Menorca,Spain

Menorca is a rocky island in the Balearic archipelago in Spain, consisting of eight municipalities. Featuring a Mediterranean climate, the weather is milder in the south while in the north there are strong winds all year round. Marine salt, carried by the wind to the pastures where cows graze, is what gives the cheese its typical flavour. Seafood is a major element of the island’s cuisine, but additionally, there are horses, pigs (used for cold cuts) and cows (the skin of which is used to produce leather, and the milk to produce cheese). Agriculture is small-scale and varied, consisting of typical Mediterranean products. Within this typical Mediterranean cuisine there are also the influences of various invading people, particularly the English, who brought plum cake, puddings, and punch. The rural and marine cuisine is mostly based on greens and vegetables from one’s own garden, locally produced meat, and fish and seafood caught in the same day.^[1] Olive oil, although not produced on the island, is also a fundamental ingredient in local dishes.

A local cheese is produced in Menorca: Mahón cheese. The cheese is classified as holding denominación de origen status in Spain, marking it as a unique product of the region. The cheese is pressed and has a characteristic orange colour, and rounded corners. In 1985, the protected name of the cheese was set as queso Mahón, and later, in 1998, the word Menorca was added, making the full name Mahón-Menorca. There are four main varieties, according to maturation time: mild, semi-mature, mature and aged. Ricotta or fresh cottage cheese is also made in dairy shops in Menorca.

Sea products, for their insular condition, are widely consumed. Traditionally, Whitefish is used just the same- like for example, Goosefish or the Hake– like the Oily fish– like the Atlantic mackerel or the sardine, for example-, very fresh, bought the same day it is fished. This type of cooking with fish is traditional because many Menorcans have a boat, in which they go fishing on weekends  and in summer it was a customary, and it still happens, to go around the island on a boat, an excursion that forced you to eat the captured and cooked fish on board. The Scorpaena or scrofa, among them,is a highly appreciated and abundant fish. Another appreciated fish is the Rajiformes that can be oven-baked, grilled or in a paella.