A healthy surprise in Mallorca, Spain

Posted on 15. May, 2011 by guest in Europe, Food & Drinks, Spain

The following article is a guest post by Amy Baker, an English travel writer who just returned from a trip to Mallorca.

I boarded the plane to Mallorca thinking that I was about to embark on a week of unhealthy meals, but what greeted me at the other end was nothing short of a delightfully healthy surprise. Most twenty-something girls might choose a holiday destination according to the availability of two things: dancing and sunbathing. Don’t get me wrong, I love these two things and they definitely factor when making a decision on my destination but we mustn’t forget potentially the most important factor of all – the food.

Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands, offered up the most delicious, fresh and surprisingly healthy Spanish cuisine of any holiday that I have been on. The fish was fresh, the meat tender and the island is overflowing with fresh fruit and vegetables.

Mallorca restaurants serve up large portions of fruit and vegetables that are all cultivated on the island and you will find the native tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini, beans and onions frequently featured on menus. Spring is the perfect time for a visit, as many of the ingredients are at their tastiest this time of year.

The fact that most dishes are so vegetable-dominated means you can eat your fill, guilt-free. Knocking back those sugary cocktails post-dinner is no problem!

Personal favorites while I was away included calamars farcits, fresh squid stuffed with meat and Peix al Forn, which is any weight watchers dream; tasty baked fish served with a mound of vegetables. For meat lovers, the most popular meats on the island are high quality pork and lamb, with the beef coming in a distant third.

Mallorca has an abundance of olive trees that produce fresh, fragrant olive oil which is incorporated into countless dishes. Trempo is a salad of tomatoes, red peppers and onion with a dressing of olive oil and salt while Peix Escabetxat is fried fish left to cool in a sauce of olive oil and vinegar, bringing the flavours beautifully.

Picturing Spanish cuisine might conjure up images of a carb overload, but my trip to Mallorca was all about fresh, nutritious cuisine which kept me confident in my bikini. For more info visit My Destination Mallorca.

This post was written in collaboration with MyDestination.com.