November 24th, 2009
Cuisine in Palma
As a travel destination, the Balearic Islands is well known for its night clubs and beaches, but also for its cuisine, and Mediterranean recipes which the capital city of Mallorca, has in large numbers. If you’ve gone to all the trouble to get to Mallorca and to book a few days in one of the luxury hotels Palma has in abundance, then you might want to know a little about this land and the food it offers:
Just outside Palma, there’s a land filled with windmills. Here, olive trees are numerous and ancient, some thought to be over a thousand years old! There’s a range of mountains, the Tramuntana running north east to the south west, which stops most of the northern winds. It’s broken up by valleys and gorges. North of here, you’ll find villages much quieter than those to the south, and a coast of rugged cliffs. From the many olive trees, it’s pretty obvious that Mallorca is known for its olive oil. Even in the first century, people knew where to go for olive oil and wines. In the 16th Century, production of olive oil became one of the island’s main sources of revenue — only oats and wheat made more money, and most farms have mills for olive oil.
Palma, and all the islands, are known for ensaimadas, a coil of pastry. Other varieties are cocarrois and empanadas, savory turnovers filled with meat or vegetables. The sweet version of these are known as robiols and crespelles Many of these feature the famous olive oil. Try pa amb oli, which will be on almost every table: It’s a toasted bread that is either a) rubbed with tomatoes and then sprinkled with the olive oil, or its the reverse — that is, the tomatoes are sprinkled with the olive oil, and then rubbed with bread.
Note, too, that Mallorca is known for its fish and shell fish, as well as sobrasada, known also as porc negre, or black pig, one of the island’s signature sausage dishes.
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