Local food

The Balearic government and Palma City Council are busy promoting culinary tourism at the travel fairs in London, Berlin and Madrid. You would have thought that Palma was the culinary capital of the world. Thankfully, there are some great restaurants in the city, with Bulletin chef Marc Fosh in pole position. But one of my biggest complaints about Palma is that it is quite difficult to find a restaurant which serves traditional Majorcan food. Now, if you want a slice of pizza or pasta, well you are spoilt for choice. If you want a hamburger, no problem. But if you want a frito mallorquin? Well then it gets difficult. There are the obvious choices in Genova which do a fantastic job, but you will find it hard to find a restaurant which is truly Majorcan in the Majorcan capital. You can say the same about ensaimadas. Almost any cafeteria you go into will have croissants but an ensaimada ... probably not all. I do believe that promoting culinary tourism is a good idea but at the same time it would be great if visiting tourists could get a taste of Majorca ... not Italy, the US or even China. Majorcan food is good but perhaps the local authorities should work with the restaurant trade and promote local food rather than imports from abroad. So yes, culinary tourism is a good idea but not a pizza Margarita or a quarter-pounder: what about frito, sopas Mallorquinas or even good old lomo con col? Local food is good!