Mallorca’s healthiest foods

In the 90’s the Slow Food movement promoted the concept of 'zero mile' in defence of local, healthy and good quality nutrition, based on local ecological agriculture, seasonal and nearby. Mallorca provides many choices for those who wish to enjoy local products that still retain all of their taste and qualities.

In fact, all of the island’s villages hold a weekly market, where it is often the farmers themselves who sell their seasonal products, following the rhythm of the seasons and of the earth. A visit to these markets will awaken your senses with the colours, aromas, flavours and textures of Mallorca’s most typical food, such as oranges and lemons from the Sóller valley, branch tomatoes, numerous local varieties of both fruit and vegetables, as well as excellent olive oil, local traditional cold cuts such as sobrasada and the extraordinary artisan cheeses made with sheep and goat's milk.

If it is seafood you are looking for, nowhere better than some of the municipal markets of Palma, such as Santa Catalina and el Olivar. Depending on the season, we can find species such as the cap-roig (scorpion fish), llampuga (mahimahi), potera squid (hand caught squid), the red Sóller prawn or the coveted raor (pearly razorfish).

Increasingly more livestock producers are leaning towards rearing their animals free-range, such as the magnificent porcnegre (black pig), an indigenous race that is used for the best cold cuts.

Mallorca’s most famous chefs acknowledge the use of local seasonal produce as one of the key elements in the identity of their cooking. Many restaurants even have their own gardens to provide them with the freshest fruit and vegetables, at the optimal degree of ripeness and quality.

You will be able to purchase some of these products at the popular Ecological Market that is held every Tuesday and Saturday at the BisbeBerenguer square in Palma, where the producers themselves sell food such as cheese, bread made with ancient varieties of wheat, and seasonal fruit and vegetables. 

The campus of the Universitat de les Illes Balears holds a similar market every Thursday morning. The Santa Maria Sunday market also has a large ecological product section. A guarantee of quality that promises to become quite a gastronomical experience.