• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MsMarmiteLover

  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegan
  • Travel
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Wine
  • Gardens
  • Supperclubs/Events
  • About
    • Published Articles
    • Books
  • Shop
    • Cart

Island hopping with P and O cruises: La Palma

April 27, 2018 2 Comments Filed Under: Travel, Uncategorized

Britannia, P and O cruise, docking at Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover

Simply put, geographically, the Canary Islands consist of volcanic bumps poking above sea level. La Palma has a geological phenomenon called ‘La caldera’, the cauldron: in the centre of the spearhead shaped island is the pit of the volcano. I read a whole Wikipedia article on how there is a big split in the middle of La Palma and if it cracks and drops into the sea, it will cause a massive Transatlantic tsunami that will kill everyone in the Canary Islands and probably the East coast of America too. Fun!

Today I woke up at Santa Cruz de La Palma. (I do love waking up to a different port every day.) If you think of the Canaries as a mass market cheap holiday place you are wrong about La Palma, which is chic, elegant and stylish. Dating from the 15th century, it has a colonial vibe with pastel buildings, narrow pedestrianised streets, ornate wooden balconies and fabulous shops. Straight off the boat I bought some pink ballet flats for 8 euros. Hooray. 

Cruises are like a mini-variety pack of breakfast cereal. You can try a place, just a little, without too much commitment, see if you like it, make a note to come back (or not) then move on. Cruises seem naff but actually, in principal, they can be cool. Plus places like the Canary Islands really need the business, they depend on tourism. 

Again, as I didn’t have much time, I headed towards the central market, then fanned out from there.

Food and Drink

They crush sugar cane with slices of lemon to make a refreshing sweet/sour juice or a cocktail.

almond cake/cheese at the market place, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover

This fluted almond cake is called an almond cheese. Almond trees are plentiful in La Palma so many desserts are almond-based. There is one known as ‘bienmesabe’, which translates to ‘it tastes good to me’. 

award winning goats cheese,  at the market place, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover
La Palma has an award winning smoked goats’ cheese. It won the Great Taste Award.
Mojo sauces, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover
Mojo, a red pepper sauce, comes in mild, spicy or green. Absolutely delicious. It’s served with everything but especially papas arrugadas, wrinkly potatoes.

A bar next to the market

Mussels being grilled, market place bar, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover
Mussels , market place bar, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover
tapas,  market place bar, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover
I do not know if I can adequately express how wonderful this tapas bar was. I was ordering tortilla then I spied green-lipped mussels steaming over the coals behind the bar. My sister ordered some, their plump little orange bodies came thickly drizzled with parsley and garlic. 

The Gastronomic Society 

tapas, sociedad gastronomica, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover
tapas, sociedad gastronomica, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover

The sign over this small bar down a side street to the sea front, said ‘Sociedad Gastronomica’ but possibly the name is La Rapadura. Not sure. But we were welcomed into this cool sombre cafe, which contained a tableful of fat Canarian men who were serious about their raciones and their tapas.

We ordered some La Palma wine then were presented with a free plateful of cheese, ensalada Russia and tuna filled boiled eggs. That’s how tapas used to be in Spain before they became trendy.

Views of Santa Cruz

 Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover
 Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover
 Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover
 Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover
 Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover
 Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover

 I was invited as a guest of P and O cruises to Madeira and the Canary Islands.

Recent posts

Blueberry galette recipe

July 14, 2025

High protein recipes: roast tofu block

July 2, 2025

Sour cherry and rose ice cream recipe

June 28, 2025

Previous Post: « Island hopping with P and O cruises: Madeira
Next Post: Island hopping with P and O cruises: Tenerife »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cate Lawrence

    May 17, 2018 at 7:47 am

    Curious if any of the island shops do plus sized clothing?

