Menorcan Cuisine Yesterday and Today
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MENORCAN CUISINE YESTERDAY AND TODAY UNDISCOVERED RECIPES MENORCAN CUISINE YESTERDAY AND TODAY UNDISCOVERED RECIPES Production, layout and design: Lagencia MENORCAN CUISINE YESTERDAY AND TODAY Texts: UNDISCOVERED RECIPES 4Vents Ancient recipes provided by: Maria Borrás and Cati Irla Borrás Photographs Arxiu d’Imatge i So de Menorca-CIMe: Author: Salvador Almirall Codina AISM. Salvador Almirall Codina Collection p. 6, 14 Unknown author AISM. Anastasia Espinosa Collection p. 10 Author: Jaume Riudavets AISM. Jaume Riudavets Collection p. 18 Unknown author AISM. Xavier Martín Collection p. 40 Unknown author AISM. Consell Insular de Menorca Collection p. 68 Published by: Fundació Destí Menorca D.L. ME 281 - 2013 INTRODUCTION, 7 01 ENTREE RECIPES STUFFED COURGETTES, 21 OVEN-BAKED STUFFED COURGETTES, 23 “OLIAIGUA AMB FIGUES”, 25 “OLIAIGUA” WITH FIG SORBET, BREAD RING AND OLIVE OIL GUMDROPS, 27 LOBSTER STEW, 29 LOBSTER STEW, 31 STUFFED AUBERGINES, 33 AUBERGINES STUFFED WITH VEGETABLES AND ‘PEROL’ CASSEROLE MEAT, 35 “PEROL DE TOMÀTIC”, 37 “PEROL DE TOMÀTIC”, 39 02 MAIN COURSE RECIPES FISH OVEN-BAKED SKATE WITH POTATOES, 43 MENORCAN-STYLE OVEN-BAKED SKATE, 45 STUFFED SQUID, 47 STUFFED SQUID, 49 COD WITH “BURRIDA”, 51 COD WITH “BURRIDA”, 53 MEAT PARTRIDGE WITH CABBAGE, 57 PARTRIDGE DUMPLINGS, 59 RABBIT IN SAUCE, 61 RABBIT TERRINE WITH VEGETABLE SAUCE, 63 ROAST LEG OF LAMB, 65 SLOW ROAST “ANYELL DE LLET (LAMB) WITH POTATO AND BLACK OLIVE PUREE, 67 04 DESSERTS “MENJAR BLANC”, 71 MENJAR BLANC, 73 UPDATED VERSION “CUSCUSSÓ”, 75 CUSCUSSÓ, 77 “BROSSAT” PUDDING, 79 ‘BROSSAT’ PUDDING, 81 “COCA DE CONGRET”, 83 APRICOT SOUP WITH “COCA DE CONGRET”, 85 TRADITIONAL RECIPE INTRODUCTION Menorca is an island blessed with many gifts. Magnificent beaches, little coves that are tucked away and bathed by crystal clear waters, a mild climate that provides lush green fields and cooling forests, a special light that enhances the landscapes, and towns, villages and cities which have retained their charm over the centuries. Visitors and local alike experience and enjoy this. These natural gifts combine with the ingeniousness of its inhabitants to shape tradi- tional cuisine which has been handed down orally through the generations and which encapsulates the essence of this land: the simplicity and character of a people without great pretensions who know how to enjoy life and the fruits of nature. This is all concentrated into each dish, each mouthful, and it should be experienced; you’ll be amazed. These days it is easier, as the gastronomy of Menorca has become fashionable. For a time, the influence of international cuisine and the social trend towards homogeneity meant that it was, to a certain degree, only really served in the homes of the “menor- quines”. Within the home, the people maintained their taste for traditional dishes, made using seasonal produce and following the calendar of annual feast days and celebrations with their corresponding dishes. It was enjoyed by families and at gathe- rings of friends at home, as if it were a privilege reserved for the locals only. However, in recent years, the island’s cuisine has been restored to glory and is served at the finest restaurants. Cuisine is a talking point, it is promoted at gastronomic events that focus on specific products, recognised with quality seals and trust marks, and updated with modern techniques and exotic ingredients. It has regained the prestige deserved by a cuisine that, as straightforward and simple as it might seem, is simply great. As authors and academics have pointed out, inclu- ding Jaume Fàbrega and Carme Puigvert in their book La cuina de Menorca, behind its apparent humbleness lie many touches of refinement from the great mediaeval gastronomic culture of the Mediterranean and Catalonia, punctuated in this case by an underlying bed of Arabic or Berber influences and by the marks left by other colo- nising cultures. As an island, Menorca’s limited resources and historic periods of scarcity have shaped the nature of its gastronomy. For centuries, the island’s cuisine was largely subsis- tence-based, making the most of foods from the land and sea. In this case, simplicity is a virtue, because it combines all the knowledge of peasant farmer families, fishermen and the other inhabitants who adapted the everyday and festive dishes 9 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION available to them. Scarcity forced the imagination to work overtime to create outs- a very prominent recipe in the island’s gastronomy and, as Pedro Ballester explained tanding dishes. in his book De re cibaria –the first cook book published in Menorca, dating from 1923–, it was usually eaten in the days after the pigs were slaughtered, served with The versatility and use of certain products can be seen, for example, with bread, one pieces of meat, part of the animal’s head