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LIFE IN FUERTEVENTURA, What to see in Fuerteventura ?
The gofio in Fuerteventura.
Feb
Canarian gastronomy is very diverse and has evolved differently on each island. All of them have unique delicacies, which make our cuisine authentic and cosmopolitan. There are some dishes that the eight islands share. Among them, we cannot fail to mention the papas arrugadas or the gofio. We could say that these two elements, together with the mojos (red and green) are the most recognizable signs of Canarian cuisine.
The gofio has not stopped being present, in the autochthonous cuisine, since the aboriginal times. For a few decades, gofio has been used by new chefs in a multitude of preparations. They have known how to adapt to the trends of the sector, contributing new concepts to Canarian gastronomy.
What is gofio?
Gofio is a coarse flour, which is made with grains of certain vegetables, previously toasted, mainly cereals and legumes. There are millet gofios, wheat, spelled, oats, barley, with chickpeas, multigrain, … It is a totally integral food, rich in minerals that contains calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, sodium, iodine and vitamins A, B1, B2, C and D. It has fiber and little fat, and it is recommended for sports because of its high carbohydrate content.
Since when is gofio eaten in the Canary Islands?
Gofio is a food that has been made and eaten since ancient times. The barley gofio was part of the diet of the Canarian aborigines, in all the islands.
This food was one of the first agri-food transformations of the aboriginal economy, for this, toasted cereals were ground with stone mortars and hand grinders. In Fuerteventura they used, mainly, the naviform mortars, which were the most common in the Neolithic Berber culture. We can still see some of these gadgets in the new Archaeological Museum of Fuerteventura, in the Center of the Tiscamanita mills, and in various archaeological sites on the island.
After the Castilian conquest, wheat was introduced, and after the Discovery of America, corn arrived in the Canary Islands.
In Fuerteventura the gofio that is most consumed is that of mixed wheat and barley. Until a few decades ago, gofio was made at home. Each home had a small hand mill, where the roasted grain was taken for grinding.
These small mills were placed in the kitchens of the houses. They consist of two stones or grinding wheels of about 35 centimeters in diameter. The lower stone is fixed while the upper one revolves, moved by a stick or shaft.
Both stones have a circular hole in the center to be fitted with a cylindrical object that fixes both parts, thus facilitating their mobility.
The grain is thrown into the upper central opening, the grains being trapped between the two stones. When moving the upper stone, the grains are ground, the gofio coming out of the edges.
Grinding the grain to make gofio was, for many young people, a meeting and socializing point. Boys and girls met at someone’s house to make gofio and thus be able to “fall in love”, which is how they say, in the Canary Islands, to woo a girl..
The furtive glances turned into smiles. It was used to get to know each other better, and to flirt. It was the perfect occasion for the already formed couples to hold hands.
How to eat gofio
Gofio is a very versatile food supplement. With milk, and kneading are the traditional ways of eating gofio. Luckily, the days are gone when, for breakfast, there were only huge bowls of milk with gofio, and in the middle of the morning, pellas de gofio, which, in order not to choke, were helped by a few generous shots of wine of the country.
It can be enjoyed with fish, meat, and in desserts. The escaldón de gofio, or to accompany the sancocho, are perhaps the traditional dishes par excellence, where this ingredient takes all its prominence. On each island they are made in different ways.
As a dessert, the gofio is used to make mousses, cookies, alfajores, cakes and ice cream.
Gofio is also used as a substitute for wheat flour, to make batters.
Where to buy gofio?
Today, most of the supermarkets in Fuerteventura have a wide variety of gofios. Many of them made in Gran Canaria and Tenerife. However, in Fuerteventura there is the only mill, in the Canary Islands, in operation in which gofio is made by hand. This mill is located in La Asomada, very close to the capital of Majorera. Both in the mill itself and in the different museums on the island you can buy the excellent gofio made by Francisco Cabrera.
What is the gofio of cosco?
The cosco (Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum) is a plant that grows wild in the majorero fields. It was collected and exported for centuries. It was used to obtain caustic soda, with which soaps, dyes were made and particularly, for the manufacture of good quality glass.
During the famines that occurred in Fuerteventura, the ingenuity of the Majoreros knew no limits. Gofio was made with the seeds of the cosco. Of course, the procedure to do it was quite laborious and few seeds were removed from each bush.
The cosco bushes were taken to the sea, leaving them to soak in puddles. In this way they were able to open the capsules where the plant keeps the seeds. Still in the Majorera toponymy, places near the coast with the name of “lavadero de …”, where this activity was carried out.
Once the seeds were removed and dried, they were roasted and ground, obtaining a meager gofio that helped to get through the hard postwar years.
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