Gin & Food

Caldereta de llagosta is the island's most expensive and best-known dish, a lobster stew served especially in the fishing village of Fornells. Originally a simple dish cooked on board, fishermen would simmer lobster with vegetables and seawater right on their boats, using whatever was at hand.

A sweet, botanical-heavy gin doesn't suit this dish. The dry clarity of Gin de Mahón works better, neat or with a splash of water. Its resinous juniper note sits alongside the sweetness of the lobster meat instead of overpowering it.

Equally Menorcan is Queso Mahón-Menorca, a cow's milk cheese. It has held a protected designation of origin since 1985 and is pressed into its characteristic rectangular shape with rounded edges. Depending on age, it ranges from mild to bold and pungent, classified as tierno, semicurado, curado, or vell.

With the bolder, more aged cheese, the salty edge of pure juniper works better than a sweet cocktail. Both lean into intensity rather than softness. Sobrassada, a spreadable, paprika-spiced raw sausage made across the Balearics for generations, often appears as a starter.

It too pairs well with the gin's dryness. The fat of the sausage finds a counterpart in the pure juniper, with no sweeter aroma getting in the way.

This creates the same contrast at the table as at the festival: bold, salty food on one side, a gin with no detours on the other. No precise measurements are needed, just the knowledge that both come from the same rugged island.