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Review: Restaurant Arrels by Marga Coll
Summers – even long ones – always pass too quickly on Mallorca. I had been intending to visit Arrels by Marga Coll for months but suddenly this seasonal restaurant located within the 5-star Gran Meliá de Mar in Mallorca’s southwest resort of Illetas was about to close for the winter. We just made it in time on Friday as it was the penultimate service of the season.
We’ve never stayed at this adults-only hotel, but it’s on the (growing) list to try. It has a privileged location on a promontory, with its own small cove and beautiful views of the Bay of Palma. The building itself is an icon in Illetas: the Hotel del Mar first opened in May 1964; in 1968 Sol Meliá had 50 per cent ownership and a few years later the hotel became a part of the prestigious Mallorcan hotel group. Upgraded to a Gran Meliá hotel a few years ago, it also has a Clarins Spa and choice of restaurants amongst the reasons to stay here.
Interior of restaurant
Marga Coll features in the decor too!
Table with a sea view
All the cutlery arrives in this Mallorcan ‘cloth of tongues’ wrapThe cuisine at Arrels by Marga Coll is Mallorcan. Marga also has her own restaurant – Miceli – in the village of Selva (a couple of kilometres from Inca). For both restaurants, Marga bases her dishes for any day on the fresh produce she buys at the market that morning; the menus change daily.
Our dinner at Arrels by Marga Coll
We ate al fresco on Friday evening. It was still just about warm enough to sit outside and enjoy the views of lights twinkling around the bay. A waiter kindly brought me a blanket, just in case I became chilly later – although it wasn’t needed. The service was very good and friendly; you’d never have guessed that the team was probably counting down the hours to their holidays.
Our server brought us a small red notebook each, in which the day’s tasting menu was handwritten. There was something about this idea I really loved – and not just because, as a writer, I can’t resist notebooks; it seemed more personal than perusing a printed menu or screen-swiping on an electronic device. And it gave us a chance to tell our server in advance if there was anything we didn’t like or couldn’t eat. In fact when I’d phoned to book the table I had been asked whether we had an allergies or dislikes and they had already noted The Boss’s dislike of garlic. Top marks.
Handwritten menu (also available in English)
Other things we liked: the small tiles used as side plates for the delicious bread made on the premises; the tiles were handmade made by Huguet, a company in Campos that has been manufacturing hydraulic tiles by hand since 1933. The tables were simply decorated – each one had a pristine yellow pepper sitting on a dish and a small nightlight – and the chairs were comfortable. The food was served on hot dishes – particularly important when eating al fresco. And did I mention the delicious bread?
Cream of hazelnut and Norway lobster soup – poured over carpaccio. Delicious!
Courgette coca with goat’s cheese and dried tomato pesto – lovely crispy base and the tomato pesto was divine
Perfectly cooked hake with a sobrasada alioli and caramelized onion
‘Presa’ of black pork with Binigarba (Menorcan) cheese sauce and sauteed vegetables. Excellent.
Creamy coffee and Mallorcan Suau brandy dessert. More please!UPDATE FOR 2020
Arrels by Marga Coll opened for the 2020 season on June 29th. This year the restaurant offers only a seven-course dinner for 56€, excluding drinks. The menu changes every day and the restaurant is open every evening except Mondays. There’s no à la carte.
©Jan Edwards 2017
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Review of Spot Restaurant in Palma de Mallorca
EatDrinkSleepMallorca was recently invited to try a new eating-out spot in the Santa Catalina district of Mallorca’s capital, Palma. Or perhaps that should be the new eating-out Spot – since that is the name of the restaurant.
Spot is located in premises previously occupied by the business BConnected, which had a showroom for trendy furniture and interior accessories here. Now the spacious building is home to this informal restaurant serving freshly made Mediterranean cuisine with some international touches. It’s a place where you can come for a coffee in the morning, a drink at any time of day, lunch, or dinner.
