Salt cod. Much eaten during Lent, it must be soaked for 24 hours or more before use, with occasional changes of water. It can often be purchased ready soaked on Fridays.
Little tunny. The little tunny is a handsome fish with black scribble patterns on its back. It has a robust, torpedo-shaped body built for powerful swimming and it has no swim bladder. The mouth is large, the lower jaw slightly protruding past the upper jaw. The flesh of the little tuna is darker and stronger tasting than that of the other large tunas. It is marketed fresh, dried, canned, smoked, or frozen. It is often caught on hook and line near reefs.
The Balearics consist of an archipelago of 16 islands about 50 miles off the East coast of Catalonia, the main ones being Mallorca (Majorca), Menorca (Minorca), Ibiza and Formantera. Here, vines, almonds, olives are grown. Being an island group, of course fish and shellfish play a major part in the cuisine, as evidenced in frito mallorquina and the extravagant caldereta menorquina. Jewish settlement has had some influence on the cuisine, as it has in Catalonia. It became a dependency of Aragón in 1349 but the language is similar to Catalan. Menorca is the most temperate of the Islands and supports dairy herds which were introduced under British rule. Mallorca is the largest of the archipelago and is well know for its almonds, tomatoes, figs and meats such as suckling pig and lamb as well as rabbit.
