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Mojos are divided into two families, depending on the ingredients used: green and red. Green mojo sauce is made using garlic, salt, oil, vinegar, fresh coriander (which can be substituted by parsley) and cumin. It is generally served with fish and can replace spicy mojo sauce or red mojo sauce as an accompaniment for wrinkled potatoes, in the event that you don’t like spicy food.

Although green mojo sauce, which can also be spicy, keeps perfectly well outside the fridge for a long time, the presence of water in the coriander and parsley makes it advisable to eat it within a few days of making it. The main ingredients of red mojo sauce are chilli pepper and hot paprika, hence its nickname "spicy" mojo sauce. It also contains garlic, vinegar, cumin, salt, oil and a pinch of saffron powder. 

In order to make red mojo sauce the pepper must undergo a lengthy drying process. Since it does not contain water, it can also be kept for a long time outsider the fridge. Amongst red mojo sauces, the chilli pepper and paprika ones stand out. There are other varieties such as cheese mojo sauce which is typical of La Palma and El Hierro, and Almogrote from La Gomera, orange mojo sauce, La Gomera mojo sauce, almond mojo sauce and boiled mojo sauce. There is no single recipe for mojo sauce. Every family has its own, using different quantities of ingredients which give the sauces different types of spiciness, colour and consistency.

Wrinkled potatoes

Mojo sauce is used to dress all kinds of meals in the Canary Islands, and is typically eaten with wrinkled potatoes. These are potatoes boiled in their skins, in plenty of salted water. The name "wrinkled" is due to the fact that they used to be cooked in sea water, which made the skin wrinkle. 

In order to make some delicious potatoes with mojo sauce for four people, you need 200 grammes of black-skinned potatoes (if you can’t find them you can also use other types), 100 grammes of sea salt and spicy mojo sauce. You wash the potatoes and put them on to boil in a pan of water containing half of the salt. Once the water starts to boil, you lower the heat and leave the potatoes to cook for 20-25 minutes. Once this time has elapsed, you drain  and dry the potatoes, and then you return them to the pan and add the rest of the salt. Toss them so that the salt and the heat gradually wrinkle the skin. Then all that remains is to serve them with the spicy mojo sauce.

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