Cala Rajada is holding this year’s Mostra de la Llampuga, an annual event now in its 10th year. If you have never been to this gastronomic tour de fish, you should go. Next Sunday is when the gratification is best, I think.

A largish number of hotels, restaurants as well as fishermen’s associations and fishery bodies are presenting a multitude of gastronomic dishes in endless variations of Llampuga concoctions. You’ll be surprised how many ways there are to dissect and prepare the Common Dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus), also known as Mahi-Mahi. Llampuga will be served in a Paella rice dish, as a Fideo noodle meal, as a Carbaccio (see photo below), smoked, fried, sizzled, steamed, as a Ravioli stuffing, minced as a Tartar, raw as a Sushi, and in dozens of other gastronomic transformations, one better than the next. I ran out of eating capacity after 10 or 12 different Llampuga dishes, last time I went. I’m happy to go for 10 or 12 more, this weekend.

The Mostra de Llampuga is part of a three-day event in Cala Rajada under the title Cap de Setmana de Peix Fresc (Weekend of Fresh Fish) which also includes Octopus and Bacaladilla (Blue Whiting), another greatly underrated local fish speciality. Friday night, it will be Tapas night, whilst on Saturday, Paella will be offered, prepared with Llampuga and Pop (Octopus). The main event, however, will be the proper Llampuga Gastronomic Fair on Sunday, October 9th, at 12h00 noon. Last year, admission was 10 €, including vouchers for 4 Llampuga dishes, one dessert and two drinks.

The photo (top) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of ceroizquierdo.com and the photographer. The photo (bottom) was chosen from my archive. It was taken in Cala Rajada, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: October 11th, 2009. The time was 14:37:28.

Muchas gracias.