Category Archives: Food

The Hostatgeria del Castell d’Alaró

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The Puig d’Alaró makes for an exciting outing for a number of reasons. You could hike up the northern ascent from Orient which will take you just under two hours before you get to the Castell d’Alaró, or you could choose to hike up from Alaró and the southern approach. On top of the impressive rock, the fortress allows glimpses into history with sometimes bloody chapters, going back to the Arab period and quite possibly even to the Romans.

Even further up, you will find the Hostatgeria del Castell d’Alaró and the 17th century chapel of the Mare de Déu del Refugi. The restoration work at the Hostatgeria has now been completed, at long last, and currently there are four dormitories with bunk beds for four each, with more to be furnished any time soon. The refuge is capably run by a young Catalan couple who rent out beds for 12 € per person, or offer a half board arrangement at 24 € per head. There are reductions for children. The hostel brings the number of refuges along Mallorca’s Dry-stone Route up to six, along with Tossals Verds, Muleta, Can Boi, Son Amer and Pont Romà. A stay in the refuge can be thoroughly recommended if you seek rest in peaceful surroundings of historic heritage and good food. Up here you are closer to the essence of life if that is what you might seek.

Alaró and the hamlet of Orient are within walking distance and the cozy restaurant of Es Verger is just a half hour stroll away. You will have heard of Es Verger‘s fabulous lamb specialties, all slow-cooked in the wood-fired oven at affordable prices (Paletillas are now served at 16 € a piece) and all eaten with great gusto.

The photos were taken near Alaró, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 21st, 2012. The time was 16:25:02, 15:04:14 and 14:48:03, respectively.

An Invasion of Snails

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You may not be much into snails as a gastronomic treat or even as a pet but, this being a blog about Mallorca and its traditions and customs, snails it is today. Caragols or caracoles (snails) are an indispensable part of the Mallorcan cuisine, and sometimes are kept as a domestic animal, and certainly so in Sant Jordi.

Yesterday, the pueblo of Sant Jordi, near S’Aranjassa, staged its annual Fira del Caragol (Snail Fair). Snail race competitions were held for the youngsters in the afternoon and a cooking contest of dishes made with snails was staged in the evening, before the night was danced away. An invasion of snails indeed. The agricultural Fira continues today, May 20th, and if you haven’t been to Sant Jordi, this might be the day when you go.

We recently had an invasion of snails in our patio garden, much to the delight of our carniverous tortoise (Manouria emys). We catch the snails for him as he is too slow to outpace them, would you believe it?

The photo (top) was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: April 25th, 2012. The time was 11:00:23. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of lauryngreen.blogspot.com.es.

Thank you very much.

Sant Marc and the Fate of Snails

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I have a few admissions to make, this Day of Sant Marc (Mark the Evangelist). For some reason, this is the day when tradition in Mallorca calls for the celebration of Caragoladas, snail eating banquets.

Admission no. one: I have taken lots of photos of snails over the years in all shapes and sizes, alive or boiled, on the plate or in the field, in the nature or in Mallorca’s markets but right now, I can’t find any of my snail photos just as I would need one. I seem to lack in keywording abilities or in more efficient photo archiving. I am sorry but I had to borrow a photo from Wikimedia.

Admission no. two: I am at a total loss as to why Sant Marc is associated with the eating of snails. The snail eating capital of Mallorca seems to be Sineu, but Algaïda and Sant Jordi are big snail eating communities as well. In Sant Jordi, an annual snail race is held, albeit a bit later, in mid-May. Sineu is celebrating its patron’s day today, Sant Marc, with the usual Wednesday market in an extra special, festive edition, whilst banks and offices have a festive day off. I believe that the Palau dels Reis will be open for visits today in Sineu as well. Sineu is also the place where Caragols-Mallorca resides, Mallorca’s largest snail breeders.

I am sorry if I may sound a bit vague today but there you are. I don’t know everything, so there.

The photo (top) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of wikimedia.org. and the photographer, Thomas Schoch. The photo (bottom) was chosen from my archive. It was taken near Petra, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: August 9th, 2008. The time was 15:33:58.

