A Guide To Food & Drink In
Mallorca

Mallorcan food is a simple affair, traditionally based on soups, stews, seafood dishes and spiced meats, with vegetables straight from the garden served with locally reared meat and fresh fish. 

Here we have put together some information on food and drink you can expect to taste during your next trip to Mallorca.

Traditional Mallorcan Breakfast

Breakfast will often take place in a bar and consist of coffee and pastries such as croissants and doughnuts, or the Mallorcan ensaimada – a spiral pastry made of flour and lard and sweetened with icing sugar, or a xocolata amb churros – long fried tubular doughnuts that you dip into thick drinking chocolate. A traditional savoury alternative is pa amb oli which consists of a large slice of bread, rubbed with tomato, olive oil and garlic, and topped with cured ham or Mallorcan cheese. The locals wash this down with a glass of wine or beer.

Lunch & Dinner Dishes

Popular dishes you will often see on lunchtime menus that you can look forward to feasting on include:

  • Frito Mallorquin – Offal, potatoes, spring onions, peppers – fried together with herbs

  • Sobrasada – Mallorcan pork sausage – cured but uncooked

  • Chorizo – Sausage made with pork and spiced with garlic and paprika

  • Gazpacho – Chilled soup of tomato, peppers, garlic, onions, cucumber

  • Arroz brut – Soup with rice, meat and mushrooms

  • Mejillones – Mussels

  • Arroz negro – Rice cooked in squid ink (black rice)

  • Lentejas – Lentil stew

  • Bacalao – Cod

  • Langosta – Lobster

  • Merluza – Hake

  • Rape – Monkfish

  • Atún – Tuna

  • Calamar – Squid

  • Berberechos – Cockles

  • Navajas – Razor clams

  • Frito de Matanzas – Pig’s liver, peppers, potatoes – fried together

  • Pa amb oli – Local bread covered with olive oil and topped with fresh tomato

  • Tumbet – Aubergines, peppers, potatoes and tomatoes, fried in olive oil

  • Paella – Traditional rice dish with chicken, rabbit, pork, seafood and vegetables

  • Sopa de pescado – Fish soup with rice

  • Lechona – Roast suckling pig

  • Conejo con cebolla – Rabbit stewed with onions

  • Entremeses – Hors d’oeuvres

  • Almejas – Clams

  • Lenguado – Sole

  • Pulpo – Octopus

  • Salmonete – Red mullet

  • Gambas – Prawns

  • Mejillones – Mussels

  • Boquerones – Anchovies

  • Sepia – Cuttlefish (similar to squid)

Tapas, Snacks & Beverages

These dishes may be served as:

  • Tapas (small portions)

  • Aceitunas – Olives

  • Albóndigas – Meatballs

  • Anchoas – Anchovies

  • Berberechos – Cockles

  • Boquerones – Fresh/pickled anchovies

  • Calamares – Squid

  • Callos – Tripe

  • Caracoles – Snails

  • Carne en salsa – Meat in sauce

  • Champiñones – Mushrooms in garlic

  • Chorizo – Spicy sausage

  • Cocido- Stew

  • Croquetas – Chicken or fish croquettes

  • Empanadilla – Fish/meat pasty

  • Ensaladilla Rusa – Russian salad

  • Escalibada – Stewed aubergine/pepper

  • Tortilla Espanola – Potato/onion omelette

  • Tortilla Francesa – Plain omelette

  • Porciones / raciones (larger portions)

  • Gambas – Prawns

  • Habas – Broad beans

  • Habas con jamón – Broad beans/ham

  • Hígado – Liver

  • Huevo cocido – Hardboiled egg

  • Jamón serrano – Cured ham

  • Jamón York – Cooked ham

  • Mejillones – Mussels

  • Navajas – Razor clams

  • Patatas alioli – Potatoes in garlic mayo

  • Patatas Bravas – Spicy fried pots

  • Pimientos – Sweet peppers

  • Pincho/pinchito – Kebabs

  • Pulpo – Octopus

  • Riñones al jerez – Kidneys in sherry

  • Salchicha – Sausage/chipolata

  • Sepia – Cuttlefish

Sandwich Fillings May Include:

  • Lomo – Pork loin

  • Becon – Bacon

  • Queso – Cheese

  • Atún – Tuna

Mallorcan Wines & Drinks

Mallorca is filled with culture and history, particularly when it comes to the local wines and popular drinks that they are proud to offer. From a great range of teas and coffees to the ultimate collection of wines and other spanish drinks, discover some of their most favoured drinks.

