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Where to eat in Palma


Majorca’s capital is now one of Spain’s most exciting culinary cities, thanks to local chefs revitalising old recipes, rediscovering heritage ingredients and relishing a love of vermouth. Words: Lorna Parkes


Promotional Content • Saturday 18th May 2024


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Spain A guide to traditional dining in Palma Pages 2- 3


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The Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma is a gothic Roman Catholic cathedral located in Palma, Majorca, Spain PHOTOGRAPH: GETTY I


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t’s a searing hot, noisy Saturday lunchtime at Mercado de Olivar. Chefs whirl like choreographed dancers,


performing behind counters cooled by sheets of ice that are rapidly shrinking. Scallops sizzle in a plume of steam before running the gauntlet from hotplate to my plate, presented in a delicate pair of shells slick with garlicky olive oil. After two sweet mouthfuls, I’m ready for the next act. Despite its Balearic setting,


much loved for its beach resorts, the Majorcan capital’s dining scene can hold its own against any city in mainland Spain. T is is largely thanks to its thriving local population. T e Balearic Islands are home to around 1.3 million year-round residents and Palma accounts for almost a third of that. Tourism has brought wealth and spurred migration: lured by the city’s balmy climate, easy-access beaches, handsome plazas and arts legacy (it’s the former home of Spanish painter Joan Miró, for one), it’s now ranked


as Spain’s fi fth most expensive city to live in. Palma’s rise in fortunes is refl ected


in the extraordinary breadth of its restaurant scene, but amid all the contemporary buzz, there’s a real drive to rediscover traditional Majorcan food. T e following morning, I go in search of Tomeu Arbona and his wife María José Orero, two locals intent on reviving forgotten island recipes. T eir food project, which Tomeu calls ‘archaeological gastronomy’, has resulted in two cookbooks and a thriving bakery business, Fornet de la Soca, in Palma’s historic centre. “Until the 1960s, when tourism


started, everyone in Majorca ate at home,” María José tells me, during a break from serving pastries to a long queue of customers. While the arrival of tourism led to an explosion of restaurants and bars on the island, it also brought on a decline in traditional cooking. “Locals thought tourists wouldn’t be interested in Majorcan food, so they adapted to


make more international dishes,” she explains. When Tomeu started his archaeological gastronomy project, his fi rst port of call was to spend time with older communities around the island to record their recipes. His fi ndings went into his books, but also the couple’s bakery. T eir recipes, María José notes, are


butter-free because historically the island’s pig-dominated farms haven’t produced it. “T e cocas [Majorcan fl atbreads] and empanadas have a Jewish origin from medieval times,” she says. “We keep to original recipes.” But it’s Majorca’s delicious sugar-dusted ensaïmada pastries that many visitors love best. In the subterranean depths of the


bakery, surrounded by patterned tiles and paper-thin metal trays, we watch one of her staff coaxing stuff ed dough into the shape of this classic pastry coil. “We make 200 small ensaïmadas and 50 big ones every day, and every day they sell out,” she says as I watch, mesmerised. T e baker has wrapped the long length of dough around his


wrist to stop it from trailing, and tugs at it rhythmically as he presses it into the signature shape with the fl at of his palm. I buy one before leaving the shop and it’s light, chewy and deliciously sweet, stuff ed with pumpkin jam spiced with cloves and run through with pumpkin seeds. T e medieval period, from which


some of Majorca’s most iconic pastry recipes date, was a defi ning time for the city. Palma’s web of old town streets are still based on the layout of Madina Mayurqa — the Muslim Al Andalus city that ruled Majorca for three centuries until it was sacked by the crown of Aragon in 1229. In the medieval quarter the following day, I eventually locate my next stop — another bakery, called Forn de sa Llotgeta, with stone arches, tiled fl oors and old wood-fi red ovens. I’m here to make coca — a popular


local fl atbread snack — with Deborah Piña. Formerly a Majorcan food series presenter on Balearic TV, Deborah has converted this 18th-century bakery into a space for culinary


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