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Te Travel Guide 3


Colmada Santo Domingo sells Majorcan produce PHOTOGRAPH: ALAMY


Seasonal cocas from Deborah’s culinary workshops PHOTOGRAPH: CRISTINA DE LA CONCHA


workshops focusing on the island’s food provenance. “Majorcan people are very proud


of their products,” she says, laying out our ingredients: a bowl of small blushing ‘red cheek’ Majorcan apricots; the king of island cold cuts, sobrasada; and xeixa flour, made from an ancient Majorcan grain. “It’s one of the most digestible wheats, with very low gluten content,” she says, popping an apricot in her mouth. “Want to try? Our fruit is very sweet.” For a millennium, explains Deborah, Majorcans had strictly seasonal diets because of the isolated nature of island life. But time has changed their food habits. In her own way, like María José and Tomeu at Fornet de la Soca, Deborah is on a mission to revive culinary traditions that have fallen by the wayside. “Since coca is a traditional food,


every person or family has their own recipe,” she says. Deborah’s version is the most ancient one — no bells and whistles, just extra virgin olive oil, water and xeixa flour. We slice the


apricots, chop rosemary and pull off fleshy chunks of sobrasada to roll into tiny meatballs to garnish the coca. Sobrasada is the star of the


Majorcan pantry — soft and spreadable because of the high fat content of the local black pig, but also because the meat is minced to help the curing process in Majorca’s humid climate. It’s used as seasoning, eaten as a cold cut or even spread on bread. It elevates the coca we make with the yin and yang of sweet and salty Mediterranean flavours. While Palma is seeing a revival in traditional foods, it’s also an


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


epicentre of contemporary Spanish gastronomy. Surprisingly, two of the city’s most lauded dining spots have a British link. Kent chef Marc Fosh has developed an exceptional tasting menu at his restaurant inside a 17th-century missionary, which reads as a love letter to the island’s strong produce heritage — he’s the only British chef to have won a Michelin star in Spain. Ten there’s the phenomenally popular El Camino. Opened five years ago by Eddie Hart — the British owner of Barrafina in London — this contemporary tapas bar is largely credited with having kickstarted the transformation in Palma’s tapas scene. I arrive at lunch to find a steady


stream of tourists being turned away from El Camino’s door because they haven’t booked. Inside, almost all the seating is around the bar counter, where 25 attentive diners at a time watch chefs labour over tapas. Te standout is a midnight-black squid ink Spanish omelette topped with crispy shrimp and aioli.


Ensaïmada, Fornet de la Soca PHOTOGRAPH: ADRIÀ ARBONA Palma is rediscovering a taste for


vermouth, too. At the heaving La Rosa Vermutería, I try the house- made, red-wine-based 5 Petalos with a gilda (anchovy wrapped around olive and chilli) tapa. Wanting to learn more, I join a tasting masterclass at Brassclub cocktail bar led by mixologist Angel Pérez. “All botanicals for Majorcan


vermouths come from the island,” he says, as we run through four different artisanal Majorcan brands. Te key ingredient — the herbal, bitter artemisia — grows in the Tramuntana Mountains, which locals have combined with the island’s wine grapes to start making their own labels. Each iteration is unique, with varying levels of sweetness; some have notes of mandarin, another tastes like a lollipop. Angel presents me with a cocktail of vermouth and tonic with cherry liqueur and almond foam, sprinkled with beetroot dust. It’s a complex layering of flavours, and at around 15% ABV it’s an easy drinker.


As Angel puts it: “It’s low alcohol — good for the beach.” With the idea planted, the beach


is where I end up for a final glimpse of Palma’s handsome, cathedral- crowned bay before I fly home. Tere’s a party ramping up, house music in the air and I’ve sand under my toes. And just like that, I’m back in the Balearics I’m familiar with. On a trip to Palma, you can have it all.


How to do it Tere are direct flights to Palma de Majorca from across the UK. Doubles at the adults-only Calatrava Mediterranean Sea House hotel, by the historic centre, cost from €282 (£240) per night, B&B. ToursByLocals offers two-hour tapas and walking tours from £186 for up to eight people. visitpalma.com calatravahotel.com toursbylocals.com


First published in the September 2023 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK). Read the feature in full at nationalgeographic.com/travel


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