Thank you very much, and

vielen Dank.

Mallorcan Easter Traditions

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Today, Mallorca celebrates Diumenge des Ram (Palm Sunday), the first day of the dramatic and rather compelling Easter processions, commemorating the entering of Jesus in Jerusalem. Traditionally, on this day, blessed olive branches or dried palm leaves are handed out to the church goers attending the morning mass. This evening, the first of the Easter processions will be held in Palma with the attendance of all the Confrarias (confraternities, or brotherhoods). Last Friday, all of Palma’s Confrarias held their first procession of this year’s Easter proceedings (see photo below), simply manifesting their attendance this year.

Easter processions in Mallorca usually involve hooded cloaks whilst some involve chains, mock flagellation and bare feet. This week, there are also Vía Crucis or Vía Dolorosa (The Bearing of the Cross) processions and theatrical Passion Play performances, Davallaments, Enterraments and vigils.

One of the more vivid Easter processions is the Processó del Silenci (Procesión del Silencio, Silent Procession), held in complete silence and solemnity, with the quietness only broken by a deep and throbbing drumbeat.

Dijous Sant (Jueves Santo, Maundy Thursday) marks the last day of Quaresma (Lent). On this day, the annual Processó de la Sang, the largest of the Easter processions, is held with hundreds of hooded penitents participating, and thousands of believers in utter repentance in Palma. Visually, it is all quite stunning. In the past, a stringent regimen of fasting meant that the eating of sweets or meat was not allowed during Lent. After Viernes Santo (Good Friday), Robiols (sweet pies), Panades (savoury pastries), Crespells (sweet biscuits) and Coques de Patata (see photo above) are prepared for the festive weekend.

The Golgatha celebration (Passion of Christ) in Mallorca is a pageant centred around the Davallament, the story of the Last Supper, the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, Jesus’s capture, his crucifixion, the taking off of the cross, the Pietà and, finally, the Enterrament (burial). Davallament performances are usually staged in Felanitx, Artà, Sant Joan and Pollença.

On Easter Sunday, most Mallorcan pueblos and parishes celebrate the resurrection of Christ and the Encontrada between the Virgin Mary and her son, Jesus. This is a joyful procession, now without hoods or cloaks, where brass music is played by the Banda de Música and when pigeons are released en masse to celebrate the happy occasion. A Missa Solemne (solemn mass service) is usually celebrated after the Encontrada, concluding the religious part of Easter and Setmana Santa for another year.

Easter Monday is not traditionally a church holiday in Spain, but has acquired holiday status in recent years to allow for the celebration of Pancaritats. In Mallorca, this is a tradition involving citizens convening at monasteries and hermitages to share food with one another and with other, less privileged members of the local community. In Felanitx, a Pujada Solidaria journey on foot is organised up to Sant Salvador, the nearest Puig to Felanitx and the seat of the Santuari de Sant Salvador, the monastery dating from the 15th century.

On the Sunday after Easter, Diumenge de l’Àngel will be celebrated in many Mallorcan pueblos and at Palma’s Castell del Bellver with church services of the more formal kind and with further festive gatherings. More food to be shared between all, no doubt.

A schedule of most of the dates and venues of religious Easter ceremonies in Mallorca can be found on this website.

Happy Easter.

Molts d’anys.

Today’s blog entry is a variation of an article I contributed to a relatively new Mallorca website, discovermallorca.com. Thank you for permitting me the use of some of that information, here.

The photo (top) was taken near Campos, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: February 5th, 2012. The time was 12:10:56. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of diariodemallorca.es and the photographer, Miquel Massuti.

Muchas gracias.

The Oyster Bar Bonanza

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I recently told you about the malaise of Mallorca’s fish trade. For the last two or three years, you may have noticed Se Vende signs put up at an increasing number of fish mongers in Palma’s Mercat de l’Olivar.

