As a Canary Islander, I am proud to say that times have changed on the island of eternal spring. Once a cheap-as-chips package holiday destination offering full English vending machines, it is maturing into a place with a more sophisticated palette.
I know it’s a bold statement, but it’s backed by a certain tire manufacturer and restaurant official who has awarded the island another two Michelin stars for 2024, bringing the number to nine. Taste 1973 in the resort town of Playa de las Américas and Haydée, set amidst the Renaissance charm of La Orotava, are the latest restaurants praised by the guide. Meanwhile, more than 20 restaurants have been given official approval as recommended by Michelin.
The vast majority of these take Canarian staples like dry-aged fish and give them a gourmet twist; so it’s served with greasy burgers and Haydée’s baby goat (prepared to a traditional recipe) wrapped in banana leaves and marinated for 24 hours. and presented for modern times). Like the age-old Canary classics Ropa Vieja Canary (literally translated as “old Canarian clothes”, but it’s actually a heart-warming chickpea and pork stew) and Conejo and Salmorejo (rabbit with garlic and chilli sauce) is universally loved on the eight Canary Islands – but they don’t quite like it anywhere.
While Tenerife’s restaurants are winning praise, their products and ingredients are also attracting international attention. Canary wines have won nine Grand Gold Medals for their wines at the 2023 Mondial des Vins Extrêmes competition, celebrating local wines created in unique regions.
In fact, the last few decades of fast-food sales may be just a blip in Tenerife’s long history of satisfying taste buds. Canary wine became popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, when Shakespeare featured “a cup of the Canary” in two of his plays (twelfth night And The Merry Wives of Windsor) – the Elizabethan equivalent of product placement.
One of the best ways to get to know the local juice is at the Casa del Vino museum in the seaside town of El Sauzal. Housed in a 17th-century mansion, it offers tastings and a wine shop selling the best of the island’s more than 100 wineries.
Or you can cut out the middleman and go straight for the vine. Head to Bodegas Monje, where clean terraces offer breezy Atlantic views, or Cumbres de Abona, where you can sample my favorite drink, the fruity Flor de Chasna red.
Recognizing the growing interest, Tenerife’s hotels and resorts are offering food-themed holidays with add-ons such as cooking lessons or art and wine workshops (where you can taste the good stuff and get a tipsy hand at the souvenir masterpiece). Alternatively, you can browse the island’s numerous farmers’ markets in search of the island’s most famous food item: cheese.
There were tears at the 2023 World Cheese Awards and mothers were thanked for each of the 38 medals awarded to Quesos Canarios. You’ve never tasted goat cheese until you’ve tried the local version, with some of the ubiquitous green mojo sauce in Tenerife.
Four more surprising destinations for foodies
Malta
For such a small island, Malta has a large number of Michelin stars, six in total. Three of these are for chefs cooking in the sadly underrated capital city of Valletta. Best of all is ION Port, where views of the Grand Harbor are as beautiful as chef Simon Rogan’s seasonal dishes. There are also cheaper places to eat that focus on the island’s unique blend of Italian and Arabic flavors, resulting in dishes like rabbit stew made with freshly caught dolphin and lampuki pie. The best are at Gululu, in an unusual waterside location amidst the skyscraper hotels of the resort town of St Julian’s.
Crete
Thousands of years before the Britons adopted drinking on the island, the Minoans gave us Linear B, the language from which the ancient Greek word “gastronomia” is derived. This goes some way to explaining Crete’s rich culinary heritage and a new type of tourism that has emerged as a result: the island’s pies, wines and preserved cheeses have even inspired a special tour from cultural excursion purveyor Martin Randall. For traditional cooking done to perfection, head to Ntounias near the town of Chania. Here, the chef recreates his mother’s and grandmother’s recipes over a wood fire and serves homemade raki on the side. We are waiting for snails with rosemary and lamb meat that melts in your mouth.
Nerja, Costa del Sol
What this Costa del Sol town lacks in flashiness, it makes up for in paella. Along the lively strip behind Burriana beach, where marauding toddlers run to the playground and extended families loll around, is the town’s standout, Ayo Nerja. Here, guests sit at plastic tables in a sandy, unadorned garden and patiently wait for large portions of the restaurant’s famously delicious rice dish, dispensed from giant pans. Although Nerja has its share of cafes and Irish pubs serving British cuisine, there’s also a thriving tapas scene on the streets of the Old Town. The most atmospheric place is La Tasquita del Sevillano (00 34 951 32 51 19), where two floors of cramped space open onto a terrace offering romantic views over the rooftops.
It may be gaining traction in the UK as an affordable beach destination, but Albania has a long history of delicious food and it’s cheap as chips. The country’s thriving riviera is not (yet) a place full of Michelin stars, but rather a destination for sampling simple local delicacies: mussels picked from Lake Butrint; freshly made beach snacks petula (fried dough) topped with gloopy syrup; or grilled octopus served in the Ibizan-style setting of Sanur Beach House, on the sands of the whitewashed and lively seaside town of Dhermi. Meanwhile, a slow food scene is emerging inland. About a 20-minute drive from the coast, Agroturizëm Gjepali is a hotel, restaurant and winery focusing on local ingredients and grape varieties.