Papas Arrugadas con Mojo

On a recent trip down to Gran Canaria I fell in love with a very simple bar food. Papas Arrugadas con Mojo. Simply small Canary Island potatoes cooked in their jackets and served with a Mojo sauce. At the bar I tried these at they boil the potatoes for a short while in very salty water before popping them in the oven to dry/crisp a little. This leaves the potatoes with a light coating of salt powder on the skin. These are then served with three different Mojo sauces. A fiery red pepper sauce, a sweeter red pepper sauce and a green pepper sauce that is heavy on the coriander leaf. I brought a jar of the spicy sauce back, partly to remind me to find out how it is made and as a guide as to whether I get it right. If you fancy a tasty snack, an ideal accompaniment to a few beers with friends then here are the recipes:

Red Mojo Sauce

1 bulb of garlic
2 red chili peppers (paprika type not birds eye)
1 teaspoon of paprika (sweet or hot depending on your chili tolerance)
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1.5 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons of olive oil.
salt to taste.

Grind the cumin seed, peeled garlic and de-seeded peppers in a pestle until you have a smooth pulp. Then add the paprika oil and vinegar to create the wonderful hot red sauce.

The sweet red sauce is made in the same way but replace the chili pepper with sweet peppers.

Green Mojo Sauce

1 bulb of garlic
2 green peppers
1/2 cup of chopped fresh coriander
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1.5 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons of olive oil
salt to taste.

Same preparation as above.

Both sauces will keep in the fridge for some months in sealed jars.

If you cannot get Canary Island potato then I find that small salad potatoes have a similar taste and texture.