Now, a few months ago, a new trend has beset that very indoor market, Palma’s biggest and best. You will now find three or four stalls selling Japanese-style sushi and sashimi to eat in or to take home, and you can also find two large oyster bars offering creuses, plates and Fines de Claire plus Champagne galore. If you don’t like oysters, they also do Caviar. At a price.

As long as the better-off amongst the Mercat‘s clients do their civil duty and consume and indulge, there might be a future for the fish trade after all. If not, nobody knows what will happen. It could all end up in tears.

The photo was taken in Palma, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: December 30th, 2011. The time was 14:48:47.

The Mallorcan Fishing Fleet

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Fishing in Mallorca is on a decline, along with everything else but All Inclusive hotel holidays. The almond industry is on its knees, the shoe and leather industry stand with their backs to the walls, the furniture business is half the size of what it was, the ladrillos production (clay tiles and bricks) is way past its golden days and boat building is a trade with few new contracts and hardly anyone prepared to undertake an apprenticeship to learn the task. Let’s not even talk about the building industry or farming in general, and orange, lemon or fig harvesting in particular. The boom in Mallorcan wine and olive oil does not redress the balance.

Fishing is not economically viable any longer, something to do with European fishing laws and a severe depletion of fish stocks. Yes, there are four or five fishing trawlers going out every day in Cala Figuera (Santanyí) [see photo bottom], and in Alcúdia, Porto Christo, Sóller and Palma as well, but that may be a total of 25 trawlers where there were perhaps 60, not all that many years ago.

Smaller fishing boats with a crew of one or two like the one in the photo (top), mending his fishing nets, are bumping the numbers up a bit, but not much. The income from their daily catch of perhaps one or two crates full of fresh fish is not enough to feed a family of four if there is no supplementary income earned by the spouse. La crisis does not help either; market prices for fresh fish in Palma’s markets are way down and a considerable number of fish mongers have given up their market stalls over the last two years or so.

The photos were taken in Portocolom (top) and Cala Figuera/Santanyí (bottom), Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: March 13th and 14th, 2012. The time was 11:35:24 and 16:59:38, respectively.

The Jaia Corema

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The Jaia Quaresma is the traditional symbol of Lent in Mallorca in the time leading up to Easter. The Jaia Quaresma is also known as Vella Cuaresma or Jaia Corema, depending on whether you speak Castellano, Mallorcan or Catalan.

Lent is the time of fasting, when one should refrain from eating meat and instead, one should eat fish. People are used to that change in eating regime, but the Jaia woman is meant to instill the seven week-long habit into the younger ones. To ensure a successful conversion into fish eaters – remember, we are talking about a time when fish fingers were not yet invented and certainly not known here in Mallorca, some sixty years ago or more – the Jaia figure was used as a threat, as in, “if you eat meat and not your fish the Jaia Corema will come and saw your leg of“. Hmm. Strong stuff. The Jaia figure has seven legs for the seven weeks of Lent. Each week, one leg is cut off for the week gone past, illustrating the point that there surely was one meat-eating offender amongst the children at school. In my photo, there are four legs left to go.

Times have moved on, one would have hoped. But in the old days, a traditional Mallorcan period of Lent would mainly consist of Sopes amb Oli, a soup with bread, vegetables, water and olive oil. Only on Sundays fish was allowed to be eaten. It is for this reason that the old Jaia woman would always hold a fish in her hand, mostly a piece of cod.

The photo was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: March 12th, 2011. The time was 12:09:14. The illustration was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of ikoukladethelei.blogspot.com.

Moltes gràcies.

