The most popular recipes of Mallorcan traditional cuisine, include arròs brut and sopes mallorquines, fideus de vermar, llom amb col, tumbet and frito Mallorquín. These are some of the dishes that you will find in the meny of any of the restaurants on the island , but there are still many other typical and tasty dishes that taste, fresh fish and seafood from the land are simply exquisite, and very tasty meats.

At the end of autumn matances take place, an annual and festive event consisting in the killing of a pig that is still preserved and practised within Mallorcan families. Therefore, different products made with pork meat are the main ingredient of many traditional dishes that configure the gastronomic offerings of Artà, closely linked with the festivities calendar.

The same day matances take place, a series of traditional pork dishes are made such as frit de matances, soups or escaldums.  Sweets and pastries like orellanes (dry apricots), raïssons (pork rinds), marzipans or cream of sweet potato are also traditional during matances.

Christmas is a good time to explore the culinary traditions of the island. When matins finish, it is traditional to make a xocolatada amb ensaïmada (chocolate milk with the traditional pastry of Mallorca made with lard). On Christmas day, the main course is Christmas soup and the second course is usually lechona (stuffed suckling pork) or stuffed chicken. The sweets and pastries served during these festivities are almond nougat, neules (Mallorcan biscuit) and Christmas cake.

During Sant Antoni festivities, celebrated with bonfires and music on the streets, is where the people roast the pork products made during matances. The most popular are the llonganisses (dry-cured pork sausages) and the botifarres (large pork sausages), loin and bacon. The chosen pastry is the coca de Sant Antoni.

During Easter festivities, gastronomy circles around four dishes: panades and frit de pasqua, made with meat, and the sweet pastries rubiols and crespells. In this case, the meat used to make these traditional dishes is lamb. The frit de pasqua is the traditional meal after the mass.

Summer is the time for lighter and less abundant meals. A classic example is pa amb oli (bread with olive oil), the trempó (tomatoes, green bell peppers and onion salad), vegetables like aubergines or pepper, and fish. There are also sweet dishes like apricot cake and iced almond drink, among others.

Among the fish, the most used are the cap roig, the gallo de San Pedro, or Soller prawn, but are only suggestions, any fresh fish in the area, simply grilled, it’s delicious.

This gastronomic richness is due to the privileged situation of the island and the different populations and cultures that have inhabited it over the centuries.

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The Artá Caves are located on the coast in the municipality of Capdepera, in the Cap Vermell, surrounded by mountains that tower over the sea. The caves have been visited since times gone by and it is very likely that the island’s primitive inhabitants knew of them, as did the various populations that later inhabited the island.

Going through the towering entrance, we gain access to the chamber known as the Vestibule or Entrance Hall, where countless stalactites with prodigious shapes and extraordinary proportions hang from the high arched roof. Tall stalagmites rise up gracefully from the floor. They vaguely resemble human forms, mysterious, motionless, rigid visions that are indifferent to human gazes, and have that imposing superiority of nature’s marvellous creations.

After descending the long flight of stone stairs that leads to the vestibule floor, we then take the path that leads to the Hall of Columns where the formations take on the impression of a Gothic interior, scattered with slender columns, graceful pointed arches, filigreed canopies and a thousand other breathtaking details.

After going down the seven or eight steps that lead to the Hall of Columns we cross the chamber following a path that then leads us through an opening into a large ellipsoidal chamber known as the Hall of the Queen of Columns, where a column some twenty-five metres in height can be contemplated.

Another of the chambers has been christened Hell, followed by The Glory, The Theatre, the Chamber of Flags and the Chamber of Bells.

Finally, by retracing the path we have followed from the beginning we return to the Vestibule, where daylight begins to filter through, until we reach the entrance, which affords views of the sea, sky and mountains.

The visit to the caves lasts between 35 and 40 minutes. Only one group can enter at a time, approximately every half an hour.

Guided visits in Spanish, French, English and German.

