Name: Papas Arrugadas con Mojo
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Spain
Ingredients: 800 g small new potatoes, skin on, similar sizes; 100 g coarse sea salt, for the cooking water; 1 liter water; 2 dried ñora pepper or 1 tbsp sweet paprika, for red mojo; 3 cloves garlic; 1/2 tsp cumin seeds; 2 tbsp sherry vinegar; 100 ml extra virgin olive oil; salt, to taste

Papas arrugadas, "wrinkled potatoes," come from the Canary Islands, and the wrinkle is not a side effect, it is the whole technique. Small potatoes boil in water salty enough to taste like the sea, then dry out in the hot pot until the skin crusts over with salt.

Mojo is what makes them worth eating on their own. The red version leans smoky and a little sweet from dried pepper, the green leans herbal and sharp. Either one turns a side dish into the best thing on the table.

Part of our 20 best Spanish recipes list.

method

Scrub the potatoes well; leave the skin on. Put them in a pot just large enough to hold them snugly in one layer.

Add the water and coarse salt; the water should taste distinctly salty, almost like seawater. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until a knife slides in easily.

Drain the potatoes completely and return them to the still-warm, empty pot over very low heat. Shake the pot gently for 1 to 2 minutes, until the surface looks dry and slightly wrinkled and a white salt crust appears.

For the mojo, soak the dried pepper in hot water for 10 minutes if using, then remove the seeds and chop the flesh. Blend it, or the paprika, with the garlic, cumin, vinegar and a pinch of salt.

With the blender running, add the olive oil in a slow stream until the sauce is smooth and thick enough to coat a spoon.

Serve the potatoes warm, skins on, with the mojo spooned over or on the side for dipping.

chef's tips

The salt ratio looks extreme, and that is the point. It is what wrinkles the skin and leaves the dry, salty crust the dish is named for.
Drying the potatoes in the empty hot pot after draining is what finishes the wrinkle. Skip it and they just look like regular boiled potatoes.
Make a green mojo too if you want both: swap the dried pepper for a handful of cilantro or parsley and a green pepper.
Small, similarly sized potatoes cook evenly. Cut larger ones down rather than mixing sizes in the same pot.