Tea & Coffee

  • Té – Tea

  • Café con leche – Full cup of white coffee (a café topped up with hot milk)

  • con leche fria/caliente with milk cold/hot…

  • Americano – Full cup of black coffee

  • Descafeinado de maquina – Decaffeinated coffee served from the coffee machine

  • Chocolate caliente – Hot chocolate

  • Café irlandes / calypso – Irish / Tia Maria coffee

  • Café – Small strong 'shot' of black coffee

  • Un corto de café – Full cup of white coffee (not as strong as a café con leche)

  • Cortado – Small cup of strong white coffee

  • Descafeinado de sobre – Decaffeinated coffee served as a sachet of coffee with a small jug of hot milk – for mixing yourself

  • Carajillo – A café topped up with a shot of brandy

Mallorcan Wine

Wine production has flourished in the Balearics since classical times. In the 19th century sweet Malvasia, wine similar to Madeira, was exported in great quantities until the vineyards were devastated by the Phylloxera louse which changed the course of European wine history in the 1870s. Following this period Mallorcan wines were not taken seriously until very recently. In the last few years, however, a concerted attempt has been made to raise the standards of Mallorca winemaking, driven on one side by the tourist industry and the other by the realisation amongst local producers that the way forward lay in exporting wine that matched international standards. This meant new methods and equipment…

Methods of Ageing
‍Vino corriente – In Spain, young wine (vino corriente) is the order of the day. These are wines sold in the first or second year after harvesting. These wines have not been aged in wooden casks and are therefore termed sin crianza.

‍Gran reserva
‍These wines, on the other hand, have been matured for at least six years and are of a very good quality.

‍Binissalem
‍Mallorca’s leading wine is from around the eponymous village, north east of Palma. Following vigorous local campaigning, it was justifiably awarded its denomination de origen (DO) credentials in 1991. Binissalem’s festival of the grape harvest, Festa Vermar, takes place during the week leading up to the last Sunday of September. Red Binissalem is a robust and aromatic wine made predominantly of the local Montenegro grape. It is not unlike Rioja but has a distinctly local character. The local brand is under the name of José L. Ferrer.

Visitors are welcome to visit the bodega (wine cellars) by previous appointment Tel. 971 51 10 50 tel no 100 100 CHECK or visit www.vinosferrer.com

Other Local Wines

  • Santa Catarina – Andratx

  • Bodegas de Felanitx – Felanitx

  • Pere Seda – Manacor

  • Bodega Jaume Mesquida – Porreres

  • Ca’n Ribas – Consell

  • Bodega M. Oliver – Petra

  • Macià Batle – Santa Maria

  • Mortitx – Pollença-Lluc

A Selection Of Good Spanish & Table Wines

Rioja
‍Produced in the Ebro Valley of northern Spain – the medium red variety is the most celebrated. Most Riojas are oak cask matured, but some are matured in the bottle, leading to a very high quality. The names to look for in red Rioja include Martinez-Bujanda, Tondonia and Monte Real.

‍Penedes
‍North east Spain is the region famed for its white wines, matured in a bottle like French wines. This results in wines which are fruity and dry. The names to look for are Torres, Masia Bach and the Ribera del Duero.

‍Valdepeñas
‍This is a small area in central Spain, and produces good quality wine kept in tinajas – small wine jars. Try Aloques which is a strong, light red wine made from a blend of both white and red grapes.

Popular Drinks

Sangria

Sangria is traditionally a fairly potent blend of wine, spirits and fruit juices. It usually contains vodka, brandy, Cointreau, red wine, fruit juice and chunks of fresh fruit.

Hierbas

This is a local drink made from aniseed and a variety of herbs. It comes as sweet (dulce), dry (seco) or mixed (mezclado).

Tinto de verano

For a refreshing long drink on a hot day try a tinto de verano. This is a red wine mixed with gaseosa (a type of lemonade) fruit and ice.

Cerveza

This is the Spanish word for beer and is normally a Spanish brand such as the world- famous San Miguel. If you would like a small draught beer in a bar ask for a ‘caña’ (canya).

Explore Our Villas in Mallorca