Hardly surprisingly, as Mallorca is an island, seafood has long played a significant role in the Mallorquin diet. And equally, thanks to its fertile soil and mild climate there is an abundance of fruit and vegetables, as can be seen at any of the island’s markets. The pig too plays a major role in the gastronomy and it appears on menus in many guises.
With so many international visitors to Mallorca a vast number of restaurants serve international cuisine alongside island dishes. You will probably spot familiar Spanish dishes or ingredients on the menus, but here are some that may not be quite so familiar, or have their own Mallorquin twist.
Almonds
Almonds are grown extensively on Mallorca and to walk in the foothills looking down on what appears to be fluffy pink and white clouds when the trees are in flower in February is one of life’s magical moments.
Some 150 varieties of almonds grow on the island, many indigenous. They are noted for their fine flavour thanks to a high fat and sugar content. There is a campaign to have Mallorcan almonds protected under a specific Designation of Origin as are other Mallorcan foods including olive oil, ensaïmada and sobrasada.
Apart from being used in many sweet dishes such as turron (a nougat-like sweet), marzipan or the sublime almond cakes and ice creams, the nuts are used to make almond milk, or are served roasted and lightly seasoned with aperitifs.
Arròs Brut
Tranlating into dirty rice because of its rather dirty broth like appearance arròs brut is a tasty rice- based dish with the addition of whatever ingredients are to hand such as chicken, pork, rabbit and sobrasada, plus vegetables often including wild mushrooms, and seasoning including saffron.
Churros
Churros: a type of deep-fried ridged fritter/ doughnut soft on the inside, and crispy golden brown on the outside usually served in short lengths eaten plain or rolled in sugar or cinnamon sugar.
Ensaïmada
Ensaïmada : a coiled circular, sweet yeast pastry made from a strong flour, sugar, yeast, eggs and traditionally pig’s fat (today – lard), and dusted generously with icing sugar when cool after baking. You can buy them either plain or with a filling such as chocolate or almond. There is a good selection of the large ensaïmada in their traditional octagonal boxes on sale at Palma airport – which slightly eases the luggage problem. Small ensaïmada are a popular breakfast or café choice.
Frito Mallorquin
Frito Mallorquín is a dish that includes fried offal, chiefly liver, plus peppers, potatoes and garlic. Other frito ingredients can include pork, chicken or seafood.
Greixonera
The traditional pot for cooking stews etc on Mallorca is referred to as a greixonera.
Hierbas / Herbes liqueur
The tradition of producing liqueurs on Mallorca goes back to the Middle Ages when the monks gathered aromatic medicinal herbs and infused them in alcohol. It is a tradition that continues to this day. Hierbas is Mallorca’s famous herbal liqueur with some 1.2 million litres being produced yearly. Fields of camomile, rosemary, vervain, lemon balm, thyme, majoram, fennel, anise, juniper and myrtle are grown. It comes sweet, semi-sweet or dry and is an anisette-flavoured liqueur served cold, at room temperature or with ice as a digestive after a meal.
Olives
Olive trees were introduced to Mallorca by the Romans. In past centuries the oil from the olives, a valuable trading commodity, played an integral role in the island’s economy.
Many of the island’s olive trees are 500 years old. The age of the tree appears to contribute to the flavour of the oil in comparison to oil produced from younger trees. The Extra Virgin Olive oil made from the mallorquina, arbequina and picual olive varieties is produced under protected Designation of Origin certification. They are sold either frutado or dulce. Frutado denotes that the olives were picked early in the harvest and therefore not fully mature. The oil has a slightly bitter piquancy and is of a yellowish green colour. The dulce variety is the sweet (milder) oil from olives picked fully ripe. It has no bitter notes, is smooth and of a pale to golden yellow colour.
Pa amb oli
Pa ambo li: a slice of bread with olive oil and salt. A popular alternative is bread rubbed with halved (preferably ramelet variety) tomatoes before being sprinkled with the salt and oil. Often served with olives and capers and one of the island’s specialities pickled sea fennel (fonoll mari).
Pa de figa
Pa de figa: fig cakes, once a source of sustenance for farm workers, today are considered something of a Mallorquin Christmas treat. Whilst traditionally containing figs, spices and dried fruit it is also possible to buy them made from other dried fruit such as apricots.
Palo
Palo is a liqueur which appears to date from the 16th and 17th centuries when it was used to combat malaria. Cinchona bark (quinine) and gentian root were steeped in alcohol. In an attempt to make it more palatable natural sweeteners were added. Today caramalised sugar is used as the sweetener making it dark and viscose. Drink it as an aperitif straight, on the rocks or mixed with soda.
Sobrassada
Sobrassadas are made from good quality chopped pork to which a little fat is added, minced together with seasoning, including a liberal amount of spices, before being stuffed into pig’s entrails. It can be bought ‘dulce’ which is the non-spicy version, and also ‘coent’, the spicy version with the addition of cayenne pepper. Traditionally, it is made in the autumn when the mild cold and humid conditions cause the meat to dehydrate intensifying both the colour and flavour before it is sold in the summer.
For sausages to be labelled ‘Sobrassada de Mallorca’ the ingredients have been strictly regulated. If Sobrassada de Mallorca de Porc Negre is on the menu – it is made from the island’s rather special black pig which has been allowed to roam wild for at least a year.
Sopes Mallorquin
There are several variations for this dish, some of which include meat, but the essential ingredient is thin slices of brown country bread. The bread is laid over a stew of mixed, seasonal vegetables (often cabbage) to soak up the juices.
Tombet
Tombet: a layered dish of potatoes, aubergines, courgettes, and peppers all cooked in olive oil and covered with a tomato sauce.
Trempó
Trempó: a salad of chopped tomatoes, onion and peppers dressed with olive oil.
Wine
Beset by many problems including phylloxera and political upheavals Mallorquin wine production fell by the wayside. However, thanks to the few existing wine producers on the island, the home produced wine is having a renaissance. Two of the wine producing areas, Bissalem and Pla i Llevant have been awarded the Designation of Origin but wines are also produced in the Tramontana mountains, Andratx and Ina.
Unfortunately Mallorquin wines do not appear to have emerged on the UK market as yet, but there are several award winning vineyards, so do try them.
Certainly look out for the wines of Miguel Oliver. The Oliver family has been producing fine wines for 100 years. The company is today run by Pilar Oliver and her husband.
They were one of the first wineries in Mallorca to run innovative advances such as stainless steel tanks and cooling equipment whilst maintaining old traditions. of production. They were also the first in Spain to produce a dry Muscatel wine called Muscat which gained the accolade from the Association of Spanish Sommeliers of being the number one Spanish white wine.
They currently have 10 bottles in their wine repertoire, all unique and delicious. However, for this Foody Travller, the favourite was Alegria, a fun and full of flavour rosé. The Miguel Oliver Cellar at Petra is open all year Monday – Friday for tastings and purchases. Visit www.migueloliver.com