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.