Mallorca for connoisseurs – Mediterranean cuisine for gourmets

Mallorcan gastronomy offers all the advantages of the Mediterranean diet, which is one of the most complete and healthy diets. Mallorcan cuisine is just the reflection of the different cultures that shaped our present-day identity. And it is precisely this variety which gives the island’s gastronomy its richness and the well-deserved prestige it enjoys today.

The fact of being an island combined with the good weather throughout the year provides an exquisite variety of products that is almost entirely exclusive to Mallorca. Mallorcan cuisine offers a very complete range of top quality meat from local producers, fresh fish and a delicious wide range of season vegetables and fruit that add the delicious flavour to the dishes. All in all, the result is a genuine local flavour that is one of the main attractions and delights of a visit to Mallorca.
It is a diet rich in olive oil and lard in winter dishes. However, the calory content of lard is compensated by the abundance of vegetables and fruit in the dishes containing animal fat.

Fish is equally important in Mallorcan gastronomy. There is a large variety of fish dishes, from fish rice soup and stew to roasted fish.
All these delicious recipes are cooked in the houses and in the restaurants all over the island. The most typical and pleasant restaurants, mainly because of their long history, are called ‘cellers’. You can find them all over the island, even though they are more abundant in the towns of Sineu, Inca and Petra.
Gastronomy often goes hand in hand with tradition, be it connected with a certain date or period of the year.

Sausages such as ‘sobrassada’, ‘botifarró’ or ‘camaiot’ and brown bread are an excellent gastronomic experience. These sausages are not only a pleasure for the palate that all visitors should try, but they are also, together with ensaïmada, the most requested gift for visitors to take back home or to give to their loved ones.

Mallorcan desserts are also renowned in the gastronomic culture. The most popular desserts are ensaimada, a very fine pastry made with sugar, eggs and ‘saïm’, from which the name ‘ensaimada’ is derived; ‘robiols’, ‘crespells’ or ‘bunyols’, among others. There are many other local specialities, like the ‘coques de patata from Valldemossa’, ‘sospirs de Manacor’ or the famous ‘galletas de Inca’.

Mallorca is also a land of wine. There is a long tradition of wine production on Mallorca, which is kept alive and which represents an important activity in rural Mallorca. There are currently two denominations of origin – Binissalem and Pla i Llevant de Mallorca – with a series of bodegas which produce quality wines, some maintaining old artisan processes.
‘Hierbas’ is the most well-known liqueur on Mallorca; it is made with aromatic herbs and sweet or dry anis. ‘Palo’ is another sweet liqueur; it is black and has a thick texture.

And when these delicious dishes are washed down with a good local wine, those sitting at the table feel that they are almost in heaven.