Típico de Mallorca…
When it comes to good food, Mallorca has plenty to offer. Mediterranean cuisine is healthy and farmers here use organic farming methods. For those who like to cook, the markets offer a wealth of ingredients, curiosities and specialities to try on a relaxed shopping trip.
Life in Mallorca today is still a bit like the old days. The clocks seem to tick a little slower. If on a Sunday morning you are waiting outside a bakery in the mountain village of Esporles, then it is usually in a long queue because the woman serving is busy asking regular customers about their families as she carefully wraps the cakes in paper. Everything goes at a more leisurely pace, which is why a holiday in the Balearics is so relaxing. Those in search of the original Mallorca will find it at the markets held in almost every village, and of course in Palma, too, often twice a week.
Chefs recommend the organic market in Santa Maria del Camí on Sunday morning, which is like taking a journey through the Island’s cuisine. Live snails (caracoles) are offered for sale alongside pretty bunches of vegetables and dried tomatoes. And of course there are the local olives, either fresh or as olive oil, cheese and Sobrasada, and a separate area for organic produce. After you have tried the Empanadas, Ensaimadas and Cocas de Patata (potato cakes) on your stroll around the market, it is worth visiting one of the eight Bodegas in the surrounding area. In the region around Binissalem there are 600 hectares of vineyards growing grapes for red and white wines.
In 2015, actor and director Til Schweiger launched a wine called Emma for his Barefoot Living label, which is produced at the Bodega Son Prim in Sencelles, in the wine growing region of Pla i Levant. During the week, the indoor markets in Palma like the large Mercat de l’Olivar near Plaça d’Espanya are great places to shop, as it is mostly locals who come here every day and brisk business is transacted in tiled units. In the surrounding streets you will find a few excellent organic shops and a really fine bakery, which offers a view of the bakery itself in the cellar, through a glass panel in the floor by the counter.
Mercat de Santa Catalina in Palma’s former fishing quarter is altogether more informal. Here, after perusing the stalls it is pleasant to drink a coffee at Bar Joan Frau, a popular meeting place, or stop off at Món de Sushi for an appetising snack. Mallorca is the perfect place for a culinary voyage of discovery, not only because the Mediterranean diet is full of vitamins and therefore extremely healthy but also because traditional production methods are highly valued, and an organic label, too.
For more travel tips, go to www.deluxemallorca.com.