and two whole bulbs of garlic, as well as of the most basic foodstuffs. In days gone by there were many different kinds of potato or sweet potato. In spite of the pork meat used (which might have been a bread and indeed there still are today. It is served with all kinds of dishes and is the later introduction), some authors consider that, owing to the way in which the dish basis for both sweet and savoury recipes, as well as being the main ingredient in is prepared (baked in the oven, like a dry rice dish), and the basic ingredient of breakfasts and light suppers together with the island’s cheese and cured meats. And semolina, are also rooted in Islamic domination. when it goes hard, it is still used and useful, since toasted slices of bread are mixed with soups (the most characteristic one being oliaigua) and stews, or breadcrumbs And if the English influence can be clearly detected in Menorca’s linguistic and are used to top all kinds of dishes which are baked in the oven. architectural peculiarities, as well as certain customs of the islanders, it can also be felt in its cuisine. It is clear in certain ways of cooking (using butter, which is very And when there were no means of cooking, the people had to be creative. An rare in these parts), in foods and drinks (the leading exponent being Menorcan gin) example of this is a recipe for soup that can be made without a saucepan, water or a and in many of the words and culinary terms that hark back to the English stove. Luis Ripoll, in Libro de cocina menorquina, describes the solution found, of language. There are several examples, although some of them are rarely used or putting meat and vegetables in a covered pumpkin which was then placed in the only heard among the older generations: grevi (from the English gravy) which is oven. used in the recipe ‘macaroni and gravy’; xenc (shank), the front of an animal’s leg, where the meat is used in brou de xenc or beef broth; pinxa (from pilchard), which Naturally, on such a small island, the sea has been a permanent presence in the lives is used a great deal in coques; píquels (pickles); xels (shell), cockles; punys (punch) and of its inhabitants and also on their tables. Excellent shellfish such asescopinyes sengri (sangaree), a hot or spiced wine. (cockles), crustaceans such as the famous lobster, and a wide range of oily, white and rock fish provide the basic ingredients for numerous dishes. In fact, many It is particularly interesting to note the formation of certain words, such as a variety recipes were created by sailors themselves who, when they would go fishing, would of plum which is known on the island as neversó. This is a phonetic adaptation of take a pan, a stove, charcoal, water and vegetables with them to make the fish stews the English expression never saw. Legend has it that during his stay on the island, and rice dishes that have become so renowned today right out in the middle of the the English governor Richard Kane tasted one of these fruits and exclaimed: “I sea. never saw such plums”. And the name stuck. Their fondness for puddings, with come in a wide variety and are made using all kinds of ingredients, as well as the popularity of conserves and preserves are other INFLUENCES THAT LEAVE A TRACE remnants of this era. Set against the backdrop of Mediterranean cuisine, with common denominators that link it to surrounding areas, Menorca has its own gastronomic peculiarities thanks to the legacies left by other cultures that colonised the island, from the UNIQUE SPECIALITIES Arabs who remained there for four centuries, to the three brief but significant Cheese periods of English rule and, to a lesser extent, the French domination. The island’s wide gastronomic variety also encompasses a series of culinary products Cuscussó is the dish, which, both in name and preparation, harks back most strongly which offer outstanding quality and have garnered international recognition. to the Arabic culture. It is a typical Menorcan sweet, which is eaten at Christmas and is made from dry bread, almonds, sugar and lard, as well as raisins and glacéd One of the maximum exponents is the Mahón-Menorca Denomination of Origin fruits. It is still made in the traditional way in homes and patisserie shops following cheese, made from cow’s milk with a unique taste and peculiar square shape. Some the Arabic method for making marzipan. Arròs de la terra, also known as Moorish findings suggest cheese was already made on the island in the prehistoric age. In the rice, is a dish that, despite the name, is not made with rice but with semolina. It is 13th Century, cheese, wines and meats were made and exported in large quantities, 10 11 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION but trade truly flourished in the 18th century, with four boats dedicated exclusively to transporting cheese which set sail from the port of Maó to distribute these goods at ports all around the western Mediterranean.