Majorca, like much of Spain, is famous for its Tapas. The story goes that the sherry drinkers in Andalucia would place pieces of bread over their glasses to prevent fruit flies falling in to their drink. The bread was then often eaten and thereafter developed into lots of different snacks being served with a drink.
The locals eat it as an appetizer but ordering several dishes can make up a complete meal. Whilst many involve meat, fish and seafood, these are my favourite vegetarian tapas dishes:-
Pa amb oli - similar to the widely known bruschetta. It is bread rubbed with garlic, smeared with fresh tomato, given a drizzle of olive oil and a scattering of sea salt. Cheese (and ham) are sometimes added.
Aioli - deliciously moreish garlic mayonnaise to dip food into or spread on bread.
Patatas bravas - fried potato cubes with mayonnaise and a spicy red sauce.
Padrones - small green peppers fried with olive oil, garlic and salt.
Truita espanyol or Tortilla espanyol - or Spanish omlette! It is an egg, potato and onion omlette often served in slices and can be hot or cold.
Other tapas or side dishes for the vegetarian are grilled aubergine or sweet bell peppers and steamed broad green beans and artichokes.
For a main course, a local vegetable stew called Tumbet is a winner which uses seasonal vegetables but usually consists of a mixture of aubergine, courgette, peppers, onions, potatoes and garlic. The first time I had it was 20 years ago in a restaurant called Coral in Port de Pollenca. It was like comfort food; wonderfully cooked vegetables in a (Heinz tasting) tomato soup!
Lovely blog post :)
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