The Atlantic on a menu

Facing us, the Atlantic Ocean. In the distance, the silhouette of La Gomera. To the right, the cliffs of Los Gigantes. We're on one of the most beautiful restaurant terraces in Tenerife. It's called La Terrasse (the name could use a little rethink) and it's located in one of the best hotels in the south of the island, the Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora. At the helm is a chef from Tenerife, Jorge Peñate, a star pupil of Braulio Simancas, one of the pioneers in the revival of traditional Tenerife cuisine. Peñate won the Canary Islands Chef Championship in 2014, with me as president of the jury. Since then, I've closely followed his work at other restaurants in luxury hotels like the Bahía del Duque and the Jardín Tropical.

The chef has long focused on seafood and reviving traditional recipes. Technique and elegance, combined with exquisite fish preparation, are his main strengths. Alongside him, as head chef, is Luis Martín from La Palma, his inseparable right-hand man for many years. Together they have created a menu, “Mar de Fondo” (Deep Sea), featuring fish from the Canary Islands' waters, sourced sustainably, in dishes that often revive nearly lost ancestral techniques. One of their main areas of expertise is seafood charcuterie.

Chorizo ​​made with fish scraps, squid blood sausage with its ink, and, above all, tuna ham, which is becoming increasingly common but which they began producing eight years ago. In fact, they boast of having been the first. They presented it five years ago at Madrid Fusion. Large cuts of Canary Island tuna are matured for three months in controlled humidity to achieve a high-quality product.

The seafood version of the Canarian stew; the squid "marbonara" with cured egg yolk and sea urchin (I believe it was Andrea Tumbarello in his Madrid Don Giovanni who first used this word, many years ago, to describe a seafood carbonara); the splendid crab and prawn ravioli; the robust moray eel tripe, inspired by the Madrid version; or the scarlet prawn from La Santa with Tacoronte onions are some of the highlights of this appealing seafood menu, which even culminates in a surprising white chocolate dessert with cod roe. It's difficult to get more out of the depths of the Atlantic Ocean surrounding the Canary Islands.