Contributions of different cultures to our cuisine

Prehistory, from 5000 BC

Talaiot de Trepucó, in Menorca

Acorn flour bread

Snails and accorns

Greece, 1200 BC – 123 BC

Greek drachma from the 2nd century BC.

All i oli, garlic and olive oil sauce

Olives, olive oil, garlic (from Egypt), all i oli (garlic and oil sauce).

Rome, 123 BC – 425 AD

Roman city of Pollentia, in Alcudia

Grapes and wine

The snails cooked by Gavius Apicius in 25 BC are still cooked today, along with vinegar, wine, cheese, bread, honey bread, honey wine and almonds.

Dominación árabe, 902 d C - 1229 d C

Arab baths, in Palma

Fig bread, a traditional dessert

Sweets include the origin of the ensaimada, artichoke and aubergine, almond milk, nougat, numerous fruits and jams, and fig bread.

Hebrew cuisine, since the 5th century

Jews’ street of Palma

Fritters in progress

Cocarrois, robiols, empanadas, meatballs, crespells, fritters, rice dishes, pancuit, onion soup.

Late Middle Ages, 11th–15th centuries

Gargoyle from Palma Cathedral

Sobrasada from Mallorca

Broad bean stew, Mallorcan soups, sobrassada, botifarrons, flaó, figs in brandy, sobrasada with honey.

Discovery of America, 1492

Christopher Columbus’s caravels

Tomatoes

New foods become part of the local cuisine: potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, corn, peppers, peanuts, prickly pears, and turkey.

Cocina refinada siglos XVII y XVIII

18th-century Mallorcan Baroque courtyard

Pea and meat pie

Almond cakes (gató), tumbet, llampuga amb pebre torrats, frit, greixonera de sopes, cargols amb pollastre, fish pies, ensaimadas de sobrasada y calabaza, congrets, espinagada, buñuelos, coca de turrón, pies, formatjades (cottage cheese casserole), “menjar blanc”, tortells, cocas de San Juan.

Emigration, 1830–1950

Letter from Havana

Pork liver pâté

Pork pâté, mandarins, chocolate, Soller-style biscuits, French panellets.

British rule in Menorca, 18th century

Torre de Fornells, Menorca

Still at the Xoriguer factory

Result of British influence in Menorca throughout the 18th century.

Current events

Chef presenting dish

Spanish haute cuisine, artistic creation to delight the senses. The new Spanish restaurateurs are artists in the kitchen who have achieved international recognition through flavour, presentation, aroma and texture. A culinary offering that boasts at least six Michelin stars in the Balearic Islands.

Michelin stars in Mallorca: Es Molí d’en Bou (Tomeu Caldentey), Zaranda (Fernando Pérez Arellano), Jardín (Maca de Castro), Es Racó d’es Teix (Josef Sauerschell), Es Fum (Rafa Sánchez), Predi Son Jaumell (Andreu Genestra), Simply Fosh (Marc Fosh). In Formentera Can Dani (Ana García Giménez).