Ca'n Joan de S'Aigo

Palma, Spain

Ca'n Joan de S'Aigo traces its origins to a confectionery shop from the 1700s, making it one of the oldest establishments on the Balearic Islands. The current location on Carrer de Can Sanç in Palma's old city opened in 1977, restoring and preserving the original character of the first shop. The menu has not strayed: ensaimades, almond ice cream, hot chocolate, and the cured pork products that Mallorcans have eaten alongside their pastries for generations. The sobrassada-filled ensaimada is the reason to come: the paprika fat from the sausage blooms through the spiral dough as it bakes, and the combination of sweet pastry and salt-forward cured meat is one of the island's most specific flavour experiences. The café also serves sobrassada on toast alongside the morning coffee, the honey optional but widely chosen.

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Sausages served here

Sobrassada de Mallorca

Mallorca, Balearic Islands

Sobrassada is a raw cured sausage from Mallorca, spreadable at room temperature and coloured deep rust-red from a large quantity of ground sweet paprika. The mixture of minced pork, paprika, salt, and black pepper is stuffed into natural casings and left to cure over weeks, during which the fat softens and the paprika distributes through the meat until the whole mass becomes a dense, unctuous paste. It spreads onto bread with a knife, melts into eggs in the pan, and disappears into sauces. The version made from porc negre, Mallorca's native black pig, carries a richer fat and a deeper flavour than the mainland-breed equivalent. Two EU protected designations cover the product: IGP Sobrassada de Mallorca for the standard version using commercial white pigs, and the more restricted IGP for sobrassada made exclusively from the island's black pig. Both designations require production on the island. The black pig version is sold with a black label and costs considerably more. Neither version is cooked before eating. The casing is split, and the contents are scooped or sliced onto whatever is being eaten.

porkspreadablecured