An old woman, please!

With the richness of the marine fauna on its coasts, it is normal that recipes with fish and seafood products abound. The people of Tenerife have always been fed by the sea, and Santa Cruz is a seafaring town that proudly displays its knowledge of cooking with a variety of fish dishes. The vieja is the most famous fish in Tenerife and therefore also one of the most consumed fish. The vieja (Sparisoma cretense) is a white fish highly prized for its meat and its color, although it is not exclusive to the islands and can be found in other subtropical places and in temperate seas such as the Mediterranean or the Atlantic (Azores, Madeira, Senegal or Cape Verde, for example).

It is a species of “parrot fish”, a very active and curious fish that can reach a maximum length of 70 centimeters, has a small jaw with strong teeth and is characterized mainly because the female is red, yellow and gray and the males are brown and gray. It usually lives in schools (groups or schools of fish), on rocky bottoms and seagrass beds. The old woman feeds on small crustaceans, algae on rocks and small mollusks. This marine species is abundant in the islands during May-November and can be eaten stewed or fried, and is also used to make casseroles.

Let’s go with the recipe, which leaves no one indifferent and, moreover, is very easy to prepare:

Recipe of vieja guisada with wrinkled potatoes and mojo. As ingredients, we will need: 1 medium sized vieja, 1 onion, 1 green bell pepper, 1 tomato, garlic, salt and parsley.

To prepare it, put abundant water, a few spoonfuls of olive oil, together with the fish and all the other ingredients in a bowl. Put the pot on the fire and let it cook. Cooking time varies according to the size of the fish and it is important to make sure that the fish is not overcooked, but not undercooked.

There is an expert trick: make sure that the fin is raised and not attached to the body. This will indicate that it is ready.

This is the most widespread and traditional way of eating the vieja in the Islands, but we must not forget that it is a versatile product and that with this fish we can make an infinite number of dishes: it can be baked and fried and accompanied by some wrinkled potatoes it is delicious. It can also be cooked on the back and add fried garlic with parsley on top; and also, innovating in the kitchen and making fusion dishes with other techniques, you can prepare a fantastic ceviche de vieja.