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      May 17, 2018 at 3:35 pm

      Hi Cate,
      as a plus sized but short person, yes they did. a lot of it were thin linen and not too tight. Really lovely shops.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

msmarmitelover

Just had this window built by @odgjoinery and stai Just had this window built by @odgjoinery and stained glass window to match the front door by @wstoneglass beautiful work. Thank you so much. #edwardianhouse #victorianhome #stainedglass #joinery #restoration #london #kilburn
Stuffed peppers: filled with soaked fine bulgur wh Stuffed peppers: filled with soaked fine bulgur wheat, hazelnuts, sherry soaked sultanas, preserved lemon, smoky paprika, garlic, dill, coriander leaves , mint, and ground seeds, cumin,pumpkin seeds baked in the oven for 45 minutes. Serve with yoghurt. Delish! #latesummer #recipe #vegetarian #vegan #middleeasternish
My book Msmarmitelover’s secret tea party is now My book Msmarmitelover’s secret tea party is now available on @ckbk which is like Spotify for cookbooks - check it out or buy a signed copy from my website #afternoonteaparty
Next door there are 2 damson trees in the grounds Next door there are 2 damson trees in the grounds of the council flats. The ground smelled like jam. I picked a few kilos, 3 kilos after sorting through. I put them, crushed, stones included, in a clean glass container, with 1.5 kilos of sugar and 2 litres of gin ( I may add another), I’ll leave them for 3/4 weeks then filter. Damson gin for Christmas.
Fig, chocolate and chestnut tart- recipe in my boo Fig, chocolate and chestnut tart- recipe in my book Msmarmitelover’s secret tea party. This is rather adult, using bitter dark chocolate ganache, chestnut flour and figs from my garden. #figrecipes #chocolate #baking
Went for an evening of Turkish music and entertain Went for an evening of Turkish music and entertainment @kibele.london Fantastic margarita cocktails, great food, generous portions and wonderful entertainment. In the end we all got up and had a go at belly dancing, #turkishfood #london #londonnights
I’ve got Covid (day3) so not much food in the ho I’ve got Covid (day3) so not much food in the house. I found some floppy- going black- carrots in the salad drawer, so I peeled and resuscitated those. Chopped them into a saucepan with a couple of cubes of vegetable stock and a litre of hot water. Then I added a couple of tablespoons of smooth peanut butter, a clove of garlic, 1 tsp of ground cumin, half a preserved lemon. Just stuff I had around. Simmered till the carrots were soft then blended in the @vitamixuk I can honestly say the vitamix is my most regularly used bit of kitchen kit. Anyway- hey presto- a high protein soup with fibre. I hope I test negative before I totally run out of food. #solo #covid #highprotein #soup
I wrote this long read for @scotnational about the I wrote this long read for @scotnational about the anti G8 camp in Stirling to protest against the G8 in Gleneagles. I partipated in the camp & protest along with my daughter @siennamarla playing in the samba band, part of the Pink Bloc. The camp was an incredible experience- the possibility of a different type of politics, of horizontal democracy. It was also a lot of fun. But our protest was tragically overshadowed by the 7/7 bombings in London. We wanted to create a new world but by the actions of a few disaffected British Muslim terrorists our positive movement for change was drowned out by hideous violence against normal ordinary people. Here is my account. 20 years anniversary #7/7 #londonbombings #scotland #antig8 #protest #gleneagles
Cheap stuff. Since the pandemic money has been tig Cheap stuff. Since the pandemic money has been tight. I shop at Lidl and aldi for food, Vinted, Portobello and Primark for clothes. The first pic is gazpacho with a banderilla from Lidl. They often have Spanish weeks and other nationality foods at a bargain price. I love those huge cartons of gazpacho- I glug it down like juice, especially in the heat. The banderillas are sold by the jar. Second pic is me in a primark vest, cardi, with an Anthropologie sale belt and old denim shorts from 10 years ago. Sorry about the mess behind, I sold a piece of furniture, a desk I found on the street, painted enamel green with ‘bamboo’brass handles which I sold on eBay for £225 #needsmust #thrift
My tea book Msmarmitelover’s secret tea party is My tea book Msmarmitelover’s secret tea party is now out on the cookbook app @ckbk it’s now out of print but you can still buy some print copies via me or Amazon. However you can see all the recipes ( like my sour cherry icecream which I served last week) on this site which is like a Spotify for cooks. Arguably afternoon tea is a meal which the English do better than any other country. #cookbooks #afternoontea #supperclubs