Spot is part of the restaurant group En Compañía de Lobos (Spanish for ‘in the company of wolves’) which also has seven restaurants in Barcelona and two in Madrid. This is their first in Mallorca. It’s not a chain: the restaurants are individually named and different from each other in both setting, style, and cuisine; the menus are all devised by the group’s executive chef Marcelino Jiménez.
We went for lunch. Spot is easy to find as it’s on one side of the Sant Magí church. Street parking is usually possible in the area (but buy a parking ticket from a meter if you’re there during the payment period).
The Place
A black-iron wood-burning oven and a pile of logs beneath it were the first thing we noticed: they’re in a small foyer to the right of the restaurant entrance. With the doors open, as they were, we could see the chefs working in the kitchen beyond the foyer. Wood smoke is one of my favourite aromas, so Spot almost had me before I’d even gone in!
Spot’s wood-fired oven
Entrance area perfect for coffee or drinks
Local flavour in the stylish decor at Spot
There had to be a wolf somewhere. We were in the company of this gorgeous one…Entering Spot, you’re in an area of tables where you can sit and just have a drink. The open front (when the weather is fine) gives the feel of being outdoors. Beyond this is the eating area and a large bar and counter (with high chairs for those who like to see a bit of prep-action while they’re eating or drinking).
Tables are a mix of round and rectangular and are well spaced, thanks to the size of the premises. We chose a rectangular table at the rear of the restaurant – where the large windows offer views of a small verdant courtyard with a couple of citrus trees (no al fresco eating though).
Mallorca is reflected in the Mediterranean décor, which includes fabrics, tiles, and ceramics from the island – although the interior design team was the Barcelona-based Tarruella Trenchs Studio. The result is informal, contemporary, and comfortable.
The Food
The menu (also available in English, if you don’t speak Spanish) is split into the following sections: To share; pastas; greens, soups, & salads; pizza (from that wood-fired oven), and del mund (from the world). The menu is marked with different-coloured spots to indicate dishes that contain meat, fish, or neither. Vegetarians have a choice of four sharing dishes, two pastas, six from the greens, soups, & salads, and three pizzas.
Alex, the manager, recommended that we try the sharing dish tortita with tuna sashimi, avocado and chipotle mayonnaise (three pieces for 9€). This is the only dish that appears on all the group’s restaurant menus and we felt we had to try it.
Tortita with tuna sashimi, avocado and chipotle mayo
Beet tartar with avocado and pink grapefruit – healthy and delicious
Activated charcoal gives this black pizza its colour – a revelation
Crispy duck – deliciously crisply and served with a bamboo steamer of pancakes.
Definitely worth the calories: Spot’s banoffee pieWe also shared some other dishes, including something I hadn’t seen before on the island: black pizza made in the wood-fired oven (14€, but large enough to share if you’re having something else too). The base was made from the trendy gastro-ingredient activated charcoal (food grade, of course), and topped with fresh fig, the French cheese Morbier, local black sausage, and rocket. OK, it may look as though the wood-fired oven got a little overheated, but it doesn’t taste burnt!
The bread was another noteworthy item here: made with olive oil, it had a good crunchy crust (baked in the wood-fired oven). If you want to dip it in olive oil, be sure to ask for the oil, as no condiments were on the tables during our visit. If they sold the loaves to take home, I’d have bought one.
The Wines
The list includes Mallorcan wines, as well as labels from the Peninsula, some of which are available by the glass. Prices seemed reasonable, for example, a bottle of the Mallorcan Obac from Bodega Binigrau, was listed as 24€. The Boss opted for an alcohol-free beer (he was driving) and I had a glass of Bodegas Angel’s Atac (white), at a fair price of 3,50€.
Would We Return?
Yes, most definitely. We enjoyed the tasty food, which seemed to be made from good-quality ingredients, and the ambience of the place. My only small criticism was that the music (clearly from a decent sound system through ceiling-mounted Bose speakers around the place) was a little too loud for easy conversation. Great choice of tunes though!
