How to make perfect papas arrugadas

Papas arrugadas — often rendered, rather inelegantly, as “wrinkly potatoes” — are a Canary Islands speciality eaten as a snack with drinks rather than a mere side. The first potatoes to reach Europe passed through the Canaries from Peru, and the islands’ rocky soils helped establish a long history of cultivation.

For this preparation use small new potatoes with thin skins; boil them in very salty water until salt crystals cling like frost and serve with a fiery mojo that shows the islands’ Portuguese and African influences. Originally the tubers were cooked in seawater, and most recipes today call for coarse salt rather than fine, which can give an unpalatably sharp result.

Opinions on quantity vary: Fedac suggests a quarter of the potatoes’ weight, Frank Camorra recommends about 20g per kilo, Jill Norman proposes a fifth, and the recipe here moderates that to roughly a sixth.

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