What sobrasada is
Sobrasada de Mallorca is a soft, spreadable cured sausage — finely minced pork seasoned with sweet and/or hot paprika, salt and pepper, packed into natural casings and slowly cured in the mountain air of the Tramuntana. It matures over weeks to months. Unlike Spanish hard cured sausages (chorizo, salchichón), sobrasada stays soft, almost paste-like, and is spread on bread with a knife.
Since 1993 it carries IGP (Indicación Geográfica Protegida) status — the name “sobrasada de Mallorca” can only be used for sausage produced and cured on the island. The premium tier is Sobrasada de Mallorca de Cerdo Negro Mallorquín, made from the meat of the island’s autochthonous black pig — an old breed that nearly went extinct in the 19th century and was preserved by breeders in the Tramuntana valleys.
History
Sobrasada originates in the “matança” — the traditional household slaughter in late autumn and early winter, when island families killed their pig and preserved the meat for the year. Before paprika was available (introduced after the Spanish conquest of the Americas), the sausage was probably seasoned differently; paprika reached Mallorca in the 17th century and quickly became the defining spice.
There’s a social dimension: the matança was not only food production but a community event. Family and neighbours came together to help, cook, and share the fresh meat in the evening. Sobrasada fit this seasonal logic — it cured through the winter months and was eaten in the spring and summer.
When and how to eat it
Sobrasada is eaten cold, spread on rustic bread — often as an aperitif with a glass of vermut or red wine from DO Binissalem. It also takes well to heat: lightly warmed in a pan with honey (a modern tapas classic), in a “coca de sobrasada” (flatbread with sobrasada topping), or as a flavour base in hearty stews.
It’s standard at lunch and especially at the mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack (“berenar” in Mallorcan). In summer with a cold sobrasada-tortilla, in winter on warm bread from the wood-fired oven.
Sobrasada at Es Muntant
At our restaurant sobrasada is part of the pa amb oli menu — the Mallorcan farmer’s bread course where you build your own combination of bread, tomato, olive oil and various toppings. We run a classic pa amb oli with cold-spread sobrasada and occasional seasonal variations — honey-glazed in the pan, or as a warm coca straight from the wood oven.
Our sobrasada comes from a producer in the Pla de Mallorca who raises Cerdo Negro on their own farm. If you want to try it, ask the team — they’re happy to serve a small sample on a piece of warm bread before you commit to the full pa amb oli board.