Spot has the vibe of a place to be enjoyed with a group of friends, sharing several dishes in that lovely convivial way that’s part of the lifestyle when eating out on the island of Mallorca.
©Jan Edwards 2017
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Foraged Fruits in Mallorca
Earlier this week we went hiking with our Dutch friends in the Orient valley – a truly beautiful part of rural Mallorca. As we kicked our way through fallen leaves on a forested path, we spotted several varieties of fungus – including a few that looked like something you’d find in a greengrocer’s.
Know What You’re Doing
I love the idea of foraging: the searching, the gathering, and then using nature’s free gifts at home in the kitchen. But it’s vital to know what’s edible and what’s likely to land you in hospital (or worse still, the mortuary). As we spotted various different types of fungus, our friends told us a truly horrific story about someone they knew who had eaten some innocent-looking wild mushrooms they had gathered. No. Don’t be tempted by any wild fungi if you’re not 100% sure that they’re edible.
Lovely to look at but…
Autumnal woodland sightingA Wild Fruit You Can Eat
Further along the forest path we saw an arbutus or, to give it its common name in English, a strawberry tree. This tree’s pretty little fruits – known in Spain as madroños – are edible, although I hear they don’t have much flavour. Still shaken from the horrors of the mushroom story, I chickened out of trying one.
Brightly coloured in this case doesn’t spell danger©Jan Edwards 2017
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A Third Location for Palma’s Ca’n Joan de s’Aigo
Mallorca’s capital Palma has lost quite a few well-established businesses in recent months – many of them traditional cafés, bars, or bakeries. We said goodbye to Café Lírico in spring 2017 and, later, Bar Cristal in Plaça d’Espanya closed; the latter had been founded in 1930 and managed by the same family since 1955. Over the past decade, more than 30 bakeries in Palma have shut their doors for good. 2017’s closures included El Forn (mallorquín for oven) des Paners, Pasteleria Llull, and Forn d’es Teatre (probably one of the most-photographed shop fronts in the city).
One of many bakeries to close its doors
Palma’s changing commercial centre
Reasons for the closure of these family-owned businesses include retirement (with no younger members of the family willing to continue the business), growth in supermarket shopping (impacting on traditional bakeries), and – the biggie – increased commercial property rents. International chains including Starbucks and McDonald’s have opened in the city (sadly, IMHO) and, recognizing that the Big Boys are prepared to pay top dollar (or euro) for a presence in Palma, some commercial property owners have hiked up rents to the extent that it’s no longer viable for some local traders to continue in business.
Traditional details in Can Joan de s’Aigo’s C/ de Sans premises
Local business bucking the trend
People saddened by the increasing loss of traditional local businesses in Mallorca’s capital have welcomed the opening of another branch of Ca’n Joan de s’Aigo (founded here in the 18th century). The company’s third café/bakery/ice-cream parlour has opened in Palma, in an architecturally interesting building that once housed the emblematic El Triquet bar but, more recently, a fashion store. Its prime location on the corner of the Avenidas (inner ring road) and C/ Sindicat gives it more visibility than its existing branches in C/ de Sans and Baró de Santa Maria del Sepulcre.
Read more about the business Ca’n Joan de s’Aigo and its branch in C/ de Sans here.
©Jan Edwards Updated 2018
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Mallorcan Olive Oil Wins British ‘Great Taste’ Award
An extra virgin olive oil producer in Mallorca is celebrating a prestigious food award from Britain. Judges in the British ‘Great Taste’ 2017 Awards – organised by the Guild of Fine Food – awarded two stars to L’AMO Aubocassa, which is produced on Aubocassa’s 12th-century country estate, in the municipality of Manacor.
