Ibiza Food

Ibiza food can be broken down into: the ingredients, starters, fish and meat dishes, and the deserts. Other articles on this site deal with the ingredients so we will not dwell on those, suffice to say that olives, figs, salt, and the local livestock all have their part to play. The plentiful fresh fish of an island are also an important part of Ibizan cuisine.

Starters are varied, and some typical examples include: rice with sardines and cauliflower, rice with snails, noodles with rabbit, hotpot and gilthead soup. One of the most basic, that you will find at many restaurants, is a broad bean stew. This is made with broad beans, green beans, onions, tomatoes, garlic, sobrassada, bacon, paprika, vinegar, oil and salt. There is also a variation on this dish, fava pelada, which has noodles and chopped mint added.

Some of the typical fish dishes are squid stew with raisins and pine nuts, dogfish meatballs and plain old fish stew. One of my favorites is fisherman’s hake, which is really all about getting the hake cooked to just the right level. The hake is sliced and served on top of a dish made from ripe tomatoes, potatoes, onion, garlic, parsley, paprika, salt, pepper and oil. There is also the all important sauce, and the ingredients vary from restaurant to restaurant, but it usually has lemon juice, olive oil and paprika.

Meat dishes include stuffed leg of lamb, baked pork with milk mushrooms and lamb stew with artichokes. Rabbit with peas is also a good option. The important thing to remember is let the rabbit marinade overnight with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Some people like to use matured wine, but I find that this can dominate the taste. Sausage, peas, broad beans, onions and potatoes usually accompany this dish.

The desserts of Ibiza food and Formentera food are not overly sweet, and are the ideal way to round off a meal. Greixonera is one of the most popular, and is a sweet cake made from milk, ensaimades pasteries, cinnamon, lemon peel, sugar, sweet aniseed and eggs. The milk is brought to the boil with the lemon peel, cinnamon and sugar and then left until it cools to warm. After removing the lemon peel and cinnamon, it is then mixed with the eggs, aniseed and ensaimades (which are first chopped). The sugar is heated to form a caramel and poured on top of the mixture before it is baked for 45 minutes at 170 degrees.