What to eat in Menorca: local dishes and drinks
A short guide to what to order in Menorca and what makes each dish or product local.
Menorcan cooking is built on fish and shellfish, cured pork, dairy from the island’s cattle and a few surprising British and French touches left by centuries of history. The island’s food is generally simple, so it is worth knowing what the names on a menu mean. Combine this guide with our notes on the best beaches in Menorca for a day out, or see how to get to Menorca if you are still planning the trip.
Dishes
- Caldereta de langosta: lobster stew, the best-known Menorcan dish; Fornells is its home. Lobster season runs from 1 April to 31 August.
- Oliaigua: a humble soup, eaten in summer with figs.
- Arroz de la tierra: made with ground wheat, not rice, baked with cured meats.
Products
- Mahón-Menorca cheese (PDO): cow’s-milk cheese made and matured only on the island; tierno, semicurado, curado and añejo.
- Sobrasada and carn-i-xua: local cured pork products.
Drinks and sweets
- Gin Xoriguer (distilled in Maó, founded 1945) and pomada, gin with lemonade, the drink of the fiestas.
- Sweets: ensaimadas, gató, Alaior biscuits, orelletes.
More about the dishes
According to Spanish Wikipedia, caldereta de langosta began as a fishermen’s dish and became an emblem of the island because lobster was so plentiful; it is the Menorcan dish best known abroad. It is usually one of the most expensive items on a menu, so ask the price first. Oliaigua, by contrast, was the humblest of soups, eaten when there was little else in the house, and it is traditionally served in summer with figs. Other classics of the island’s fish cooking include sepia con fesols (cuttlefish stew with peas) and stuffed squid.
Mahón-Menorca cheese
The cheese has protected designation of origin status, granted in 1985; according to English Wikipedia the protected name became Mahón-Menorca in 1997, although other sources give 1998. It is made only from cow’s milk, from farms on the island. The rind is orange, coloured by rubbing with butter or oil and paprika. Wikipedia describes the flavour as buttery, slightly sharp and lightly salty, with sweet and nutty notes, and connects it partly to the sea salt carried on the wind over the grazing land. Young cheeses are soft, while longer-aged wheels become firmer and grainier. Written references to cheese on the island are said to date back to the fifth century.
To compare the grades, ask for a board with two or three degrees of maturity: tierno, semicurado, curado and añejo.
Cured meats and wine
Sobrasada is made with pork and paprika and is typical of the Balearic Islands as a whole. Carn-i-xua (carnixulla) is described as the only sausage specific to Menorca: a cured raw longaniza of lean meat and diced bacon. Wine has been made on the island for a very long time, and four modern wineries produce wines under the Vino de la Tierra Isla de Menorca label, according to Spanish Wikipedia.
Gin and the British legacy
Gin arrived with the British, who held the island for much of the eighteenth century (Wikipedia gives 1708 to 1756 and 1763 to 1782, with a French interval in between). Gin Xoriguer was founded by Miguel Pons Justo, who presented his gin at the Sant Joan festivities in Ciutadella in 1945 before basing the distillery in the port of Maó. According to the company, it distils in copper stills more than two centuries old, using wine alcohol, juniper berries and well water, and it keeps the green handled bottle inspired by eighteenth-century ship bottles. The best-known way to drink it is pomada, gin with lemonade, the drink of the fiestas; a pellofa is gin with lemon peel and soda water.
Sweets and baking
Spanish Wikipedia notes that Menorcan pastry draws on Jewish, Arab and English influences, and that French influence brought the gàtó, an almond cake. Other sweets include ensaimadas, orelletes, carquinyolis from Es Mercadal and crespells. The coca de tomate of Ciutadella and the coca bamba are common bakery items.
Eating well
- Ask which fish came in today and choose local, seasonal produce.
- Book ahead in summer for restaurants with sea views.
- Many seasonal places close in winter, so check opening hours.
The Talayotic sites make a good morning before a long lunch, and our Spanish-language business directory lists local places to eat.
Spanish detail: comida típica de Menorca.
Frequently asked questions
What is pomada?
Gin with lemonade, typical of Menorcan fiestas.
When is lobster season?
From 1 April to 31 August.
What is Mahón-Menorca cheese?
A cow’s-milk cheese with protected designation of origin, made on the island and sold as tierno, semicurado, curado and añejo.
What is carn-i-xua?
A cured raw sausage of lean meat and diced bacon, described as the only sausage specific to Menorca.
Does arroz de la tierra contain rice?
No. It is made with ground wheat and baked with cured meats.
Why is gin popular in Menorca?
Gin is linked to the British presence on the island in the eighteenth century.