L’AMO Aubocassa was named for L’amo en Sebastiá – which means Sebastiá the owner; Sebastiá lived at Aubocassa for 40 years. In naming this oil after him, the producers wanted to pay homage to all the ‘amos‘ who have maintained the agricultural heritage of Mallorca over the centuries.
The Aubocassa estate in Mallorca – home of award-winning extra virgin olive oils.
L’amo en Sebastia – who lived at Aubocassa for 40 years.
Winner of a ‘Great Taste’ 2017 award from Britain – L’AMO Aubocassa.DO Oli de Mallorca
This rural estate produces two extra virgin olive oils: Aubocassa and L’AMO Aubocassa – both of which have the (Denomination of Origin) DO Oli de Mallorca. L’AMO Aubocassa is made from Arbequina and Picual olives; Aubocassa from 100% Arbequina olives. Both oils have now won awards.
‘Great Taste’ 2017 Facts
- The ‘Great Taste’ Awards scheme is the benchmark for fine artisan and speciality foods. It has been called the ‘Oscars’ of the food world.
- A record number of 12,366 products were entered this year.
- More than 500 experienced palates – those of chefs, food critics, restaurateurs, cooks, food writers, and journalists – blind-tasted each product.
- 3,171 products were awarded one star
- 1,011 were awarded two stars
- 165 were awarded three stars
According to the Guild of Fine Food, the judges are looking for truly great taste. “Yes, they take into account texture, appearance and of course quality ingredients; they like a good aroma, a decent bite to a sausage, a smooth lemon curd, crunchy rich pastry, but everything comes back to the taste. Is it really, truly great?”
In the case of L’AMO Aubocassa, clearly, yes!
Where to buy L’AMO Aubocassa in the UK
If you’re in Britain, you can buy L’AMO Aubocassa and the original Aubocassa extra virgin olive oils from the Spanish food company Brindisa (established in 1988). Brindisa has shops in London’s Borough Market and in Balham (London borough of Wandsworth), and an online store too.
©Jan Edwards 2017 Photos courtesy of Aubocassa.
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Where Diana, Princess of Wales, Stayed in Mallorca
Twenty years ago today. I will never forget the day that Princess Diana died. The radio station where I was a presenter had arranged a huge roadshow event at Silverstone, with top bands and singers due to perform. Because I made an early start from home I didn’t catch any news before I left and it wasn’t until I was en route that I switched on the car radio and heard about Diana’s death. Obviously, the station cancelled the event.
I had met ‘the People’s Princess’ twice. Once, at the end of a sponsored wheelchair push from Edinburgh to London by three young paraplegics raising money for the International Spinal Research Trust. Diana was the patron of the charity and greeted the three wheelchair users on arrival at their final destination. I was there as PR executive for the chain Crest Hotels, having arranged free hotel accommodation along the route for the three wheelchair users.
To my surprise, Princess Diana subsequently invited me to a special reception at Kensington Palace for all those who had been involved. She chatted to everyone there and we also saw her being a normal mum: at one stage Diana had to chide the two young princes for being boisterous. On both occasions, Diana charmed everyone she met.
Escaping the world
The Princess of Wales lived her life under a spotlight – sometimes of her own making. But in the spring of 1996 she found sanctuary during a weekend’s stay at the Mallorca hotel known today as Belmond La Residencia in Deià, where her framed letter of thanks to the hotel still hangs on the wall in the reception area.
Quite a few changes have happened at the hotel since Diana stayed and she’d probably love it even more now; especially as the hotel added some new suites this year – with a high degree of privacy.
Here are some of my photos of this beautiful hotel – a place where any girl can feel like a princess.
Sa Tafona art gallery at Belmond La Residencia. Culture is an important part of the hotel’s offering.
View from the breakfast terrace in the early morning.
Romantic terrace of Belmond La Residencia’s El Olivo restaurant.
Flowers abound in the beautiful gardens and on the terraces.
Views of Deia village
Flowers galore…like an English country garden.
