserved for them). Many tourists don't usually go there. Addresses here. Päffgen has a separate, small menu listing a special dish for every day of the week. It should come with the normal menu. Hopefully an employee can help you navigate the menus in German. Make sure you put a beer mat on your half full glass when you know it's your final beer, or a new one will appear as if by magic! (But personally, I wish I could drink them all.)

Bulgarian white cheese (a bit like Feta). From left to right: sheep's milk, bufallo, and goat. Salad ("caviar" lentils, pomegranate seeds, radish and limequat slices) Meatballs cooked in wine and limequats Green papaya salad with cold prawns and noodles. (Frozen papaya shreds from Vietnam) Pumpkin soup with meatballs. Pasilla Oaxaqueños sauce (on right) just elevates everything to another level with their meaty, savoury, intensely smokey, spicy, chocolate-y flavour. New squashes and pumpkins bought this past 2 weeks. Plus 2 more kale. The 2 biggest ones the farm uses as a centrepiece. The garden boss is back! He's highly aggressive and territorial despite his size. Early autumn is the best time for photography. Chestnut. Colour palette. Mushroom, bigger than the width of my boots. Down in the dirt for this one.

Time flies! A year ago I experienced earthquakes in Crete. It lasted 2 days, with hundreds of aftershocks recorded. How it filled me with terror, night and day. I still get emotional when thinking about it. This was a nice meal I had in Crete only half a day before the earthquakes. Cretans love their olive oil. They consume more than 2 leading producers Italy and Spain combined! Salad and wine Snails. One of the most common starters in Crete. Minoans and people on Cycladic islands used to eat snails as a snack. This traditional restaurant in the Cretan capital is approved by locals and people in the know. Greeks eat a lot of goat. Your Greek cookery books probably only mention lamb. Lamb "antikristo" is Cretan shepherd-style lamb cooked on vertical racks arranged around an open fire. (Light reading one, and two.) Farther north in Greece I had the same snails in a tomato sauce. But in Crete they must be cooked in olive oil, vinegar, salt and rosemary. Vineyard snails I brought with me from Santorini. When you are done eating they bring you fruits and/or something sweet. And always raki. It's usually plain but this raki has fruit added. I can't remember if it was strawberries or raspberries. And now at home... salad with Greek olives and feta. Cream cheese filled peppers and quark with roe. Marinated anchovies and smokey aubergine pulp. Potatoes with feta (Cretan olive oil to be added) Not Greek but it's open and has to be finished

King trumpets/oysters in spicy sauce. A crunchy salad and Mexican tortillas On a different day... Fried halibut Salad with feta Small olives are so common in Greece but so hard to find here. I bought skate wings and halibut fillets from a fishmonger and he fried them for me on the spot. The kale is ready. Big photo second row: pumpkin plants reach the path that separates the woods and the farm. Deer tracks everywhere, also next to the kale. So I'm not the only one who eats kale. Monday was the last gorgeous day of summer and whilst everyone chose to sit at cafes' terraces sipping expensive drinks looking at their phones inhaling exhaust we went to the woods and had the whole place to ourselves. Bought 3 more squashes and first 2 kale plants. They release a lot of water. This farmer grows a variety that has a higher sugar content and it remains constant thus the sweetness or flavour is not weather-dependant and can be harvested any time.

Yes, I always share the food with the partner. But I work alone and do almost everything alone (by choice), including cooking. Yes, there's mashed bean curd in the chilli sauce in the dish. So good.