Characteristic products and terroirs
Balearic cuisine is as much about local produce as it is about seafood. While there are typical local specialties on each island, certain products can be found throughout the archipelago. Such is the case of sobrasada, a pork sausage emblematic of the Balearic Islands. Red in color, it is flavored with paprika - sweet or hot - and aromatic herbs (thyme, oregano, etc.). Those produced on Mallorca are considered the best. Another embutido - the Catalan term for sausage - the camallot (also called camaiot, camot or varia negra, depending on the island) is made from pork meat more or less coarsely minced with blood, spices (black pepper, paprika, aniseed) and salt. This stuffing is placed inside the skin of the pig's thigh, then sewn, cooked and finally dried. Finally, butifarrones are small sausages similar to Catalan butifarras, containing a mixture of meat, offal and pig's blood, finely spiced.
These sausages were often prepared in winter during the mantaça, a major event in the life of the islanders, when the pig was slaughtered. The whole animal was used, and this ritual traditionally brought families and neighbors together to prepare the various cuts of pork. Certain offal, such as the liver - very fragile - was cooked immediately with onions and a few winter vegetables. This charcuterie is regularly presented in the form of fiambres - meaning "English plate" - with cheese, such as queso Mahón-Menorca from Menorca, which has a denomination of origin. Indeed, cattle breeding was strongly motivated by the British Empire, of which this island was a part, and hence the local production of this more or less mature cow's milk tomme.
The abundant vegetables of these islands are often combined with the ubiquitous olive oil. Mallorca produces a high-quality olive oil (aceite de Mallorca) with a controlled designation of origin. Another quality product is Ibiza honey with the "Mel Certificada d'Eivissa" label. The same is true of the label-protected lamb raised on the same island.
The classics of Balearic cuisine
Spanish culture obliges tapas to play an important role in the region. Common to the whole archipelago, but also to Catalonia, the famous pa amb oli consists of pieces of bread soaked in olive oil then rubbed with garlic and tomato. Other tapas include charcuterie, cheese, vegetables in oil and seafood. Not forgetting caracoles con sobrasada, snails simmered with the famous paprika sausage. While debate rages as to the origins of mayonnaise and its garlicky counterpart, aioli, the most conclusive sources describe this sauce as originating in Menorca. It is said to have been brought back by the French when they recaptured the island from the British in 1756. El allioli is prepared on all the islands and served as a starter with bread and olives.
Savoury pastries are also available, the most common of which are cocas, a type of local brioche pizza. After being brushed with garlicky olive oil, they can be topped with peppers(amb pebres), a tomato-onion-pepper mix(amb trempó), spinach-green onions-dried grapes (d'espinacs), spicy sausage(con sobrassada) or sardines(amb pinxes). Panades are small Mallorcan pies filled with minced lamb, peas and sometimes sobrassada.
Among Mallorca's specialties is frit mallorquí or frito mallorquín, an emblematic dish based on peppers, potatoes and tomatoes fried in olive oil with offal - especially liver - from pork or lamb, seasoned with bay leaf, fennel seeds and chili pepper. Another classic, Mallorcan soup (sopes mallorquines), is soup in name only, since the broth is absorbed by slices of rye bread(pan moreno) cooked with cabbage, onion, green beans, cauliflower and asparagus. Similar to ratatouille, tumbet is a mixture of eggplant, potato, red bell pepper and tomato sauce. Huevos fritos al estilo de Sóller are fried eggs on a leek fondue with sobrasada. Occupying three quarters of the land and population of the Balearic Islands, Mallorca has the most specialties, such as the hearty arroz brut, rice in sauce with rabbit, pork chops, sausage, mushrooms and a variety of vegetables. Escaldums is a recipe for chicken in an almond and white wine cream sauce. Sepia alla mallorquina is a dish of cuttlefish simmered for a long time in a tomato and sherry wine sauce, while sepia amb trempó is a hot-and-cold dish of grilled cuttlefish served on a tomato-onion-pepper salad.
