What to eat in Menorca?
What to eat in Menorca? That is the question many of our clients ask themselves when they arrive in Menorca. Many of them assume that, because Menorca is an island, they will only find fish. The truth is that this idea is far from reality and the gastronomy of this small Mediterranean island is much bigger than that.
The origins of any gastronomy can always be found in the place where the products are grown and/or harvested. Thus, the great architects of Menorcan gastronomy are the people of the countryside and the fishermen. Simple recipes that respect the produce and allow the best and most characteristic flavours of Menorcan food to be extracted.
All the recipes depend not only on the ingredients, but also on how they are prepared, how they are handled and how they are cooked. All the cultures that have visited our island, such as the Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, Christians, British and French, play a very important role here. All this mixture has allowed Menorca’s gastronomy to be exponentially enriched, becoming a European Region of Gastronomy in the year 2022.
For centuries the basis of gastronomy has been maintained in Menorcan homes and in recent years it has been the restaurants and especially the new creative generation of chefs who have rescued ancient recipes and elaborations and have put them on the tables of their restaurants so that visitors to the island of Menorca can discover its history through the palate.
Just to mention a few dishes; ‘Arròs de la Terra’, or ‘Arroz de Moro’, which is actually made with wheat semolina. A typical dish that has been missing for many years and can now be found in the best restaurants. Its ingredients also include meat and part of the pig’s head, garlic heads and potato or sweet potato. Another dish with humble origins but not lacking in flavour is Oliaigo, a soup made with tomato, onion, green pepper and garlic. Few ingredients, careful cooking and, above all, never boiling. As this is a typical country dish, it is served with soups of stale bread and fruit, which depending on the season can be melon or the best known, figs.
The list of dishes is very long and in future articles we will be telling you about the flavours of Menorca.
