The Balearic Islands are a microcosm of the Mediterranean. Their shores encircle an anthology of landscapes, recalling in turn Andalusia, Catalonia, Provence, Sardinia, Sicily, and Greece. The inhabitants are a vivid mix of cultures. The contemporary and the ancient coexist with surprising grace. To know these iconic islands, just off the coast of Barcelona and Valencia, is to know the Mediterranean.
Mallorca and Menorca are the largest of the Balearics, but while they are only 30 miles apart, they are very different places.
Menorca is small, about 270 square miles in area, and mostly flat. It was occupied by the British for most of the 1700s, and they left behind the art of gin distillation, a culture of tea-drinking, and some words in the local dialect (a bottle is a bótil). Its farms and fishing ports keep it well supplied with delicious raw materials for cuisines both contemporary and traditional. The lobster stew called caldereta de langosta is the island’s signature dish. It is also believed that mayonnaise was invented in, and named for, the capital city of Maó (or Mahón).
Mallorca is more than five times Menorca’s size, and boasts memorable expanses of rolling hills and dramatic mountains (the Serra de Tramuntana, which we’ll visit, is a UNESCO World Heritage site). It produces excellent wines, many based on grape varieties unique to the island, and also some of Spain’s best olive oil. Eating places range from rustic inns to jaunty beach shacks to 11 Michelin-starred tasting-menu restaurants.
I first visited the Balearics in the mid-1980s while doing research for my book “Catalan Cuisine,” and have returned many times since. I even wrote a non-food book about the islands, “Living in the Sun.”
They’re one of my favorite places in Spain, and in the entire Mediterranean, and I would love to be able to share some of what I love about them with you. We’ll steep ourselves in colorful history, enjoy stunning vistas, meet wonderful people, and — above all — eat and drink very well, enjoying the islands’ bounty and encountering dishes you may never have had before but will certainly want to have again.
Colman Andrews
