Mojo Picón - Spicy Red Sauce for Mojo Potatoes

I have fond memories of enjoying Mojo Potatoes on my visits to Puerto de Mogan in Gran Canaria. They are a speciality of the Canaries.The Canary Islands love their potatoes or papas as they call them.  

Mojo Sauce (Mojo Picón) is usually poured over wrinkled potatoes, which are one of their most popular and well known dishes. Wrinkled potatoes are made by boiling potatoes, which are still in their skins, in heavily salted water until all the water has cooked away. You are then left with soft, wrinkly potatoes with the most amazing flavour and not too salty at all. I just boiled potatoes, before coating them in the piquantly spicy sauce, but I do plan to make them the traditional way another time.

I don't know why I never made mojo sauce before now. I often thought of it, but it wasn't until I was browsing through The Food of Spain by Claudia Roden, that I came across a recipe and decided to make them.

The Food of Spain is the most beautiful cookbook. One of those special books, that are perfect to leave lying around for visitors to pick up and browse through.  A big, heavy book filled with the most beautiful pictures and stories of Spain and it's food.

It is heavy on meat and fish, but I knew that from my visits to Spain and from chatting to my lovely Spanish friend Populo, who hails from Seville.

Saying that, there are still a good few recipes I would like to try:

• Fried Goat's Cheese with Honey (queso de cabra frito con miel)
• Catalan Tomato Bread (pan con tomate) a simple starter that Populo has made for me, simple but utterly delicious
•  Vegetables with a Tomato and Hard Boiled Egg Vinaigrette (verduras de la huerta con salsa vinagreta)
• Spinach in a Bechamel with Hard-Boiled Eggs (espinacas con bechamel)
• Potatoes with Fried Onions, Garlic & Eggs (patatas a lo pbre con huevos rotos) my mother in law, Jean mades a very similar filling for pitta bread, yum!
• Aubergine Fritters with Honey (berenjenas con miel)
• Aubergine with Bechamel and Cheese (berenjenas con queso)
• Creamy Rice with Artichokes, Broad Beans and Peas (arroz meloso con alcachofas, habas y guisantes)
• Baked Rice with Currants and Chickpeas (arroz al horno con pasas y garbanzos)
• Apple Cream (crema de manzana)
• Pancakes filled with Custard (frisuelos con crema pastelera)

Vegetarian Recipe Count 100 out of 209 (with quite a few more that could be adapted)
Vegan Recipe Count 42 out of 209 (the dishes that are suitable for vegans are rather tasty looking, so maybe one to borrow from a library if you are vegan)

The Food of Spain - A Celebration by Claudia Roden

Format: Hardback

Pages: 512

Publisher: Michael Joseph

ISBN: 978-0718157197

Published: 15 Mar 2012

print recipe

Mojo Sauce (Mojo Picón)

Written by Jacqueline Meldrum with kind permission.

Recipe from Food of Spain by Claudia Roden.

June 09, 2012

This piquant, spicy red sauce is a speciality of the Canaries, where they serve it over wrinkled potatoes. It is equally nice served over boiled potatoes for a tasty change from creamy potato salads.

Ingredients

• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed, or to taste
• ¾ tsp hot pimenton picante or cayenne pepper
• ¼ tsp ground cumin
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp white or red wine vinegar
• a pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Mix the garlic, hot and sweet pimenton (or cayenne & paprika) and cumin in a bowl.2. Beat in the olive oil and the vinegar with a fork and add salt to taste.3. Serve over hot or warm wrinkled or boiled potatoes.

Details

Total time: 5 mins Yield: Serves 4

Disclosure Statement: I received this book free from the publisher to review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.