David de Coca, the cuisine of Sa Llagosta

Maybe next weekend, David de Coca will open the doors of his establishment in Fornells, because as the name of his establishment says. “Sa llagosta”, the queen of crustaceans is the protagonist of his cuisine, one of the cuisines where the fish and seafood of Menorca is the protagonist and at the same time within the movement of the new Menorcan cuisine, which is one of its great exponents in this aspect, that of the seafood cuisine.

That is why David de Coca is only open during the lobster season, from April to August, and closes its doors before the fifteenth of September, when the live lobster from its hatcheries has already been sold out, because one of the things that is very clear to him is that his cuisine is made with local produce, and fish from the north of Menorca, caught by the llaüts who are based in the port of Fornells.

We can assure you that Coca is the one who knows how to work with Menorcan fish today, because he not only makes his creations with lobster, but he is one of the few who offers fish such as serranos, canteras, escorballs, verderols and these days in September raors, and those fish that are caught by small boats.

In addition to being a lover of traditional Menorcan recipes, both seafood and hunters' cuisine, David de Coca is also a lover of Asian cuisine, especially Japanese, creating in many of his dishes a fusion between the cuisine of the two islands, that of Menorca and the Japanese, where we will find - since we have talked about raor - a sashimi of raor and fried raor accompanied by zonzu sauce; or other preparations, which we will talk about that unite cultures beyond the seas.

At “Sa Llagosta” we can find the most traditional recipes of this crustacean in Menorca style on the menu: Caldereta, lobster with garlic and oil, sautéed lobster, grilled lobster, boiled lobster with mayonnaise, lobster with onions, rice with lobster; as well as other dishes such as Andalusian lobster, lobster meuniere, lobster brava, lobster with civet or lobster 1, 2, 3, which is a lobster ceviche sandwich.

Every year in addition to their menu and off-the-menu specialties, David de Coca, best chef of the year 2016; and his wife Mónica Cortassa, best head chef of 2017 by the Association of Journalists and Gastronomic Writers of the Balearic Islands; also offer a special tasting menu. The last two years have been dedicated to Archduke Lluís Salvador and Pere Ballester with his “De re cibaria”.

We will have to wait a few weeks to find out what the theme of the new Menorcan cuisine tasting menu will be.