Bread A Must In Mallorcan Cooking

For thousands of years, the Mediterranean island of Mallorca has been a destination for travelers. Its position southeast of Spain, almost equidistant from France, Italy and Algeria, makes it an ideal hub.

Mallorca’s most famous visitor was Frederic Chopin. The very piano he used to compose some of his nocturnes remains exactly where he left it, in a monastery cell overlooking a sheltered garden of orange and lemon trees.

The Greeks called Mallorca “Onion Island,” and the Romans cultivated olives and imported vines, while sending Mallorcan figs (which are still famous) back to Italy.

The Arabs brought oranges, lemons, almonds, eggplant, rice and saffron, all staples in today’s Mallorcan cooking. And from the New World, the Spanish carried back the now indispensable tomatoes, potatoes and peppers.

Wandering around a Mallorcan supermarket, I realized that the traveler’s yearning for home is still with us. The shelves are an instant guide to the nationality of island visitors.

I spotted lemon curd and Earl Grey tea for the British, pumpernickel and sauerkraut for the Germans, and Ritz crackers and peanut butter for us Americans. Skirting the Italian mortadella, Dutch Gouda and French mustard, I headed hastily for the produce counter. Paradise, even in January.

Toting my shopping bag home to our borrowed kitchen, I proudly showed the contents - baby artichokes, fresh peas, green beans, favas (similar to limas), fragrant leaf celery and three kinds of radish - to Catalina Adrover. Catalina’s family has lived in Mallorca as long as anyone can remember and she is a mine of information.

She talks of “tumbet,” a vegetable casserole made often of eggplant, green pepper and potato fried in olive oil, topped with fresh tomato sauce, but almost infinitely variable. The crisp summer salad called “trampo” features scarcely ripe tomatoes, green pepper, onion and apple or pear, topped with pickled samphire, a rock plant which grows on the seashore and looks like wild asparagus.

“And then there are ‘sopas’ (soups),” continues Catalina. When I ask for a recipe, she laughs. “No, no. We add whatever is on hand, but it must have bread.”

I later learned that, as well as thickening soups, the moist, slightly crumbling island bread appears in many dishes. Bread crumbs are used to both bind and top vegetable gratins such as “bledes ofegades,” a sweet-sour combination of Swiss chard, raisins, pine nuts and garlic.

Bread is the foundation of “pamboli,” literally “bread with oil,” toasts topped with chopped olives, goat cheese or anchovy, always with a sprinkling of oil. Most popular of all is “pamboli amb tomatigs,” toast rubbed with a freshly cut tomato half, often sprinkled with wine vinegar. The name is Catalan, reflecting the strongest of all national influences on Mallorca; the Catalonian coast of Spain is less than 150 miles away.

But the best Mallorcan bread dish is “coca,” a kind of pizza with a tender crust which can be topped with sugar, pine nuts and candied fruit, or more commonly with onions, olives, sweet red peppers and sometimes with fish. Here is Catalina’s version.

Coca Amb Pebres

(Yeast Pastry With Red Peppers)

Dough:

1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water

1 cups flour (more as needed)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Topping:

2 medium sweet red peppers

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoons paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

10 green onions, sliced

6 canned artichoke hearts, drained and cut into wedges

6 ounces cleaned squid or white fish fillets, cut into strips

1/2 cup pitted Greek-style olives

To prepare dough, sprinkle yeast over cup warm water and leave 5 minutes or until dissolved.

Sift flour with salt onto work surface and make well in center. Add yeast mixture, remaining cup warm water and olive oil. Mix central ingredients with fingertips, then gradually draw in flour to make dough. Knead, adding more flour as necessary, 5 to 10 minutes or until elastic (dough should be soft but only slightly sticky). Transfer dough to oiled bowl. Cover and leave to rise until doubled in bulk, 45 to 60 minutes.

To prepare topping, place peppers on broiler rack and broil until black and skin is loosened, turning them to cook peppers evenly. Cover them in plastic wrap to retain steam and leave them to cool. Peel peppers, cut them in half and discard core and seeds. Rinse in cold water. Dry and cut peppers into strips.

When dough is risen, knead lightly to knock out air. On floured surface, roll dough to 12-inch round or 9x14-inch rectangle, stretching to size with your hands. It should be about inch thick. Transfer to oiled baking sheet and press on surface of dough with your fingertip so it does not puff unevenly.

Mix olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper to make flavored oil and brush generously on dough. Spread evenly with green onions, artichoke wedges, pepper strips, squid and olives. Brush over remaining flavored oil. Leave in warm place 10 to 15 minutes or until dough is puffy. Bake coca at 450 degrees until dough is brown and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve at room temperature.

Yield: 4 servings.

MEMO: Anne Willan is a cookbook author and host of the “Look and Cook” television series.