Saturdays midsummer supperclub was mostly a bbq on Saturdays midsummer supperclub was mostly a bbq on the @biggreenegguk I divided the meal into fragrance families: vegetal, fougere (fern), green notes, fresh: asparagus, garden artichokes on the bbq, dolmades made from my garden vine leaves. Then citrus fragrances with yuzu, 🍊 🍋 bergamot glaze, salmon, smoked tofu steaks, vegan smoked salmon carrot. Next spice which in perfume is oriental spices: bbq mini aubergines with paprika seed oil, home ground garam masala, a tahini caper dressing. Then wood and resinous fragrances using rosemary oil brushed bbq mini peppers, pine syrup on labneh, mushrooms a la grecque with juniper, finally the floral family of fragrance with sour cherry and rose icecream, lavender shortbread  hearts and orange flower water meringue kisses. It was a lively warm evening- children were welcome. There was a bonfire, lots of wine and laughter. I buy welding gloves £12 from Amazon  to use with the bbq. I also use @pomoragoodfood oils #london
With my home grown artichokes, grown from seed for With my home grown artichokes, grown from seed for tonight’s supperclub.
Sour cherries from the garden for my midsummer sup Sour cherries from the garden for my midsummer supperclub in the garden this Saturday 21st June. Tickets available, link in bio. Also at this link: https://substack.com/redirect/5a700a44-49c1-4e6d-834f-8d4851f98f45?j=eyJ1IjoiMWUzYm4ifQ.njFJL9K8WpzSqVZ5HFSvq84gnJeUD7reFZV9LrDwYtI #midsummernightsdream #supperclub #og #sourcherry
Can’t wait to delve into this by one of my favou Can’t wait to delve into this by one of my favourite food writers @kitchenbee it’s got everything: kitchenalia, divorce and food. Did you know that what we call heartache is actually stomach ache? It’s now recognised that rejection actually causes physical as well as psychological pain. A study shows that pain relief medications such as paracetamol can alleviate heartache. Some of our emotional pain is autonomic: it’s referred to as polyvagal theory. #heartbreak #foodwriting #lovehurts #takotsubo #dopaminewithdrawal
Midsummer supper club 21st June. The theme is frag Midsummer supper club 21st June. The theme is fragrance and scent. Tickets are £45  and you can bring your own drink. Starts 7.30pm and the nearest tube is Kilburn on the jubilee. Parking is free outside. Exact address given on booking. https://msmarmitelover.com/product/midsummer-supper-club-2025-scent-and-fragrance #london #supperclub
Oil portraits of me painted at Burning Van festiva Oil portraits of me painted at Burning Van festival by artists @cristina_vercesi (left) and YouTube sensation and Royal Portrait gallery exhibiter @alex_tzavaras. It was an utter privilege to sit for these wonderful artists- a real highlight. I’m taking them home and framing them. It was easy to sit still for 90 minutes with the amazing DJ set @leonidas_lovetoparty More deets later. #portraiture #festivals #oilpainting
Went with influencers to @standrewslakes in Kent w Went with influencers to @standrewslakes in Kent with @ourfinland @lakelandfinland @pcagency to experience Finnish food such as Karelian pies with egg butter, cinnamon buns, blueberry pies, and pea soup which they have with mustard and sour cream. We did zip lining, kayaking, saunas, whipped ourselves with birch sticks, ate in a gorgeous wooden bbq shed @arctic_cabins at the end of all this activity we were all tired but happy. @miramakeup @holidaywiththeheathers @amie_jane__ @onehungryasian @iamtimchung @travellingtuesdays @helimendetravels @charlotteemilyprice #presstrip
@camille.osullivan @camilleosullivanpics and @grah @camille.osullivan @camilleosullivanpics and @grahnort @wiltonsmusichall god this woman is talented. She did a solo show of The Rape of Lucrece. Her voice! #theatre #shakespeare #london
My latest article on Hungarian cuisine, a unique m My latest article on Hungarian cuisine, a unique meeting of east and west, for @ckbk It's a blend of Ottoman, Eastern and middle European, Austro-Hungarian empire and cowboy food. #food&travel #foodanthropology #hungary
Made Fermented Cucumber dill pickles from @nickvad Made Fermented Cucumber dill pickles from @nickvadasz book The Pickle Jar. At @katzsdeli in New York they sell half sours and full sours. I reckon these are 3/4 sour. The white mould is fine btw. These are delicious #pickleperson #fermentation #guthealthy
Follow on Instagram

Archives

Copyright © 2025 msmarmitelover