Menorca is an island with a sweet tooth, whose long-lived tradition of pastries incorporates elements of Muslim culture and Catalan, British and French traditions. Proof of the important role that pastries and sweets have always playedin Minorcan life is the fact that while in 1887 the island had forty pastry cooksand three manufacturers of chocolate, there wasonly one dentist.

In years gone by, recipes were prepared following the holiday calendar -ensaimadas with hot chocolate were enjoyed during the main summer festivities, while buñuelos were only eaten on All Saints Day. But today most of these delicacies can be found in cake shops all year round.

Carquinyolis are crunchy biscuits with a long tradition in Menorca, and can be found in other Mediterranean enclaves such as Catalonia and Corsica. Their common features are the crunchy texture and the use of almonds as the essential ingredient, which is combined with sugar, flour and eggs. Each cook adds their own special touch to the recipe, with ingredients such as vanilla essence, lemon zest, cinnamon or anise.

Other traditional biscuits include pastissets, dusted with icing sugar and usually eaten with a coffee or a glass of liqueur. In times past, they were served in homes during the Christmas season or on important celebrations, and each family prepared them to their own recipe. Traditional pastissets are made with sugar, lard, egg yolk and flour. They are usually flower-shaped with five or six petals, although it is said that during the Sant Joan de Ciutadella fiestas they must have seven.

Macarrons are a feature of saint’s day celebrations, weddings, baptisms and communions. They are crisp merengue stars with four or five points, which were once taken as a restorative and were always present in the goody bags handed out at weddings and baptisms. They are made with egg whites, syrup or icing sugar and a few drops of anise essence.

Other very popular Minorcan biscuits are crespellines, made with flour, butter, sugar, egg yolk, flax seeds, bicarbonate of soda, salt and vanilla. These have a melt-in-the-mouth texture and can be eaten at any time of the day with a cup of coffee.