Balearic products go on show at Barcelona fair

Baleric minister of agriculture and fisheries, Mateu Morro, said he was in favour of promoting local food products at fairs, an initiative which his department has been supporting for years. He was speaking at Alimentaria, the food fair which has just opened in Barcelona, and where Balearic products are widely represented. Morro made his speech at a tasting of sobrasada, at which Majorcan chef Antoni Piña presented various dishes made with this popular red sausage. Mateu Castelló, the chairman of the board which controls the quality of Majorcan sobrasada, said that the type made from the island's native black pig, of which there are only about 3'000, was becoming increasingly more popular, although it only accounts for two per cent of production. Last year, 2.5 million kilos of sobrasada controlled by the board were produced, in addition to 190'000 kilos made from the black pig. The agriculture ministry has been encouraging local farmers to go upmarket and produce quality goods which find good outlets abroad. It has also been trying to persuade local restaurants and hotels to buy local produce.