Another place to eat…©Jan Edwards 2017
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Almonds & More at Mallorca’s Ametlla+
Artà, the hilltop town in the northeast of Mallorca, is home to an interesting shop/café specializing in almond products. Ametlla is the Mallorcan word for almond but, as the plus sign at the end of this business’s name suggests, there’s more to discover if you step through the doors. Ametlla+ was founded as an initiative to make optimum use of the island’s almond crop.
Almond blossom on Mallorca.
Almonds are an important part of Mallorca’s landscape, gastronomy, traditions, and even tourism. Visit Mallorca in late January/February and you’ll see the island decked in white and pale pink almond blossom. In the past, it was common for Mallorcans to burn discarded almond shells in stoves to heat their homes. When we bought our finca here, we inherited one of the small stoves specifically for that purpose – although it’s no longer connected to a chimney.
Try a delicious version of Mallorca’s almond cake
Visiting Artà with friends, we had a very good cup of coffee sitting on the front terrace at Ametlla+, watching people come and go along this mainly pedestrianized street (C/ Ciutat). We also tried their Mallorcan almond cake, known as gató. This traditional cake is on the menu of restaurants and cafés all over the Mallorca and sold in many bakeries. It should be made with almond flour, which makes it suitable for coeliacs and those with a gluten intolerance. I always make one for my dad (a coeliac) when he visits.
Almonds are expensive and we have found examples of almond cakes that have had a little wheat flour incorporated into the mix so, if you suffer gluten problems, do check before buying or ordering in a restaurant or café. Gató is traditionally served with almond ice cream, which may seem like an almond overload – but it works.
The owner of Ametlla+ told us they have slightly adapted the recipe for their almond-flour-only cake, adding a little of one of their almond mixes to the recipe. If you’ve never tried gató, it’s well worth ordering this gluten-free version here.
A range of Mallorcan products
Even if you come only for a drink and something to eat, it’s worth browsing the shelves of this attractive modern shop/café. As well as three types of their own-brand Ametlla+ mixes (which can be used to season dishes, add to marinades or dressings, among other things), the shop sells jars of roasted Mallorcan almonds with different flavourings, and almond oil.
It’s not all about the almond though: we bought a bottle of tomato Ketchup de Forqueta made from the Mallorcan tomatoes known as ‘ramellet’ (no more Heinz for us now!), a small wooden dish and spoon for salt and, of course, each of the Ametlla+ almond seasoning mixes.
Attractive interior.
Anyone for almonds?
Gourmet products from Mallorca.
Mallorcan tomato sauce.
Turron – made from almonds on Mallorca.
Roasted almonds from Mallorca.What began as a stop for a coffee with our good friends visiting Mallorca from Oxfordshire, ended up as a bit of a feast – and a shopping fest!
©Jan Edwards 2017
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Tapas at Their Best at Mallorca’s Peccata Minuta
Spain’s emblematic snacks are taken to a higher level at Mallorca’s Peccata Minuta gourmet tapas events. Organised by the Balearic gastronomic association Chefs(in), they take place two or three times a year and we love to attend. There’s usually one around the time of Balearics Day (March 1st) and another in summer; we’ve also attended an indoor one in the theatre in Lloseta, and an autumn one in an atmospheric cloister in Inca. As you may have gathered, we are big fans!
The idea is that you buy a ‘passport’ in advance (numbers are limited to ensure the event runs smoothly) containing tear-out tokens which you exchange for the tapas and drinks, moving from stall to stall – rather than bar to bar, as in a traditional Spanish tapeo.
Peccata Minuta locations
Locations have included indoor markets (Mercat de l’Olivar and Mercat de Santa Catalina), the Museum of the Juan March Foundation and, last year, Son Vida Golf. Last night we attended this summer’s Peccata Minuta at Golf Son Muntaner on the outskirts of Palma. It proved to be good venue: plenty of parking, spacious clubhouse terrace, and bucolic views all around.
