Ibiza's cooking comes from the island's farming and fishing life: few ingredients, lots of flavour. Alongside international and trendy restaurants, look for those serving traditional dishes.
Typical dishes
- Bullit de peix: the signature dish, a stew of rockfish (grouper, scorpionfish, gurnard) with potatoes and allioli, served in two stages: first the fish, then rice cooked in the broth, arròs a banda.
- Guisat de peix: a fish and seafood stew with potatoes and saffron.
- Sofrit pagès: the festive country dish, with lamb, chicken, sobrassada, butifarra and potatoes cooked together.
- Frita de polp: octopus fried with potatoes, peppers and garlic.
- Ensalada payesa: salad of potatoes, peppers, tomatoes and peix sec, sun-dried fish, typical of Formentera.
- Savoury coca with vegetables and pa pagès, country bread, with island olive oil.
- Charcuterie: sobrassada and white and black butifarra.
Desserts
Flaó, a fresh-cheese and egg cake flavoured with mint and anise, the most typical; greixonera, a pudding made with the previous day's ensaïmada; orelletes, anise fritters; and salsa de Nadal, a Christmas almond cream.
Drinks
Hierbas ibicencas (herbes eivissenques), an anise liqueur with island herbs such as thyme, rosemary, fennel and mint, is drunk after meals, often on the house; it has protected geographical indication. The island also makes wine (see Ibiza's wines).
Where to eat
- Chiringuitos and beach restaurants for grilled fish and rice, such as those at Cala Mastella, Sa Caleta or Es Torrent.
- Country restaurants inland, in Sant Josep, Santa Gertrudis, Sant Joan and Sant Carles, for rural cooking.
- The markets of Ibiza town and Santa Eulària for local produce.
- In summer, dinners at beach clubs and trendy restaurants (see glamour), much more expensive.
See also Spanish cuisine and Formentera's cooking.