PalmaMy slaughtered animal hung from a scaffold. It had its belly open, a large empty cavity from which the gold that would be offered fried had been extracted. It seemed that its eyes had followed point by point the entire sequence of its dismemberment and had been horrified by it: the drained blood, the offal, further on the gut that was beginning to be limed to remove all dirt, the clean and lemoned intestines hanging from some reeds. A wild scene, an impossible puzzle to reassemble.
Most lambs are born between autumn and winter, especially between October and January, when pasture and climate conditions are favorable. The time when they are slaughtered is concentrated between late winter and spring, especially between March and April. The slaughter of lamb on our islands does not have the ritualized and collective character of pork, but has been a practice linked to necessity and the calendar. Until very recently, all parts of the animal were used to the fullest, from the wool to the blood.
The slaughter is usually quick thanks to a clean cut to the animal's neck, which allows it to bleed well. Then the skin is carefully removed, the animal is gutted of its viscera, and it is quartered. The stomach, highly prized when fried, is salted with lime as soon as it is removed from the animal. It is then scraped with a knife to remove all dirt until it is white and boiled. One of the parts most rejected today is the intestines, thus avoiding unnecessary work. Unlike pork, lamb does not produce sausages that require a casing to dry or boil, and our gastronomic references for using them are almost nonexistent, forced by a change in taste. However, we come from a cuisine of resourcefulness that knew how to make the most of them and consumed them in different ways.
Lamb tripe
One of the most interesting dishes in Menorcan gastronomy regarding the use of intestines is 'trunyella de me'. The consumption of this dish, formerly prepared around Easter holidays or during sacrifice periods, is in decline. To cook it, the intestines are cleaned well, a 'trunyella' is made and placed on a baking tray and seasoned with garlic, parsley, paprika, chopped bread, and salt. When it has browned, it is turned over and left in the oven again until it is cooked.
In Mallorca, lamb offal were often cooked in fried dishes, previously boiled and chopped. Friar Jaume Martí Oliver, in the 18th century, records another way of using them; these are Cuina d’un temps i d’un país (2024, Purpurina Editorial) the valuable testimony of Bàrbara Sansó Nicolau, who worked at the Sant Martí estate. The lord, the Marquis of Vivot, ordered "tacó de me" to be served on Easter day as a gift for guests. The stuffing, a kind of cold meat made with the scraps from the lambs sacrificed around these dates, was served with white rice that had been boiled in a broth made with the shanks of the lambs.
Around the world, we can find stuffed dishes akin to haggis" (made with lamb liver, lung and heart mixed with oats, onion, aromatic herbs and spices); the "girella" of Pallars (stuffed with meat, offal, fat, rice or bread, garlic and parsley) and kokoretsi" (typical of Greece and Turkey). In this case, it is not a stuffing, but rather the offal is arranged around a skewer, wrapped in intestines and slowly roasted on grills.
The dishes in today's article are not easy for the modern palate; lack of custom and necessity are no help when facing them. For today's recipe, I have adapted the "tacóns" to make a more updated and palatable cold meat, which I have accompanied with a very simple broth rice, so that the meat is the protagonist. I hope you like it.
We will mix the minced meat with the diced mushrooms and lard. We will add the chopped marjoram and season well with salt and black pepper. We will fill the casing, which we will have thoroughly cleaned. We will tie it well and prick it with a needle. We will sauté it in a pan on all sides and boil it for an hour and a half. We will remove it and place weights on it (it's better if we leave it in the fridge all night or until the next day).We will boil the broth and add the rice. It should be a brothy rice. We can add seasonal vegetables, such as tender broad beans, peas, or artichokes. We will add the saffron and the rice. When the rice is ready, we will add the parsley.We will serve the rice accompanied by one or two slices of our sausage. If you wish, you can add a few drops of lemon. You can also substitute the rice with noodles or 'burballes' (a type of pasta).
For the stuffingl 500 g minced meatl 200 g mushrooms (optional)l 100 g belly pork fat l 1 strip of sobrassada (optional) l Marjoram l Salt and black pepper l 1 casing For the ricel 1 l chicken broth l 1 cup rice l Seasonal vegetables (optional) l Saffron threads l Chopped parsley