- Sobrasada and Butifarra
This is one for the carnivores out there. Both Sobrasada and Butifarra are a type of soft and spiced sausage that is often fried or spread on bread like a kind of pate. Sobrasada is soft, red and spicy, not a million miles away from the flavour of Chorizo but saltier and stronger. Butifarra however, is a type of blood sausage and is usually served in rounds and friend like a black pudding, although connoisseurs will notice a difference in the taste as the ingredients vary slightly. These two types of meat are often served up in a sandwich or on toast, accompanied by a good glass of red wine, for a hearty, calorie heavy brunch that locals are so fond of.
- Buñuelos or Bunyols
Buñuelos (Bunyols in Ibicenco) are essentially the Ibicenco version of a doughnut, although the texture and flavouring is quite different. The dough is more rustic and dry than your usual pastry, and it is flavoured with aniseed to give it an almost fragrant taste. The bun itself is not overly sweet but once it’s fried, it is dipped in caster sugar to give it a crunchy outer coating.
- Cuinat
You can’t get more rustic than this vegetarian stew. Literally made from the herbs, vegetables and beans that grow naturally on the island, this dish was popularised during lent when meat and fish are banned to Catholics. Despite its humble ingredients, do not turn your nose up at this dish (even if you are a devout meat-eater) as once it is cooked with mint, lemon, spices and heaps of garlic and olive oil it is packed with an intense flavour that has locals cooking it up in batches all year round, and not just during Easter.
- Ensaimadas
Another traditional pastry, this one more akin to a croissant but in the shape of a spiral. It is a soft, flaky cake that can either be enjoyed plain with a dusting of icing sugar, or filled with cream or a pumpkin based marmalade known as “angel hair” because of its golden hair-like fibres. Regardless of your filling of choice, you can’t have an ensaimada without dipping it into a piping hot cafe con leche (strong white coffee) or cacaolat (chocolate milk) as an indulgent weekend breakfast.
- Sofrit Pages
This is a hearty dish of spiced pork, chicken, lamb and some sobrasada and butifarra thrown in for good measure. All of this is fried up with peppers, potatoes and whole garlic bulbs that are seasoned with saffron, cinnamon and parsley. The name literally means “Peasants fry-up” although due to its meat content it was actually only reserved for very special occasions, but it’s easy to see why this meal is a firm favourite amongst locals and foreigners alike, as well as being included amongst many of the best menus on the island.
