February and the Last Days of Carnival

Bep Al·lès / Ciutadella – The month of February, they say, is usually the coldest month of the year, and as the saying goes “cold and dry like a Turk”. It is the month after the pig slaughters have finished, and with them also the cuisine of the Last Days, or carnivals. We begin the period of purification or the cuisine of Lent, although this year Lent will begin in March.

It is a good month for lovers of soft cheeses, because it is one of the best months for dairy production, and the fogasses will also be made that will be left to mature throughout the rest of winter and spring, to produce old cheese, because the grass about to bloom is richer in fat and other properties. Also after the tramuntanas and aiguadas, the grass has this unique flavor that is transmitted to the milk and cheese of Menorca.

Regarding the gastronomic calendar of the shortest month of the year, we have listed the following as main dates or to take into account:

Sant Blai

February 3 is the feast of Sant Blai. It was an ancient custom to bless the rolls of Sant Blai, as well as the candies and liquorice, which according to belief kept you from throat diseases. It was the Carmelite nuns who made these rolls and also blessed the liquorice and candies for sore throats.

Carnival, the Last Days

The month of February is when Carnival is celebrated, which in Menorca we call the Last Days, where the protagonist is the pig.

Both Shrove Tuesday and the Last Tuesday were days to eat meat and pork products. Where in addition to the gastronomic customs that have remained to us, there were also a series of dishes or preparations that have been lost over the years.

We have evidence of the coques of the Last Days, or the lard coques that were eaten on these days, as well as the yellow rice from slaughter at the farm festivals, where the so-called “Balls de Tapadets” were celebrated, a custom that is now being recovered. There, the aforementioned coques were served, as well as pastries filled with preserves, sweet wine and other peasant preparations.

Nowadays, the gastronomy of the Last Days is centered in the Ciutadella area with the celebration of the Last Tuesday, which this year will be on March 4, a day that unfortunately and in recent years, many have incorrectly called “sobrassada day”.

The gastronomy of the Last Tuesday is much more than sobrassada or botifarrons to the grill, which in themselves are the snack. The main dishes of this day are the salty pie of pig’s feet, which was the main course. This preparation is one of the oldest dishes in our cuisine, from the medieval period, because it does not contain any ingredients from the New World. These types of greixeras, salty flaons were reserved for great days of celebration and have lasted until our days.

The greixera de peus de porc (pig trotters pie), is also prepared in a similar way in Mallorca and Catalonia, but it is in Menorca where it is accompanied by crespellets, giving this mixture or pairing of sweet and salty that we like so much that we inherited from the Romans and also from the Arabs.

Finally, I would like to point out, and returning to the meals of the Last Tuesday, that for dessert there were no shortage of sweet potato and cottage cheese pies. It was a day to make ribs, loin and fresh bacon on the grill. To drink wine, and also of songs and dances of fandango and boleros.