“"For centuries, usage segmentation has been known in the Canary Islands" “La papa antigua de Canarias” will be the first to receive a DOP "

Domingo Ríos, head of the Center for Conservation of Agricultural Biodiversity run by the Tenerife Provincial Authority.

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The Centre for Conservation of Agricultural Biodiversity run by the Tenerife Provincial Authority has collected most of the plant material owned by Tenerife farmers and from this they have recorded 116 entries possibly corresponding to around 46 different varieties. From these, around 25 may be ancient potato varieties. Some are triploid potatoes, which only exist in the Andes and never made it to the rest of Europe or the United States. They are black potatoes with yolk, yellow inside and easy to peel. According to the head of the Centre, Domingo Ríos Mesa, “this is a species which only exists in the Andes and in the Canary Islands because the climate in our islands is very similar to that of the Andes”. In addition to the so-called “black potatoes”, the Canary Islands also grow “papas bonitas” (pretty potatoes), an Andean sub-specie which in the Andes and in the Quechua language has a similar name. It was specifically Icod el Alto, an area of “papas bonitas” which was the source of the potatoes brought to Europe in the XVI century. “Papas bonitas” have many different appearances: black, white, coloured, blistered, and mottled. Another interesting group are the “azucenas” (lillies), a potato with an exquisite flavour. In high mountainous areas there is a variety known as “borralla” or “melonera”. A high proportion of dry matter characterises this tuber and it can constitute 35% compared with the 18% usually contained in other mainland potatoes. This peculiarity means they are highly appreciated in cooking.

It is estimated that there are around 1,100 hectares of Andean potatoes grown in the whole archipelago, mainly on the island of Tenerife.

The Canary Islands have a great culinary tradition when it comes to potatoes. “For centuries, inhabitants of the Canary Islands have recognised what is known as today as segmentation because for the last 300 or 400 years they have been growing potatoes for one type of consumption or another. These are potatoes associated with their use; they are cooked in different ways and even today are still destined for local consumption. And let’s not forget that people from the Canary Islands have a traditional way of cooking potatoes, “las papas arrugadas” (wrinkled potatoes).

Sales of Canary Island potatoes have been made via traditional channels and been very closely linked to local island consumption but now some cooperatives are beginning to make some packaged sales. This new sales perspective has been helped by the fact that “the Canary potato” is about to be awarded the first Denomination of Protected Origin seal, the DOP for “papas antiguas de Canarias”.