More info: http://cuevasdearta.com/en/

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Cala Torta: During the trip we can observe a wild landscape that combines valleys and mountains. It is easy to spot the island of Menorca on clear days. At the end of the route there is a junction, the road to the right leads us to Cala Torta. We can also reach Cala Torta by foot or bicycle from Capdepera, through a 22 kilometres mountain route marked with red points that departs from Cala Mesquida. This cove opens to Tramuntane and Gregale winds and is located on the eastern end of Arta’s coastline, close to the limit with Capdepera. It has a 200 feet wide beach of thick sand that penetrates to the interior drawing a strong curve, which probably gives its name – Torta means crooked. Sometimes, the torrent floods the end of the beach, creating a small lake. Cala Torta has Arta’s mountain range in the background, here with lower vegetation and pine trees. The sea horizon is presided over by the silhouette of Faralló d’Albarca islet. The sand beach rises three metres over the sea, creating a big unevenness on the seashore, where algae accumulates due to the storms. The eastern shore is high and with a cliff, but the western shore is small and shaped by Gregale and Levant winds. Vegetation is lower here. At the end of the beach, from one side to the other of the cove, a small dune system develops delimiting the torrent with sea lilies and shrubs combed shaped by salinity and wind.

Es Caló: It is surrounded by ochre sandstone cliffs lightly drawn towards the sea. On the top, there is a pine forest with palm trees and treelike prickly pears on its bottom that go up to the same cliff. Furthermore, on the cliff’s foot we find big pine trees growing in the sandstone. A pier demolished by storms, before with a lighthouse on its end, protects the bay from Levant. Before its construction, Alcudia people hosted a tunna fishery here. It is also known as Caló de Betlem. In fact, we must get to the urbanization of Betlem to arrive to es Caló. Heading through the main road, we cross the urbanization up to a stone lane where we shall leave the vehicle and continue, by foot or bicycle, along the route beside the coast. A 25 minutes walk to the cove.

Cala Mitjana: During the trip we can observe a wild landscape that combines valleys and mountains. It is easy to spot the island of Menorca during atmospheric clear days. At the end of the route there is a junction, the right one leads us to Cala Torta and the left heads to our destination, Cala Mitjana. Anchoring boats is difficult due to the shallowness. This sea entrance opens to the Mediterranean Gregale wind. Sited between Cala Estreta and Cala Torta, Cala Mitjana has a fine sand beach of 120 feet long with small dunes. Although it has fine sand, it can be considered thicker than the sand from the South-eastern beaches of the island. Its shore is low with scanty vegetation, softly inclined to the sea and shaped by it on the West side. Its vegetation, very damaged due to salinity, is formed by, basically, pine trees, shrubs and palm trees, as well as some donardes or atzavares –the ornamental plant known as Agave americana. Its name is given for a simple reason: this sea entrance is the middle in a succession of three equidistant coves -Mitjana means medium.

Caloscamps: The name of Caloscamps (cove of the countries) is obviously given by the cultivated lands found beside the cove, clearly drawn in old cartographies. The cove, excavated in fossil dunes by the torrent and sea erosion, combines sand and stone areas and is surrounded by tamarinds that grow by the sea shore, providing a nice shade. Some years, the beach is covered with the Mediterranean marine plant known as Posidonia. A beach with an interesting environment of flora, fauna and heritage. We can see remains of an old bunker, a boathouse, a quarry and some archeological sites like the talayots of Can Pa amb Oli.

Es Matzoc: The defence tower, dated from the 17th century, guarded the British island of Menorca and still preserves its cannon. Originally, it was called San Fernando Tower. Es Matzoc combines fine sand and stones. It is orientated to the East, between Albarca Tower and Cala Dentola. It is seaworthy, with sand bottom and seaweed penetrating in diagonal fringes. Its shore declines towards the sea and is covered with fossil dunes in some parts. We find dense pine forests that stretch down to the beach, where two torrents merge excavating a canal as they run into the sea. The bed of the main torrent is flat, like an avenue. Along its banks palm trees and alics –Vitex Agnuscastus– grow. We can also find some example of the endemic plant Pastinaca Lucida. We get here by foot and the shortest way is made through the area of sa Duaia, departing from Cala Estreta to take the old route of Carabiners (coast guards) that arrives to Es Matzoc.

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