CANCHA

The story so far...

Hi, I'm Carmen, the founder and owner of CANCHA.

(Here I am on holiday with mini me #2!)

I live in Cardiff, Wales, and I'm incredibly proud to be Welsh… but I also have Canarian heritage through my mother's side of the family.

I know, right?!

Rain, rugby and daffodils meet sunshine, volcanoes and mojo.

 It's a combination I'm very proud of.

The Canary Islands have always been a precious part of who I am, and I've always wanted to stay connected to my Canarian roots.

That connection is one of the reasons I created CANCHA.

Another was simple frustration.

When I wanted to buy the kind of fresh, zingy, delicious mojo I knew and loved here in the UK, I kept hitting a brick wall.

I was searching for the kind of mojo Canario I remembered so fondly – the kind that lives its life in the fridge, is made with love by abuelas and mamás, using handed-down knowledge and closely guarded family recipes, before being brought to the table to accompany meals in homes across the Canary Islands.

I never found it.

Instead, I could only find long-life, pasteurised versions packed with additives, preservatives and ingredients I could barely pronounce. They might last for years in a cupboard, but for me, that's simply not what mojo is.

Real mojo should be fresh.

I wouldn't dream of buying a jar of mojo and leaving it unopened in the pantry for months. In our family, it goes straight into the fridge and onto the table, ready to be enjoyed with almost everything.

So what started as a personal mission to recreate the authentic homemade mojo I remembered from childhood soon became a passion for sharing the incredible food culture of the Canary Islands with others.

I immersed myself in traditional mojo recipes, experimenting with ingredients and techniques to create fresh mojo sauces that capture the vibrant flavours found across Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and the rest of the archipelago.

Whether you're searching for an authentic mojo recipe in the UK, looking to buy fresh mojo sauce, or simply discovering Canarian food for the first time, CANCHA is my way of bringing a little piece of the Canary Islands to your table.

From classic Mojo Rojo and Mojo Verde to other traditional Canarian specialities, my mission is simple: to introduce more people to the unique flavours of the Canary Islands and help make fresh mojo a household favourite here in Britain.

Thank you for supporting a small independent business and joining me on this journey.

I hope every jar of CANCHA brings a taste of sunshine, tradition and the incredible culinary heritage of the Canary Islands into your home.

( Here's photo of my mother in the early 1970's, maybe she was  looking for jars to store her mojo in, like mother, like daughter I guess ??? )