My first real connection with food was through my grandmother Magdelena, who was my father’s mother, a Mallorquina, who was an amazing cook. I remember seeing her cooking in her house for lots of people over the holidays, weekends and special events. Every time I would see her, she would make me soups and delicious things. One dish that I loved since I was very little, like three-years old, was stuffed calamari’s, one of my grandmother's special dishes…it became kind of a family joke how much I loved it. It has everything I love. Sofrito, raisins, calamaris. Also, for me, food was always a way to connect to a place when I travel. I love to discover a place through food.
For several years I was living and working in Mexico for a communications agency. While I was there, I traveled around the country and I discovered their strong connection between food and their civilization, their culture. I was learning about the sacred ingredients of Mexico, such as corn, and how it is a part of their everyday rituals, engrained in their culture. When I came back to Mallorca, I was questioning what were the sacred foods of the Mediterranean, of Mallorca. I looked at olives, flour and also plants and medicinal herbs. I became more interested in the ethnographic elements of food and I wondered how I could recreate the experiences I’d had in Mexico, in Mallorca. Looking at the connection between these essential ingredients and the calendar, traditions, how they reveal a particular place. What are the ingredients, plants and medicinal herbs that define the essence of a place. We need to know these things and this is why I wanted to recreate this in Mallorca somehow.
No, I never worked in the food industry. For me, what I am doing now was a very organic process. It’s a business about travel and about having an experience around gastronomy. I am not a chef.. My job is about communication and promotion. I want to be a link between the people who come here and Mallorca and its traditions. My project is about this connection and relationship. Discovering and knowing Mallorca through its food and its gastronomy. But more importantly, it is about the traditional culture of the island…and doing this through food is a really nice way to share this culture. Being around a table is a universal language and I think it is a perfect place to understand, share and discover.
For many years I have been developing new experiences and projects, promoting traditional Mallorcan cuisine and culture, and for a few years now we have been doing this from the Forn de Sa Llotegeta. This is an historic space in old town Palma, a former 18th century bakery, but the building itself is medieval, with old wooden beams and other elements from this era. It is a very unique space and it is where we do the experiences. One of the most popular is going to the market to shop for ingredients and then coming back and preparing and cooking Mallorcan dishes. It’s a fun, collaborative experience. We do private groups and open classes and we occasionally hold events, such as a holiday pop up. And we have a small shop where we sell and promote local foods and ingredients.
One of my favorite dishes is sopas Mallorquinas. It’s a dish that you can eat anytime of the day or any season. I love everything that is broth based such as vegetable soups or stews. Sopas Mallorquinas is such a smart dish. Maybe today it seems old fashioned or not very ‘sexy’ but it’s timeless… Adding in other elements such as radishes, bread, poached eggs… It’s delicious and I could eat it every day. It’s sustenance and satisfying. I love that there are soups for all seasons… winter cabbage soup, summer soups with tomato or fruits… this was the traditional culture - to use the ingredients of the season. I am a fan of cabbage soup and I also love lomo con col (tenderloin with cabbage). And also, simple pleasures of sobrasada, a coca (savory tart) with sobrasada and fruits. This is exquisite and simple at the same time.
In Palma, I always go to the Mercat Olivar because it’s close and in my neighborhood and they have a fantastic range of food and ingredients. Also Pere Garau is very dynamic and a favorite market… On the weekends, I love to go to Sa Pobla or Santa Maria to look around and shop.
For my favorite Mallorcan ingredients, I would have to say the ramallet tomato. I love cooking with them for sofrito or stews… but also pimenton is an essential ingredient in many dishes. Also, I love cooking with sobrasada… adding some of this can transform the dish, it adds a nice umami flavor. Dishes such as rice with sobrasada, eggs with sobrasada on bread…
When I have a day off I love to go for walks… Anywhere in the Tramuntana’s, Es Canonge, the Natural Park of the Levant, which is wild and full of nature. It’s a bit farther for me, but I love it.
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