point for his cuisine is the village where he was born: Teje- da. ‘On its peaks,’ he says, ‘everything that defines us comes together: almond trees in bloom, terraced orchards, and sheep and goats grazing.’ Indeed, there are three native breeds of goat (Majorera, Palmera, and Tinerfeña), which form the backbone of Tenerife’s culinary and cultural DNA, with their milk used to make great cheeses. ‘After the conquest of the Canary Islands, many aborigines who refused to submit took refuge in the peaks and developed goat farming,’ recalls Diego Schattenhofer, head chef at Taste 1973 (Playa de la Américas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife). For Schattenhofer, ‘the figure of the goatherd has been key to preserving traditions’. Today, the role of Canarian chefs is just as essential in showcasing ingredients that would be unlikely to appear elsewhere. Some of these ‘unknown treasures’ include the tunera (prickly pear), a cactus that this chef has elevated to a whole new gastronomic level. Winegrowers also understand the uniqueness of the ter- ritory, producing, for example, heroic wines in La Geria, at the foot of Timanfaya. Meanwhile, along the coast, ‘fish- ermen continue to go out to sea as they have for centu- ries,’ says Marrero, especially on the west coast of Gran Canaria (‘from Agaete to Mogán’); in La Santa (Lanzarote) – where a sweeter than usual prawn reigns supreme – and in the ‘deep, rich and diverse waters’ surrounding Tener- ife. There, says Schattenhofer, ‘we have a unique marine fauna: large species’ such as wreckfish and parrotfish. © Pedro Díaz Bullit de peix de Ibiza // Ibiza-style bullit de peix (fish stew) © Getty Images Cítricos en el valle de Sóller. // Citrus fruits in the Sóller valley.