“I have never seen one of this size and quality,” said Ricard Camarena enthusiastically while preparing some Roman-style shrimp brains. Although it may sound strange, its size is similar to that of a rabbit, he explained. It was one of the dishes prepared by the chef during the latest edition of Worldcanic, the congress dedicated to the volcanic cuisines of the world and which is held every year in Lanzarote. An event in which the island's product shines especially and where the shrimp and carabineros from La Santa were one of the protagonists.
Camarena was not the only one enthusiastic about this soldier shrimp (Plesionika edwardsii), the most common name for this species, highly valued and appreciated in Lanzarote but which is not usually seen outside. As with other excellent products from the islands (cheese, wines...) the local market gets the majority.
Paco Pérez, another of the speakers in this third edition of the congress, prepared a carabinero with curry from the island. Although it is always said that it is better not to touch a great product too much, the merit lies precisely in accompanying it so that it looks even better. The creamy caviar and coconut with which Camarena served the Santa prawn is another good example of this use in haute cuisine.
Local Atlantic product, but with a Mediterranean vision from the hand of these two chefs. And, unlike what so often happens at many gastronomic fairs and meetings, the proposal here goes beyond arriving, preparing one of the dishes and that's it. The key and what is really interesting is seeing how visiting chefs create dishes from the island's ingredients.
In the case of Camarena, he tells us, he traveled months before Worldcanic and “many ideas arose with products that we saw, some unusual.” The pitaya flower treated and cooked like a kind of artichoke is, for example, one of those discoveries.
He also passed through La Santa, the small coastal town in the municipality of Tinajo that in a few years has managed to put its shrimp on the country's gastronomic map. They are caught at a depth of more than 200 meters and their blue eggs are one of the distinctive features of this crustacean.
Sweet is usually the adjective most used to describe its flavor. And, indeed, it is the first thing you notice when tasting these prawns in which the iodized notes also stand out.
“That sweet flavor is linked to the shrimp diet (chicken is used as bait instead of fish) and also to the volcanic marine soils,” explains Cristóbal Olivero, secretary of the La Santa Fishermen's Association. It is theirs and the Olivero family - linked to shrimp fishing for generations - that is largely responsible for the recognition of this product and, what is more important in the long term, its sustainability.
The always delicate balance between the fame and high price of a product and its survival here seems to be an issue that the fishermen themselves are very clear about. “We use pots, no trawling,” explains Olivero, who details the measurements of the catches and nets: 2-centimeter meshes for shrimp, double what the legislation establishes, and 8 centimeters for the police.
That means that only the largest shrimp and carabineros stay in the nets. Less catches, but more future for the product and the economy that depends on it. “We want there to be renewal, not take everything. That's why the police are so big, because we let the little ones escape," Olivero summarizes with an overwhelming logic but that doesn't always occur in the country's ports.
Intense red in color and a flavor that also has sweet notes, its size is truly impressive. Some say they weigh up to 300 grams and in restaurants it is not uncommon to find them - and not of that size - at between 25 and 30 euros per unit. Compared to the shrimp that have been known for years, the capture and fame of the carabineros is much more recent.
Perhaps less known to visitors than the humbler limpets - another of Lanzarote's products - gammas and carabineros are displayed in some of the best restaurants on the island. Our colleague Jorge Guitián recently told it after visiting the César restaurant at the hotel of the same name. Alejandro Martín works there and supervises Juanjo López of La Tasquita de Enfrente, a declared admirer of the shrimp and carabinero of La Santa, and of the work of the Olivero family that fishes them.
Paco Medina from the Alarz restaurant in Lanzarote cooked these exquisite grilled prawns at Worldcanic together with Germán Blanco, chef at Brisa Marina. A place that is an authentic emblem of the south of the island, and that most people know by the name of its owner, Juan El Majorero, possibly one of the people who best knows the hospitality and gastronomy of Lanzarote.
A meeting place for locals and visitors and where it is possible to eat from a mixed plate or some macaroni, to a portion of salted shrimp, or even one of these colossal carabineros from La Santa. A real luxury if you are lucky and have arrived from port that day. And if the budget allows it, of course.