The venue for the summer 2017 event: Golf Son Muntaner.
The Peccata Minuta of summer 2017
Last night’s Peccata Minuta featured eight chefs, master mixologist Rafa Martín of cocktail bar Brassclub in Palma, specialist wine store Vinamica, Marabans Coffee & Tea, and a Paulaner mobile bar, serving wheat beer. There were free bottles of Evian water and savoury Gori de Muro biscuits (a Mallorcan product worth seeking out in any good food store here) to dip into.
These were the participating chefs, with the name of their restaurant(s) and the tapa prepared for this edition of Peccata Minuta:
- Marga Coll – Miceli (Selva) and Arrels (Illetes) Crunchy apricot ensaïmada with almond ice cream.
- Rafa Sánchez – Port Blue Hotels & Resorts Prawns with coconut.
- Juan Portillo – Hotel Blau Porto Petro Monkfish with mussels, lentils, and saffron.
- Tomeu Martí – Arume (Palma) Thai-style butterfish (negrito).
- Pep Lluís Mayol – Ca’n Ribes (Sóller) Watermelon with tuna.
- Tomeu Lassio – Restaurante Tomeu Lassio (Lloseta) Black rice with cuttlefish.
- Andreu Genestra – One-Michelin-starred Andreu Genestra (Capdepera) & Aromata (Palma) Lamb tamale with spicy apricot.
- Miquel Gelabert – Can March (Manacor) – Iberian pork cheek and ‘trinxat’ of potato with vanilla.
Thai-style ‘negrito’.
Teixits Vicens from Pollensa had a stall of their products with the pattern known as ‘cloth of tongues.’
Now that’s what I call a coffee maker! In the mobile Marabans vehicle.
Rafa – the master mixologist at work.
Watermelon with tuna from Pep Mayol.
The main ingredient of Rafa’s cocktail Café, copa y puro (coffee, drink, and cigar).
Tomeu Marti – always smiling.
Eating on the golf course.
Ensaimada, apricot, almond – flavours combined in Marga’s dessert.
Cava from Vinamica for a welcome drink.
Part 2 of Andreu’s tapa: tamale of milk-fed lamb.
Rafa’s dish – ready to eat.
One part of Andreu Genestra’s tapa.
Rafa puts the final touches to his dish.DJ T-Mark (who presents a show on Mallorca Sunshine Radio played some cool tunes up on the clubhouse terrace up until midnight.
To find out more about Chefs(in), click here.
©Jan Edwards 2017
Andreu Genestra, Chefs(in), Deacorde, DJ T-Mark, Juan March Foundation, Juan Portillo, Mallorca Sunshine Radio, Marabans coffee and tea, Marga Coll, Miquel Gelabert, Paulaner beer, Peccata Minuta, Pep L Mayol, Rafa Martin, Rafa Sanchez, Son Muntaner Golf, Son Vida Golf, tapas, Tomeu Lassio, Tomeu Martí, Vinamica -
Mallorcan Dishes Star in Israeli TV Show
You know a place’s reputation as a gastronomic destination has spread when TV companies start flying in to record shows. And that’s exactly what’s happened here on Mallorca: both Rick Stein and Yotam Ottolenghi have been to the island in previous years with British TV production companies. In the past few days alone, the UK’s The Hairy Bikers – Dave Myers and Si King – have been on Mallorca filming for a new series. I’d hoped to interview them for my show on Mallorca Sunshine Radio but, alas, it wasn’t to be.
Hebrew TV comes to Palma
The popular Brit presenters weren’t the only ones making a food programme here. An Israeli company – Erez Dan Production – has also been on the island, filming for one of Israel’s most popular food programmes on a mainstream TV channel. Don’t ask me the Hebrew name of it, but the concept is to feature the top five dishes in major cities all around the world – as determined by social media.
