food in Mallorca

Yesterday as I was eating a jamon (ham) and tomato bocadillo (a filled bread roll)-filling bit nothing too special, the owner brought a covered dish to the next table for the employee's lunch. It was seafood paella and the smell and look were delightful. They didn't offer to share, though:(

"Mallorcan" food was on the wish-list for today and so I ordered an antipasto of meat and cheese. This included sobrassada, which is a soft spiced sausage which can be eaten spread like a paste. Along with the local cheeses* and "rustic" bread, this was a very satisfying meal.




*Mahón-Menorca cheese has a bright orange rind and is made using cow's milk and fermented at low temperature; Mallorcan cheese is made using sheep's milk, is high in fat and has an intense taste, dark brown rind and creamy texture.

Sardines for lunch the other day at the cafe looking out over the Cala de Deia.



This was a bit of a surprise. I thought I was ordering fish and chips:

tartar de salmon

olives in Mallorca

Some of the olive trees on the island of Mallorca are over 1000 years old.



Something like 40% of the world's production of olive oil is from Spain. Olive oil production used to be a major industry on the island and many farms had their own mills. Oli verge de la Serra de Tramuntana (virgin olive oil of the Sierra de Tramuntana) is still obtained from Mallorcan olives that are grown at an altitude of between 300m and 600m. According to the manager of the refugi, it is now a cottage industry as people are prepared to pay a premium for oil made in the "traditional" way.

In the refugi* where I am staying, the traditional press can still be found and there are plans to make this part of the building a museum as well as set up a new press to encourage locals to produce oil from this area.



cuixera-leg (thigh)
bassi-puddle
biga-beam
cavall-where the horse is attached
quintar-500 kg stone weight
cofto-








formal-furnace
fumeral-chimney
pica-sink
trull-mill
premsa de biga-press beam

Traditionally, the olives were ground into paste using large millstones (a horse was attahed to the machinery and walked in circles.). The olive paste generally stayed under the stones for 30 to 40 minutes. After grinding, the olive paste was spread on disks, which were stacked on top of each other in a column, then placed into the press. Pressure separated the vegetal liquid from the paste. Traditionally the oil was shed from the water by gravity but now the process has been replaced by centrifugation.

The optimum temperature for oil extraction is around 25 degrees centigrade.

Inside the cauldron (second grade oil is produced by adding hot water and then extracting the oil)






tremuja-hopper
rutlo-maybe some type of grinding stone
sumola-looks like the tray were the oil is collected
arbre-tree (?)







*These are like hostels and there area number of them on the western side of the island. They are popular bases for walkers (If you took all the tracks, the distance is around 300 kms)

The pilgrim’s trail

We had good intentions of walking a very small part of the Camí dels Bons Homes (The Route of the Good Men) on the rest days but managed to do nothing more taxing that play 500 on one day, cut up some apricots (for jam) and zucchini (for a type of condiment) and walk to Brafim the next afternoon.





Gerrard doing some hand washing as the power had gone off in the house with the washing machine *





Even at 6 in the evening, the sun was still hot and the walk was uncomfortable in parts. Nevertheless, it was picturesque.












The plan had been to visit the supermarket for some supplies but the town of Brafim has no market. We did, however, manage to find a wholesale wine merchant and purchased a flavoursome bottle of local white wine for 1.80 euro!



* This also meant no internet for more than 24 hours. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I felt like I was missing an arm.

A day at the fair

An early start (7.30 to load the vans) saw us heading for Torredembarra for the first Agroecologica el Sedas to be held in this town. Dreadlocks de rigueur.



After a bit of standing around and moving one table about 6 times, stands were set up for an 11.00 start.






All sorts of organic products were for sale such as chocolate, fruit, vegetables, bread and vegetarian paella cooked using solar technology (I must say I would have preferred seafood to tofu).



Other WWOOFers, Gerrard, Arias and Charlie, sampling the paella.




Street performers had the task of encouraging tourists and locals to move further than the shopping precinct to the fair.





Torredembarra had some buildings of interest and the usual winding narrow streets in the older part of the town, as well as an amusement park close to the beach.



I think this sign is talking about the effects of the plague on the town in the 1600s, but I could be completely off the mark!



We had plenty of free time during the day and evening and spent some time at the bar (of course) and walking to the beach. It was a bit cool by the time I got there and there wasn’t anyone swimming though lots of people were traversing the promenade and being accosted by the ubiquitous sellers of tat.







There were various seminars on during the day but as my Spanish/Catalan was not up to this (haha), the only session that I could understand was making jewellery out of re-cycled materials-in this case, newspaper. We were joined by a couple of WWOOFers from another farm.

With Arias, making "beads"



Mi collar (my necklace)




We picked up a surprising package at the market. There are already cats and kittens at the farm but this one is tame. Her name is Lolita and, once back at the farm, she had to be kept away from the other cats in case they attacked her.



It was a very long day, not helped by Jose having to get a puncture repaired before we could set off home. We eventually arrived back after midnight.

Finca 2-near Tarragona

I’ve realized I prefer the farms where I’m not the only WWOOFer. It’s good to be able to share the jobs and change around and there’s usually someone to talk to if you want. Currently at this farm there are WWOOFers from Australia (2), USA (2) and Spain (1), staying for varying periods of time and mostly wanting to be immersed in Spanish language. I’m picking up more words but still have difficulty stringing a sentence together which is more than a series of nouns. *

Accommodation is in one of the houses which make up this group. It’s not completely renovated but spacious and comfortable. The year 1851 is above the back door but I’m not sure if this refers to the whole complex.



View from the bedroom window (The two roosters, called Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are no-where to be seen. I think they like to crow about getting up so early and they then sleep for the rest of the day.)



The courtyard



The view from the back terrace



Along the back wall showing the buttresses



Each morning we drive to the field to mostly do weeding. Today, though, we picked lettuce, cauliflower, zucchini, potatoes, and chard for sale at a market tomorrow. The vegetables are drip watered from a nearby spring (and we also get drinking water from a spring)-the picked lettuce are put in the canal until ready for loading into the car.







Jose explaining that this is the preferred size for sale.



The fields are dotted with these small buildings which are meant for storage but this farmer doesn’t use his as things get too easily stolen.





There are also lots of stone terraces, and remnants of them, as you come down the hill to the field.



As this is an organic farm, snails are picked off.



We’ve seen a few walkers on the Cistercian Monastery Route which includes El Poblet on the UNESCO World Heritage list and, closer to here, Santes Creus and Valbona de les Monges.



As we drive to the field you can see the various churches on the hillsides. There is also significant evidence of Roman occupation in this province.



*Thought I was hearing things at lunch today when I heard “marihuana” followed by “planta”-Was this one of the cash crops, I wondered, but it was part of a completely different topic.