As the temperatures get milder, the menu in the Balearic Islands also changes: all islands offer delicious, warming dishes that are definitely worth trying.
Mallorca: winter dishes
In the Balearic Islands there are many gastronomic specialties and traditional dishes during Christmas time. Suckling pig porcella, prepared in the oven or in the casserole, is a typical Christmas meal in Mallorca. Turkey dishes such as rice with turkey, escaldums – a braised turkey meat and potatoes with a seasoning mixture of onions, tomatoes, garlic as well as a dash of white wine and a hazelnut-pine nut sauce – or stuffed turkey are also particularly popular at Christmas time.
In many coastal towns, fish is often prepared in the Mallorcan style during the Christmas holidays.
As a sweet delicacy, almond milk is drunk at Christmas, which is slowly brought to the boil with sugar, lemon peel and cinnamon to taste and drunk hot, with Coca de Nadal, a sweet dish.
Ibiza and Formentera: stews and desserts
A winter dish typical of Ibiza and Formentera is the bullit de peix, a traditional fish dish. This is prepared with various rock fish and served with potatoes and rice. The traditional Bullit de Peix is prepared in the cassola de fang, the greixonera, with peppers, tomatoes and saffron. Aioli is often served as a side dish to enhance the flavor of the fish. In Ibiza you can also try the Bullit de Peix in numerous restaurants on the coast. In Ibiza and Formentera, Bullit de Nadal is also traditionally eaten on Christmas Day, a stew made from bacon, poultry and pork or a rice dish with bouillon, which is skimmed off to be used as a sauce for the holidays – the so-called Salsa de Nadal. The sauce is always prepared shortly before Christmas and e.g. B. eaten together with biscuit. In addition to the meat broth, other ingredients include almonds, sugar, eggs, honey, saffron, pepper and cinnamon.
Ibiza: Nutritious winter dish Sofrit pagès
The farmer’s casserole Sofrit Pagès is particularly famous in Ibiza. It used to be a dish that was mainly served at Christmas, but now you can find it in many restaurants in Ibiza all winter long. It is a very sustainable and rich food that consists primarily of a lot of meat: pork, lamb, sobrasada (pepper sausages), botifarró (blood sausages), but also potatoes, garlic, parsley, olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika contain. If you don’t eat meat, the Guisat de Peix fish stew is just right for you: In Ibiza, the stew is mainly eaten at lunchtime. The traditional meal consists of grouper, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, peppers, green beans, garlic, roasted almonds, white bread, peppers, parsley, as well as olive oil, saffron and salt.
Menorca: Typical Christmas meal
The typical Christmas meal in Menorca begins with a soup, the so-called queen’s soup, which consists of semolina and small meatballs. There is also stuffed capon and truffle loin stuffed with fruit, egg and sobrasada. According to tradition, a rice dish is prepared with the leftover meat on the following Christmas Day.
The Caldereta de Langosta is also the star dish in Menorca. It consists of regional ingredients and was traditionally a dish of fishermen. It is prepared in a clay pot called a caldero and the main ingredient is the red lobster, which is also fished in Menorca. There is also a so-called sofrito, a mixture of onions, red and green peppers, garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, salt, paprika and sweet peppers, roasted salted almonds, parsley and toasted bread. Another typical winter dish is brou, a stew that has become increasingly popular in recent years and is also served in restaurants in Menorca. It consists of veal, pork, chicken, meatballs, onions, potatoes, leeks, carrots, herbs for the broth, tomatoes, cabbage, chickpeas, salt, oil and vermicelli. For the colder days of December and January, Menorca hosts the Dimecres és dia de Brou gastronomic event, offering a menu of drinks, bread and dessert at a good price