The TV company was looking for a Mallorca food blogger to take part in the Palma edition of the programme and invited me to be involved in part of it. Quite a few years have passed since my time as a corporate video presenter, but the prospect of being back in the exciting world of filming for a little while was one I couldn’t resist.
Ensaïmada
The company’s online research had revealed that one of Palma’s five most social-media-featured dishes is the ensaimada – Mallorca’s best-known baked product – and we filmed at a place that’s famous for them. Ca’n Joan de S’aigo is in C/ Sanç in Palma’s Old Town; the business was established in 1700 and is also renowned for its ice creams and hot chocolate. Ca’n Joan de S’aigo is one of the oldest ‘chocolatiers’ in Europe and it’s still a popular tradition to come here for hot chocolate and ensaimadas after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve – when the place stays open late especially.
Traditional décor, including chandelier from Mallorcan company Gordiola.
Nadav, the Israeli TV foodie programme’s presenter, and I were first filmed strolling around the Old Town, talking about ensaimadas. Then we arrived at Ca’n Joan de S’Aigo, where the charming manager Pedro took us through to the kitchen to film some ensaimada production with the baker. Nadav even took a turn at rolling out the lardy dough and shaping it into a spiral, ready for proving.
The crew in Ca’n Joan de S’aigo’s kitchen: Nadav is wearing the white apron.
Pedro (left) with Nadav in the kitchen.
Finally Nadav and I sat down to eat a fresh-from-the-oven ensaimada, which we both agreed was delicious and as light as eating a cloud – even though the quantity of lard in them means they’re surely heavy in calories. Not that the slim Nadav – who must eat a lot of food in the course of his travels for this innovative TV show in Israel – has any problems on that score …
Text and photos Jan Edwards ©2017
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Mallorca’s Best Apricots have a Fiesta
The best apricots on Mallorca undoubtedly come from Porreres. Before moving to live on rural Mallorca, I wasn’t too fussed about apricots but, when I tasted the delicious ones from this rural town, I became a fan.
In the 1960s and ’70s, apricots were an important part of the economy of Porreres and the fruits were even exported as far as America. To this day, the town still hosts an annual celebration of the fruit, La Fira de l’Albercoc, although far fewer apricots are cultivated than in the glory days of the last century.
A saintly reason to climb a ladder
If you’re on Mallorca in June, it’s worth a visit to this one-day event, which has a great ambience and seems to bring the entire population of Porreres into the streets to enjoy all-things-apricot. June has the saint’s day for Sant Antoni de Padua – sometimes known here as Sant Antoni of the Albercocs, because it’s a traditional date to climb that rickety old ladder and pick the ripened apricots, warmed by the sun, from the tree.
Says it all!
Luscious Mallorcan apricots from Porreres
Of course, we had to buy some fruit to take home…
Preparing apricots to be dried.
And the results of their labours, drying in the sun. Not a wasp in sight…
Artisan beer from Talaiotika – flavoured with, you guessed it, apricots!
Preserves galore
An old sign, on display in the exhibition.
We love old photos of Mallorca and these were part of the Fira’s exhibition.At this year’s Fira, we visited stalls laden with heaps of fresh and dried apricots for sale; there were jars of preserves, baked goods, ice cream, juice, and even artisan beer – all made from the luscious fruits. My favourite variety has a rosy blush, which I believe is locally known as the rojo carlet.
We were also able to watch a group of people stoning apricots ready to be laid out to dry in the sun, and visit an interesting exhibition of artefacts and photos relating to apricot cultivation in Porreres in the past.
While there, we tried…
… a savoury tapa garnished with apricot, accompanied by a glass of artisan beer; a glass of apricot juice, and some delicious tartlets made with apple and apricot under a crumble topping. The latter were so good that we bought two more to take home for dessert the following day (with some home-made apricot and cardamom ice cream I had already made). After all that, we didn’t need dinner last Saturday evening…
Text and photos Jan Edwards ©2017
Eat Drink Sleep Mallorca 