Casa Manolo's Casserole
the beauty of Majorca is (so many times) so absolutely overwhelming that what would become of Stendhal on this island where beauty verges on the insult of the common. "Leaving Santa Croce, my heart was beating, life was exhausted in me, I was afraid of falling," the Frenchman wrote after visiting the Basilica of Santa Cruz in Florence, and it is somewhat inevitable in each of the coves of this impossible turquoise , pine forests embracing the sea and bare rocks on which to watch time pass.
“Majorca is paradise, if you can resist it” Gertrude Stein told Robert Graves. The island is the Macondo of so much talent: Julio Cortázar, Josep Pla or the immense Sybilla (“Discreet Majorca and its slow peace, which falls on earth”). And it is that **how not to fall in love with this piece of land that is so much ours and so much yours (at the same time)**, and how not to fall asleep, moreover, to such an essential and vibrant gastronomy. You have to eat Mallorca.
The restaurant that coined the term "Rustic-chic"
** CA NA TONETA IN CAIMARI **
Gastronomy is important but more and more (I firmly believe) other things are. One of them is the love for the craft, the trade and the human commitment with suppliers, carpenters or viticulturists.
That love for the territory and the small is breathed in every corner of the house of the Solivellas sisters (Maria and Teresa) in Caimari, because Ca Na Toneta is precisely about that: “In this restaurant, the vocation arises from the daily trade, patiently learned in the kitchen and through direct contact with fishermen, farmers and colleagues in the trade. This is not technocuisine, but honest country cuisine with pop touches ”.
Between countrycuina and the 'rustic chic' , as defined in 2015 by the Financial Times, Ca Na Toneta is essential to understand the island's pantry.
The Solivellas sisters
** CA'L PATRO IN CALA SANT VICENÇ**
You will not find Ca'l Patró in any guide . In the first place, because it is one of the many discreet tables, a bit indifferent and as close to the sea as it is loaded with commonplaces (and one lazy wine list ) but who cares when you have a plate of perfect mussels in front of a cove whose beauty almost hurts.
Ca'l Patró mussels
** MANOLO HOUSE IN SES SALINES **
Meal House with all the letters and perhaps one of my most beautiful gastronomic memories of the island: but how good you eat at Casa Manolo . Perfect stop on the way to Santanyí or Figuera (two wonderful coves), founded in 1945 by “Juan d'es Bodegón” and his wife Apolonia (as Apollonia Vitelli, the wife of Michael Corleone) as Bodega Barahona, which today is run by her son Manolo and Margarita. Fabulous the squid a la potera served at the table and the lobster stews of toma pan y moja.
Squid to potera
House Manolo
** IT IS RACO D'ES TEIX IN DEIÀ**
We are in the Serra de Tramuntana , considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the category of cultural landscape and an essential visit for all beauty seekers. "I feed on my hunger for beauty" insists sybilla (and signed by the undersigned above) ; so did Frédéric Chopin from his cell No. 4 of the Valldemossa Royal Charterhouse, where he composed his preludes and loved George Sand and the island beyond measure: "the most beautiful place in the world". Valldemosa is and Deià is, a residence in addition to Es Racó d'es Teix where Nori Payeras and Joseph Sauerschell They practice a very elegant and sensible kitchen.
It is Racó d'es Teix
** SA ROQUETA IN PALMA DE MALLORCA **
Portixol , a fishing district and, therefore, the perfect setting for the house founded by Toni Serapio 28 years ago with his wife Nieves Carbonell and her father, Biel Serapio (squid fishermen). More than a restaurant a cabin ; a love letter to the sea and seafood cuisine without nonsense. Memorable the clams with artichokes and the Mellow rice with lobster.
Clams from Sa Roqueta
** THE GARDEN IN PORT D'ALCUDIA**
Macarena (‘Maca’) de Castro she was one of our most influential women on Planet Gastronomy and living proof that she —perhaps yes— Mallorca is a land of women Y sa madonnas. The garden it is a gastronomic restaurant (one Michelin star, three Repsol Suns and the whole future of the world) necessary to understand what is happening in the gastronomy of the island.
Precisely for this reason we talked to her: "The level of quality has risen a lot in recent years to the point that Mallorca can now be considered an international gastronomic destination . If the institutions supported the great business and professional effort of the sector, we could become leaders as a gourmet tourist offer”.
Maca was born and raised in Alcúdia, “it is precisely the area of Alcúdia that I like the most, since it has a concentration of different ecosystems very close to each other: lagoons, large sandy areas, mountains, coves, dune areas, pine forests, small beaches. .. The entire bay of Alcúdia is wonderful, as well as the agricultural municipality of Sa Pobla , where we have our farm and the neighbor Pollensa ”.
Back to Majorca. Return, always, to Mallorca.
Maca de Castro