Gastronomic differences between the West and the East of Menorca (III)

Bep Al·lès / Ciutadella – Where this difference in gastronomic vocabulary between Ciutadella and the rest of the towns, including Ferreries, is most noticeable is with the tomato, which in Ciutadella is pronounced as in Catalonia, and in the rest of the towns it is pronounced tomátic. So in Ciutadella they will make a coca with tomato and in the rest of the towns, coca with tomátic.

There are also changes with the eggplant, which is pronounced ubregínia in the West and eubriginia in the East. Whether it is purple, striped or white.

Also in the world of Menorcan sausages we will find two ways of naming the same product, the camot which in Ciutadella is called cuixot, and the carn i chulla, which in Ciutadella is called, at least until a few years ago it was called salsitxa, although for a little over a decade the name carn i chulla has been used more, which is in case you didn't know the oldest sausage on the island, and which dates back to Roman times, 123 BC, when Quintus Cecil·li Metelus, called Balearicus, conquered the Gymnèsian Islands, which from then on were called the Balearic Islands.

In the world of fish, there are also differences in the lexicon, as is the case of the cap-roig, which in Ciutadella, like Ibiza, is called rotja, and the rascla de Llevant, which in Ponent is called escorpora. The small pagells in Maó are called pinzells.

Other notable differences in name are found in the fish that in Maó is called saltabardissa, in Ciutadella it is called rata, or what in Ciutadella is called gató, in Maó ballestriu, or the pelaia which is called that way what the Castilians call “gall”, while in Maó it is called bruixa.

Other fish that are called differently are the congre dolç, called in West, congre blanc; or the jonquillo which in Maó is called jonqueti or the grívia and el roquer which in Ciutadella are called tords, or the massot which in Ponent is called tord massot, a word that is also used derogatorily towards a fat and bulky person.

The junclà, a very colorful fish, also called fadrí, in the Levant is called envit.

A fish that stands out in Ciutadella for its Castilianized name is the “saltancoños” which in Maó is called salta murades or rafal, while in Ciutadella the lucern is called graneu.

Finally, if we cook a fish in the Menorcan way, on the Levant side it will be a perol de peix and on the West side it will be a peix al forn, which also happens with seafood and meat. Therefore we will find perols or baked dishes of shrimp, of ratjada, of squids, of roja or cap-roig, as well as of pork ribs or lamb ribs, or only of potatoes, onions and tomatoes, with garlic and bay leaves, which we will call in the Ciutadella side summer food, in the Levant side tomato and potato perol and, in the past this dish was known as greixera de patates, and it was the typical dish of the dinner on the day of Saint Christopher.

In just 45 kilometers of distance between Maó and Ciutadella, and I would say that many times only in the 16 that separate Ciutadella from Ferreries, we find all these differences and more, because we have certainly left many, which the readers of foodiesonmenorca.com will be able to tell us with messages to this renewed website, and which show us the richness of our Menorcan language, of the ways of grating, of the differences that also unite us and of some very our words that we must know, like gastronomy, to preserve and not let be lost due to the entry of foreign words or foods, globalized, and that can make us stone these little treasures that we still preserve today.