For the first time at Fitur, the Government will have a food and wine space to highlight local products as a differentiating element of tourism promotion

The conseller of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Natural Environment, through the General Directorate of Agri-Food Quality and Local Products, together with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports, has organised a total of 25 live cooking sessions over the next five days (from Wednesday to Sunday), each dedicated to a different local product, to highlight the gastronomy of the Balearic Islands at the International Tourism Fair (FITUR) 2025. For the first time, the Government will have a food and wine space at Fitur to highlight local products as a differentiating element of tourism promotion. The regional minister Joan Simonet, accompanied by the regional minister for Tourism, Jaume Bauzà, will be in charge of presenting the entire programme aimed at promoting local products from the Islands tomorrow.

In this way, five chefs will prepare five dishes each, which will be tasted accompanied by a local wine. The sessions will be dedicated to one island each day: on January 22nd, it will be dedicated to Ibiza and Formentera; on the 24th, to Menorca, and on the 23rd, 25th and 26th, to Mallorca. The chefs responsible for the tastings are Óscar Molina (for Ibiza and Formentera), Patrick James (for Menorca), and Miquel Calent, Ariadna Salvador and Borja Triñanes (for Mallorca). The wines paired will be from the protected geographical indications Ibiza, Menorca and Mallorca and from the protected designations of origin Binissalem and Pla i Llevant.

Tomorrow, the first participant will be Óscar Molina, chef at the La Gaia restaurant, located in Ibiza Gran Hotel and awarded with a Michelin star. These are his proposals: honeycomb from Ibiza with pistachio praline; artichokes confit with black pork pil-pil and Ibiza oil; parakeet bouillabaisse and Ibizan herb air; dried fish salad from Formentera, and sea bass cured in Formentera salt with hibiscus and black cauliflower cream.

On January 23rd it will be the turn of chef Miquel Calent, in the kitchens of Can Calent i Cuit and a great promoter of the cuisine of the Balearic Islands. He will prepare the following recipes: raola of escaldums with ensaimada; banderilla of tongue with capers; black Mallorcan pork shadow with oil biscuit and winter trempó; rice with entrécula, with Mallorcan oil, and soups made from Mallorcan red sheep's milk with cheese.

On Friday, January 24, the spotlight will be on Menorca, thanks to the chef at Pan y Vino, Patrick James, who has managed to fuse his French roots with Menorcan products and cuisine. He will prepare a croque-monsieur with Mahón-Menorca cheese and aromatic herb béchamel; lemon lime curd with Menorcan gin; Parmentier made from Menorcan red cow's tail with its aniseed juice; shrimp mahonnaise made with Menorcan oil and crudités; Menorcan sheep's pie with smoked aubergine and tomato confit with spices.

For Saturday, the chef and pastry chef Ariadna Salvador, head of Ninumá, has proposed the following recipes to be shown at Fitur: royal escaldums and Mallorcan almond trio; fresh dried fish salad, escarole, fresh mandarin and citrus vinaigrette from Sóller; cheese tarts, lavender and Mallorcan saffron; fried safarnaria; and black olive bonbon with Mallorcan oil.

Finally, on Sunday, Borja Triñanes, who has developed his career as a cocktail maker and in recent years has revolutionised the concept of reverse pairing in Sala de Personal, and has won a Repsol Sun for his gastronomic and cocktail proposal, will be in charge of closing the programme. His proposal is the following: Mallorcan herb gimlet; sobrasada with red mullet; skate in nori seaweed pil-pil; soup filled with clear ramellet tomato broth, and squid with garlic mayonnaise from tap de cortí.

It should also be noted that on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th cocktails made with Hierbas de Mallorca, Hierbas de Ibiza, Gin de Maó and Palo de Mallorca will also be available for tasting. They will be prepared by the teachers and students of the Balearic Islands Hospitality School. The workshops are free, but a reservation must be made on the website www.chefsin.es. Attendees will be able to try the dishes and wines that will accompany them, and all the presentations that take place at the Balearic Islands stand will be broadcast live on the Balearic Islands Tourism YouTube channel: @turismoislasbaleares.