Friends with fincas…

When we moved to Pollensa we knew nobody. That’s not strictly true, we knew all the people who had been part of the team to buy and renovate our house but that was it really. Many have since become friends and back then we were flying solo, but within days we were made to feel so welcome and part of the Mallorcan way of life. It can be quite hard to describe the warmth of the people here, other than to say it’s a genuine desire on their part to enrich your life in their country with the things they know and love.

Within days, one of our neighbours, Miquel, invited us to his farm to watch them sheep shear! We had decided to be more open minded about things here and not to be naysayers so off we went… a new way to spend a Friday evening. No ordinary event, this sheering by hand is thirsty work, so having a beer tap on the back of the tractor trailer was clearly essential! It was early evening and needing a bit of nourishment their own produced Sobrassada was popped out on the table for all to enjoy with a slice of bread in one hand and a beer in the other… perfect as the sun was going down!

Opposite our house we have a fantastic local bar/restaurant run by Margalida and Manolo. It is always a happy time when we pop over for a cheeky beer and some tapas. They are a wonderful couple who really have taken care of us since we arrived in Pollença, we have all become part of each others families. Margalida cooks up wonderful plates of local dishes and her Sunday calamaris are legendary.

They often arrive at our door with fresh fruits from their finca, picked that morning and utterly delicious. In Mallorca it’s currently a special time of the fruit calendar as we get to enjoy the early season of figs, so imagine our delight when Manolo arrived this week with a bag of fresh figs picked that morning. They need very little to enjoy them, straight away warmed by the sun is often best. However in honour of the Manolo figs we thought we would give them a little makeover with a dish inspired by Jason Atherton Social Suppers recipe, with a couple of tweaks. Head over to the recipes page for some very simple instructions…

Lots more neighbourly stories and local insights to come…