«Cuinons», 58 recipes to preserve and pass on Menorcan cuisine

FoodiesonMenorca/Es Mercadal - The Department of Economy and General Services of the Consell Insular de Menorca has published «Cuinons», a new gastronomic publication conceived as a tool to preserve, promote and pass on the island’s traditional recipe collection. The magazine brings together 58 Menorcan recipes, selected with the aim of showcasing the richness and diversity of a cuisine built over generations around local produce, the careful use of available resources and a very distinctive way of understanding everyday cooking.

The recipe texts are by Bep Al·lès, while all the dishes have been prepared by Pau Sintes, a Menorcan chef and European Young Chef Award 2022 winner. The photography is by Damià Pons, with the exception of the cover image, taken by Neus Melià. The design and layout were produced by Setmanaris i Revistes SL.

The magazine was presented at Fira Arrels by Councillor Maria Antònia Taltavull and the Island Director for Economy, Alícia Martí, accompanied by Pau Sintes and Bep Al·lès.

Maria Antònia Taltavull, Councillor for Economy of the Consell Insular de Menorca, highlighted that «Cuinons» was created with the aim of bringing traditional Menorcan cuisine closer to the entire population, especially younger generations. According to Taltavull, the magazine seeks to highlight traditional recipes, local products and the culinary knowledge that forms part of the island’s identity. The councillor also emphasised the practical and informative nature of the publication, designed so that the recipes can be cooked at home and continue to be passed down from generation to generation, keeping alive a gastronomic heritage that forms an essential part of Menorcan culture.

Above all, «Cuinons» is conceived as an accessible, visual and approachable recipe collection, capable of bringing traditional Menorcan cuisine both to younger generations and to anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of Menorca’s gastronomic heritage. The publication does not seek to reinvent the recipes, but rather to recover, organise and present them in an attractive way, preserving their essence and respecting the preparations that for decades have formed part of the island’s family kitchens.

Among the 58 recipes included in the collection are such representative dishes as oliaigua, one of the humblest yet most emblematic preparations in Menorcan cuisine, traditionally made with tomato, onion, pepper and water, and one that encapsulates, perhaps better than almost any other recipe, the resourceful philosophy of rural cooking.

The publication also includes dishes that are less well known outside Menorca but deeply rooted in the island’s tradition, such as raoles d’endívia, an example of a cuisine that knew how to turn simple ingredients into tasty and nutritious dishes.

The recipe collection also devotes considerable space to seafood cuisine, one of the great pillars of Menorcan gastronomy. The selected recipes include stuffed squid, a classic preparation with different family variations, and rockfish panadera, a dish that reflects the deep relationship Menorcans have with fishing and with the produce that historically reached homes from the island’s ports and coves.

This diversity also allows «Cuinons» to function as a kind of culinary map of Menorca. It brings together dishes from seafaring cuisine, rural recipes, preparations traditionally associated with festive occasions, and dishes born from the need to make the fullest possible use of the ingredients available.

Pastries and desserts also occupy an important place in the publication. Readers can find preparations such as menjar blanc, one of the oldest and most representative desserts of Mediterranean cuisine; almond tortada, traditionally associated with family celebrations and special occasions; and greixera de brossat, a preparation particularly linked to Menorcan Easter baking and the use of dairy products.

With this combination of recipes, photographs and design, «Cuinons» aims to become a practical publication, but also a small document of gastronomic memory. Behind every dish there is far more than a set of ingredients and a technique: there is a way of life, the seasons, celebrations, products and knowledge that have traditionally been passed down from parents to children.

«At a time when Menorcan gastronomy is strengthening its role as part of the island’s cultural, productive and tourism heritage, “Cuinons” arrives as a tool for championing Menorca’s own cuisine through respect, memory and transmission.»

In this sense, «Cuinons» represents a commitment to looking towards the future without losing sight of its roots. Its 58 recipes are an invitation to return to the kitchen, recover dishes that form part of Menorca’s collective memory and, above all, ensure that this gastronomic legacy remains alive and is passed on to future generations.