A Fish Called Lisa

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Lisa or Llissa is a fish which traditionally used to be eaten in Mallorca during Lent, or so I am told. The fish may be better known to you by its Latin name, Mugil labrosus, not the same but similar to Flathead Mullet or Striped Mullet. We had Llissa yesterday for the first time ever and we were totally surprised about its splendid taste and texture. If you can find Llissa in your local fishmongers or market, try it. It is not totally unlike the Dorada (Gilt-head bream) or the Lubina (European sea bass). Somehow, I have gone off these two because you can only buy them as aqua-cultured, farmed species and I don’t like these for the high content of chemicals in their feed. Llissa is different; this fish is not farmed. Also, it suffers from a low esteem and thus, is not economically viable. We paid 2 € per kilo; no wonder the fish is not widely on offer. When Mallorca was less affluent, before the tourist boom, Llissa was part of the mainstay consumption and most men went out to fish for it near the coastal rocks. As I said, Quaresma (Lent) would have been unthinkable without this fish. Should you buy one, make sure the fish is fresh and prepare and eat the Llissa the same day of your purchase. The fish deteriorates in taste and can virtually not be eaten 72 hours after its catch. We enjoyed what we had last night, prepared in the oven with fennel and courgettes and a dressing of soy sauce, ginger, sake (rice wine) and coriander.

The photo (top) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of seafood.nmmba.gov.tw. The photo (bottom) was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: March 3rd, 2012. The time was 20:44:04.

Thank you very much.

Xie xie.

Galets de Nadal

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Whilst you and I may be thinking of roast turkey when we think of Christmas, the average Mallorcan family looks forward to Galets de Nadal or a Sopa Rellena which both happens to be the same. Galets de Nadal will be eaten as a first course on Christmas Day for lunch, to be followed by Indiot Mallorquí (turkey), faisán (pheasant) or Porcella (suckling pig). There may well be an interim course of Guatleres (Codornizes; quails); after all, it’s Christmas and this will probably be the most important family meal of the year. Some fifty years ago, a Fira de s’Indiot was celebrated in Palma in the run-up to Christmas where live turkey, quail, pheasant, partridge and farmed chicken could be bought for the forthcoming festivities.

The recipe for Galets de Nadal involves a bone of Serrano ham and some snails for the broth, pork and turkey for the filling, as well as parsley, onions, leek, carrots, chickpeas and garlic. The soup dish is most often prepared by the family’s grandmother. Praise yourself lucky if you should be invited to the treat. If no such invitation should be forthcoming, you can buy Galets de Nadal freshly made from a stall at the Mercat Municipal de Pere Garau in Palma (see photo).

The photo was taken in Palma, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: December 21st, 2011. The time was 11:52:12.

Truffled Delights

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Truffles are usually associated with the Grande Cuisine of France, and of course, also with Italy and its Grande Cucina, but, did you know that the Trufa negra is also growing on the Spanish mainland, mainly in the area between Tarragona, Valencia and Zaragoza. And what about Mallorca?

The Tuber aestivum (Summer truffle) is particularly native to the Islas Baleares and can be found here in Mallorca in fair abundance. You would need to have a pig with a nose for truffles, though, or a good dog with an equally good sniff, to find some of these treasures in oaky woods here on the island. Failing that, you could look for Mallorcan truffles in one of the autumn markets or else, in one of the main mercats in Palma, such as Mercat de l’Olivar or Mercat de Santa Catalina. Now is also the time when Mallorca’s top restaurants might offer you some Cerdo Ibérico con foie gras y jugo de trufas (Iberian pork with foie gras and truffle juice) or perhaps Carnes tiernas de cerdo iberico rellenas de Setas con puré de patata trufada (Stuffed roast pork with mushrooms and truffled potato purée). The choice is all yours.

Last week, the Guía Michelin España & Portugal 2012 was presented in Barcelona. In that latest guide-book, there are 113 restaurants listed in Spain with one Michelin star, 16 establishments with two stars and 5 estrellas with three etoiles each. In Mallorca, there are now six restaurants with one Michelin star each, and they might well have some seasonal truffle dishes on offer. The laurelled restaurants are Es Fum (Hotel St. Regis Mardavall, Palmanova), Jardín (Port d’Alcúdia), Es Racó d’es Teix (Deià), Tristán (Portals Nous), Zaranda (Hotel Hilton Sa Torre) and Es Molí d’en Bou (Sa Coma), with Es Fum and Jardín being new additions to the sometimes controversial merit.

You will probably find truffled delights in other good restaurants in Mallorca, just the same.

The photo was taken in Caimari, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: November 20th, 2011. The time was 13:40:45.