Gofio is a typical food from the Canary Islands that looks like flour and is made from roasted and ground cereals. Can be millet gofio or corn gofio, wheat gofio, mix or multigrain. There is even a gofio made of 7 cereals or with legumes such as chickpeas. This can be taken simply mixed with milk for breakfast, in stews or puree during main meals. Also in somewhat more elaborate dishes such as recipe of gofio mousse or of the escaldón. Below we give you more details about this basic food in the diet of canaries and their ancestors.
What is the Canarian gofio
The history of gofio dates back to pre-Hispanic times. It was one of the main foods of the Canarian aborigines made from barley grains and other roasted cereals. Once roasted, they were ground manually in stone mills. They called this flour "gofio" and also "ahoren" (the latter only to barley). Since then, both its name and the custom of including it in the daily diet have been maintained to this day in the Canary Islands. Over the years, other types have been introduced, such as wheat, millet or corn, and are currently one of the most common. Likewise, you should know, that in times of famine, the Canarians came to make gofio from the root of the fern (Pteridium aquilinum), a very abundant plant in almost all of the Canary Islands.
Nowadays, gofio made from fern and barley is practically forgotten. Also Some of the phases of the production process of this superfood have been mechanized. Of course, always preserving part of the artisanal process inherited from the master millers. However, as is the case with almost all processed foods, there will always be some gofios that are more artisanal than others. Below we show you a old mill from the 16th century that we can visit in the town of Firgas.
Gofio properties
Although it is a slightly processed food, it is really made from 100% natural ingredients without additives, sugars or preservatives. That is to say, It usually consists basically of whole grains, seeds and legumes as we show you below. Therefore, we are faced with a food of high nutritional value, since it provides a wide variety of essential nutrients. Hence Many Canarian families incorporate gofio into their children's diet from a young age.. In the Canary Islands, gofio is a clear substitute for other more processed and commercial flours used to mix with milk in bottles.
Similarly, Canarian athletes usually consume it given the good amount of carbohydrates and low fat content it provides.. It is recommended to consume both before training so that it gives you enough energy and you can perform, and after exercising so that recovery is faster. On the other hand, there are also typical gofio energy bars or “gofi bar”, but here we are already faced a more processed food and, therefore, less healthy, because it contains sugars such as glucose syrup and chocolate.
Finally, as it is mainly made up of 100% whole grains, This toasted flour serves as an intestinal regulator due to its high fiber content.. That is, it will help you go to the bathroom.
Recipes with gofio and uses
In addition to take it for breakfast with milk and mixed in stews such as watercress, there are several typical canarian dishes made from this Canarian flour. And, as you can read in the following lines, you can eat it in both sweet and savory dishes. In the case of sweets, the gofio mousse and the pella stand out.
Although we can say that the pella can be sweet or salty and even combining sweet and salty flavors. This is the case that we show you below, the pella has kneaded gofio, milk, cheese and honey or cane molasses. In Gran Canaria we also usually add dried fruits such as almonds.
As regards savory recipes, the The clear protagonist is the blanched gofio or escaldón, which is mainly made by adding fish broth or meat broth to the flour. (for example, from the canary pot). In Gran Canaria It is usually taken accompanied by red onion and some fried garlic as shown below. On the other hand, there are islands like La Palma that add pieces of cheese, pepper, meat...
We hope that after this mini masterclass about what gofio is has been helpful to you. One thing has become clear to us after visiting the Islands with friends from abroad, either you love it or you don't like it at all. Above all, it usually costs more for those who are not used to eating it since they were children. We encourage you to start by trying it the easiest way, a delicious gofio mousse. If you like it, even if it has nothing to do with the flavor, you can cheer yourself up with a blanched gofio, in as much as In practically all Canarian food restaurants you can try it.
Where to buy it outside the Canary Islands
Product It is present in all supermarkets in the Canary Islands, regardless of the chain in question. We do not know if you can get it in a Mercadona in Madrid or Carrefour in Málaga, but if you want Buy gofio online and find it on Amazon.
Video about the different uses of gofio
Below we leave you with a small video of our YouTube channel with the main uses of these roasted and ground cereals.
Where to have the best gofio scalding in Gran Canaria?
According to our community of Instagram @welovegrancanaria, the best blanched gofio in Gran Canaria can be enjoyed in the following restaurants:
- The Blonde, Melenara (Telde)
- Finger of God, Puerto de Las Nieves (Agaete)
- Perico Junior, Hoya del Pozo (Telde)
- Bar Ca' Manolo, El Madroñal (Santa Brígida) – made with meat broth
- El Escondite, Valsequillo
- The Marinera, Las Canteras (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria)
- Brotherhood of Taliarte (Telde)
- La Marisma, El Altillo (Moya)
- La Catedral Bistro, Arucas
- Los Chorros, Firgas
And finally, our favorite in Liágora Canarias. If you want, you can leave your recommendations in the blog comments.
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Hello! I am Ruth, Canarian with a traveling soul. With training and experience in the tourism and digital marketing sector. In this blog I tell you all the tips you need to get to know the most authentic side of Gran Canaria on your own. I also share my travel guides to all the places in the world that I am visiting so that you can discover the destinations like a local and save time planning. In addition to traveling, I love gastronomy and sports. I run and hike in the mountains with my “dog-children” (Silver and Plata). In all these adventures my partner accompanies me, Jorge, which you will also see a lot on this blog.
I love it but I don't take it because I think it will make me fat. People tell me that gofio doesn't make you fat... I ask you: does gofio make you fat? Thanks for the explanation, I'm not Canarian!
They are ground cereals! In every diet they recommend it along with fruits, vegetables, fish, eggs, meats, etc., but it does not mean that you are going to eat only that, woman 🙂
Hello: I would like to know if gofio can be preserved for a long time until consumed. If this is possible, how would it be saved. Thank you for your time. Greetings
Hello!! Yes, of course, just like any other flour, you can store it in an airtight glass jar and it will last a long time. All the best
Gofio is not a flour... Flours are made with raw cereals... In the case of gofio it is cooked (toasted and ground) before being consumed as such... One of the original gofios is true that it was made from the root of the Canary fern, also millet (not corn, let's not forget that it is a Canarian food product and where in other places they call our millet corn, here it is said and named millet, not corn), barley, wheat and so on. cereals.
Hello Franky!! According to the RAE, flour is a powder that results from the grinding of wheat or other seeds. Without making a distinction between whether the cereal is raw or not.
On the other hand, we are explaining what gofio is for a person who is not from the Canary Islands, that is why we give examples and use nouns such as corn so that our article is as explanatory as possible. We assume that every Canary Islander knows what gofio is and that they don't need to search for it on Google. Greetings 🙂