Try Mallorca’s Festive Eats & Drinks

Dec. 20th, 2021

Festive feasting is part of the Mallorcan Christmas season and the delicious, traditional treats at this time of year are worth the extra calories.

For a hot, savoury dish to combat the winter chill, you should try ‘Sopa de Navidad’, a tasty chicken broth containing the seasonal pasta shapes known as ‘galets’, which are first stuffed with minced meat. Many Mallorcan restaurants offer this hearty, comforting dish during the festive season. If you want to cook ‘Sopa de Navidad’ at home, you’ll find ‘galets’ on the dried pasta shelves in your local supermarket – but you’ll have to stuff them yourself.

Centuries after the Moors used almonds and honey and invented ‘turrón’, this rich, sweet treat has become a festive favourite. You’ll find displays of ‘turrones’ in supermarkets, gourmet food stores, and confectioners, for several weeks before Christmas. Today, numerous varieties and flavours are available. Most of the commercially produced ‘turrón’ comes from the Alicante area but look for an island-made one for Mallorcan authenticity, such as those made in Llucmajor. In Palma, the nuns of the Santa Clara convent, in the Old Town, also make ‘turrón’ for sale at Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, after Midnight Mass, have a cup of thick, hot chocolate with a Mallorcan ‘ensaïmada’ or ‘coca de patata’. This is a much-loved tradition to sweeten your festive celebrations in Mallorca.