Guachinches and wine: eating in the north

Icod has been called "de los Vinos" since the malvasía of this district was drunk across half of Europe. That past survives in two very different forms: a denomination of origin with wineries you can visit, and a rather more informal local institution — the guachinche.

What a guachinche really is

It is not a rustic restaurant or a tavern with a nice name. It is a regulated figure: Decree 83/2013 of the Canary Government requires that the wine comes from the owner's own or worked vineyards, that only that wine and water may be served, that the menu cannot exceed three different dishes, and that it cannot open for more than four months a year.

That explains everything else: why there is no printed menu, why the dishes change with what is available, why many take no bookings and no cards, and why the one that was open last December may be shut this year. A place open year-round with a long menu and a card reader is not a guachinche under the decree, however it advertises itself.

The Ycoden-Daute-Isora denomination

If wine interests you, there are wineries of the denomination minutes from the house. Viñátigo, in La Guancha, works on recovering native Canary varieties and runs bookable wine tourism. Aceviño is in Icod itself. Call ahead: not all of them run visits every day.

What to order

• Papas arrugadas with mojo, red and spicy or green with coriander. The absolute classic, made with the old Canary potato varieties that carry a quality mark.
• Escaldón de gofio: toasted cereal flour worked into hot broth. Canary gofio is itself a recognised quality product.
• Goat's cheese, grilled or with mojo. Some Canary cheeses hold a protected denomination of origin.
• Pork or ribs with potatoes, the guachinche dish par excellence.
• Fresh fish if you go down to San Marcos or Garachico.
• Tenerife honey, another officially recognised quality product.