Menorca's cuisine focuses mainly on seafood, and the island's most typical dish is caldereta de llagosta, a kind of bouillabaisse cooked in a small pot with lobster. Another common dish on the island is macarrons amb grevi, a recipe for pasta - usually penne or macaroni - cooked in gravy, a typically English thick meat sauce. Incidentally, in 2022, Minorcan chef Pau Sintes Juanico was awarded the prize for best Young European Chef at a famous competition in Norway. In Ibiza and Formentera, you can try burrida de ratjada, poached skate served with sofrito (tomato sauce with peppers and garlic) and topped with picada, a preparation of crushed almonds with parsley and chili pepper. Sofrit pagès is a solid peasant stew combining chicken, lamb, sobrasada and potatoes, flavored with a generous amount of garlic, parsley and laurel. On Formentera, one of the must-try dishes is frito de pulpo, a local version of frito mallorquí made with octopus.
Desserts and coffee
The Balearic Islands' best-known pastry is probably theensaïmada, a spiral-shaped sweet pastry eaten at breakfast time. Initially filled with butter, it was replaced by lard after the Reconquista, as an indication of the fervor of Jewish and Muslim converts to Christianity. Greixonera is a pudding made with ensaimada, flavored with lemon and cinnamon. Otherwise, coca de patata is a potato-based brioche, sometimes with chocolate.
Don't forget flaó, the archipelago's typical cake made with fresh sheep's milk cheese. Originally eaten at Easter, it is now a year-round favorite. Other desserts are traditionally made at the same time, such as robiols, flaky turnovers filled with sweet fromage frais or jam. As for crespells, shortbread flavored with orange and lemon, they are prepared for Holy Week. Unavoidable in Menorca, carquinyols are crunchy, square-shaped almond cookies.
Coffee is normally black. Con leche is coffee with hot milk added. Café cortado is espresso cut with cold milk. It can be either sobre (powdered) or maquina (espresso). El carajillo is a coffee with a dash of rum or cognac, or a local Balearic liqueur.
Wines, beers and liquors
The Balearic archipelago may not be Spain's most famous wine-growing region, but it does boast some noteworthy production that deserves to be better known. There are two denominations of controlled origin (denominación de origen) on the islands, both located on Mallorca: Binissalem, which produces interesting crianza red wines, and Pla i Llevant, which stands out for its chardonnay white wines. Each of the islands also produces its own vins du pays - interesting table wines made from a variety of grape varieties.
On the beer front, you'll mainly come across the Catalan brand Estrella, as well as a number of craft beers such as Sullerica, which is one of Mallorca's eight craft beers; Isleña, La Payesa and Ibosim on Ibiza; and Sa Bona Birra, Cervesa Illa (www.cervesailla.com) and Grahame Pearce (www.grahamepearce.es) on Menorca. Similar to our "panaché", the clara is a blend of beer and lemon Schweppes. Menorca also boasts Cervesa Illa craft beer (the island's oldest). Natural and preservative-free, it is considered one of the six best craft beers by the Guía Repsol (a Spanish version of the Michelin Guide).
The English didn't stay in Menorca for more than 90 years in total, but when they left they left behind a sure taste for gin and its intense juniper berry fragrance. Here, it's made from grapes, making it fruitier and less bitter than its British cereal counterpart. The iNNat gin produced by the Quintana family at Licors Biniarbolla is a particularly good choice. Drizzled with lemon juice, the gin is called pomada.
Herbal liqueurs, or hierbas, are highly prized, and each island produces its own. Often prepared by hand, their alcohol content varies from around 20 to 30°. Palo de Mallorca was originally a medicinal liqueur made from cinchona bark, a remedy for malaria. However, the very bitter, unpleasant taste of this plant was masked by spices and other aromatic herbs to make palo more palatable. Originally from Ibiza, frígola is a liqueur scented with thyme leaves and flowers. Last but not least, hierbas ibicencas is a popular, lightly aniseed-flavored spirit that has been handcrafted for centuries by families on the island of Ibiza. The recipe, which varies from household to household, may include up to 28 different plants, but almost always contains rosemary, thyme, mint, lavender, fennel, verbena, sage, juniper, orange and lemon zests. Since 1997, this digestif has benefited from a Protected Geographical Denomination. The inevitable chupito is the name of the small glass of liqueur often offered by the house after dinner.
