con pescados como salemas o samas, que conviven en el eco- sistema marino con bocinegros, viejas o chernes. Esa mirada abierta del chef y “un estado de curiosidad per- manente” resultan necesarios para quien se acerca a cono- cer los productos de esta tierra, y también para descubrir las recetas que los locales se preocupan de custodiar. Preparacio- nes como la que Benéitez aprendió de Lola, ayudante de coci- na del restaurante: el almogrote, una pasta untable elaborada con mojo rojo y queso canario. La isla guarda el secreto, también, del que el pasado año fue reconocido como el mejor queso de España, Don Nicolás, elaborado con leche de vaca de la raza Jersey –“muy rica en grasa y proteínas”– en Finca de Uga . Aquí, extraen al día, ade- más, unos 700 litros de leche de sus cabras majoreras y ovejas canarias, “ambas especies autóctonas y en peligro de extin- ción”, comenta Arminda García, veterinaria y responsable de esta explotación agrícola y ganadera, donde crían un cochi- nillo único en el mundo: “Un cruce entre el cochino negro canario con cerda ibérica”, precisa García. EL VALLE DE LOS VINOS heroicos El almogrote y los mojos no fueron las únicas preparaciones que inspiraron a Benéitez a “canarizar” su cocina. También se dejó cautivar por el escaldón de gofio, “una receta de pobre- za y aprovechamiento”, comenta, que se elabora con caldo de pescado y esa harina de cereal tostada que identifica a esta tierra: “El gofio era lo que ayudaba a alimentarnos en épo- ca de hambruna. Los isleños lo hemos vivido y disfrutado en casa en los desayunos, en la cena...”. Así lo comenta Lourdes Rodríguez, gerente de La Molina de Jose María Gil, en San Bartolomé, donde lo elaboran de forma tradicional –es decir, con piedra–, usando cereales (millo, trigo, cebada…) y legum- bres (garbanzos) locales. Seguramente son contadas las legumbres que aquí se cul- tivan. Y es que los agricultores locales se enfrenta a cultivos irregulares debido a esa “lengua de arena en vez de tierra” que inunda las laderas de esta tierra volcánica, el jable, y a la –también hay que decirlo– cada vez más persistente ausen- cia de lluvia. Cultivos que se producen, sobre todo, en el valle que envuelve Los Valles, también al norte de la isla.Un peque- ño enclave agrícola conocido como “el pueblo de las papas (patatas)”. Aquí, gracias a la climatología (soleado y entre los 13 y 18 grados) y a su ubicación (rodeado de formaciones monta- ñosas), se cultiva otro producto único, la papa de Los Valles. “Usamos la misma agua del consumo humano, pero no hay mucha aportación de agua, por lo que la papa del Los Valles sabe diferente, no se pone negra ni marrón, y a la hora de freír es más crujiente”, afirma el agricultor Ruyman de León Pérez, vicepresidente de la Asociación Papa de Los Valles. Un tubérculo que crece al amparo de una capa de picón, esa arena volcánica que permite retener la humedad del rocío mañanero, y que conocen muy bien los viticultores del valle de La Geria, al suroeste de la isla, quienes, entre el manto ver- de, ocre y negro del paisaje, también recurren al calificativo de heroicos para definir los vinos que elaboran a los pies del volcán de Timanfaya. ENG Santi Benéitez, the chef who moved to Lanzarote in 2017, opening his restaurant SeBE three years later, believes that there is something heroic about shopping in Lanzarote. In a territory conditioned by the volcano, with some miracu- lous, small organic crops, and without a food market to speak of, which is a chef’s reference library’, according to Benéitez, the lack of resources was, however, an incentive to boost the creativity that is the hallmark of his culinary output. Creativity and the wealth of the sea, especially from the waters that bathe the quiet village of La Santa, in the north of the island. This is where shrimp and king prawns of ‘impec- cable quality come from, sweeter than normal prawns and incredibly fresh’, says the chef of the produce he uses to make his beloved rice. “These crustaceans are in a marine reserve, meaning they are caught in traps and not by trawling, so they come out clean and whole. Moreover, they arrive within two hours of being caught”. The measure of time and the richness of the sea also count when it comes to understanding one of the traditions that defines the island and which Benéitez learnt here: the jareas, ‘a semi-salted fish that was made to preserve the fish during rough seas’. They are made with fish such as salemas or samas, which coexist in the marine ecosys- tem with seabreem , viejas or wreckfish . The chef’s open-minded approach and ‘a permanent state of curiosity’ are necessary for those who come to learn about the products of this land, and also to discover the recipes that the locals take care to preserve. Creations such as the one Benéitez learned from Lola, the restaurant’s kitchen assistant: almogrote, a spreadable paste made with red mojo sauce and Canarian cheese. The island also holds the secret of what last year was hailed as the best cheese in Spain, Don Nicolás, made from Jersey breed cow’s milk - ‘very rich in fat and protein’ - at Finca de Uga. This is where they also extract around 700 litres of milk a day from their Majorero goats and Canary Island sheep, ‘both native and endangered species’, says Arminda García, veterinarian and head of the agricultural and livestock farm, where they breed a piglet that is unique throughout the world: ‘A cross between the black Canary Island pig and the Iberian sow’, García explains. THE VALLEY OF HEROIC WINES Almogrote and mojos were not the only recipes that inspired Benéitez to ‘canarise’ his cuisine. He was also captivated by the escaldón de gofio, ‘a recipe born of poverty and making do’, he says, which is made with fish stock and the toasted cereal flour that identifies this land: ‘Gofio was what helped to feed us in times of famine, and we islanders have experienced and enjoyed it at home at breakfast, at dinner...’. This is what Lourdes Rodríguez, manager of La Molina de Jose María Gil, in San Bartolomé, says, where it is made in the traditional way -that is, with stone-, using local cereals (millet, wheat, barley...) and pulses (chickpeas). There are probably very few pulses grown here. The local farmers are faced with irregular crops due to the ‘tongue of sand instead of earth’ that floods the slopes of this volcan- ic land, the jable, and - it must also be said - the increasingly persistent lack of rain. Crops are grown mainly in the val- ley surrounding Los Valles, also in the north of the island, a small agricultural enclave known as ‘the potato village’. Here, thanks to the climate (sunny and between 13 and 18 degrees Celsius) and its location (surrounded by mountain formations), another unique product is grown, the Los Valles potato . ‘We use the same water as for human consumption, but not much of it, so the Los Valles potato tastes different, it doesn’t turn black or brown, and when frying it’s crispier’, says farmer Ruyman de León Pérez, vice-president of the Asociación Papa de Los Valles. A tuber that grows under a layer of picón, the volcanic sand that retains the humidity of the morning dew, and which is well known by the winegrow- ers of the La Geria valley, in the southwest of the island, who, amidst the green, ochre and black mantle of the landscape, also use the term heroic to describe the wines they make at the foot of the Timanfaya volcano. Finca de Uga El chef Santi Benéitez preparando, junto al mar, una jarea, método de conservación del pescado. // Chef Santi Benéitez preparing a jarea, a method of preserving fish, by the sea.