One of the features both, of Rural Hotel Can Planells and its blog is to show you the authentic and traditional side Ibiza. So following this idea, today we will tell you some interesting things about crops and farming on the island of Ibiza.
Let’s start with Can Planells, with fantastic avocados grown in our own agritourism hotel vegetable garden, delighting our guests every morning at breakfast. Delicious toast with avocado and anchovies! Along with a fantastic fresh orange juice with freshly picked oranges. And not to mention the free range eggs that the Planells family prepare in various ways: fried, poached, scrambled… A delightful breakfast.
After opening up a little bit the appetite. Let’s tell you where you can find these delicious organic products, and their influence in the gastronomy of Ibiza. Well, now let’s head to the town of Sant Jordi, namely to S’hortet Verd, an organic certified Ibicenco supermarket. With over fifty varieties of fruits and vegetables available (90% local produce). And as well, in the same place, they offer a vegetarian and organic daily menu. Following these types of products we should do a stop now at the “Associació de Productors d’Agricultura Ecològica d’Eivissa i Formentera” (APAE), and as well at the newly formed Ecofeixes, the first ecological agricultural cooperative in Ibiza. A group of 11 farmers, ranchers and partners of APAE created last year the first farmers co-op specialized in organic products of Ibiza (Eivissa). Anyone who wants organic products at better prices, Ecofeixes makes direct sales to customers in boxes of 15, 25 or 30 Euros.
Organic farming is characterized by maintaining soil fertility and quality of underground water by not using synthetic chemicals or genetically modified varieties (it does not authorize the use of GMOs). Through their website you can visit the associated organic farms!
The organic farming products growing in success in Ibiza are the excellent red potatoes and the unmistakable “patató”, used in many of the wonderful dishes of traditional Ibicenco cuisine. The best examples is “Sofrit Pagès”, almost the best potato… And not to mention the Ibicenco tomato, tomato that tastes really like tomato. Delightful, for example, prepared in “Ensalada de Crostes con Peix Sec”, fantastic!
And we cannot end without a reference to the production of olive oil. Being elaborated from hundreds of years ago on the island. You can still see in many spots of Ibiza these ancient oil mills. And also ancient olive trees scattered among carob and almond trees. In Ibiza, the most typical varieties of olives are “Empeltre” (aka “Ibicenca”), “Arbequina” and “Picual”. Today we have in Ibiza the brand “Oli d’Eivissa”, with the intention to guarantee that all producers who make olive oil in Ibiza, have passed the highest quality controls. As well as identified guarantee that the oil is extra virgin olive oil, produced and obtained exclusively from olive trees grown on the island of Ibiza. And to finish, here’s a link to a post about wine production on the island of Ibiza. Another of its treasures… Wines of Ibiza.
