Xisca Alzamora: "Home cooking has a price, and what you take out of a bag should have another"

ManacorXisca Alzamora is the owner and cook at Nou Convent Cafeteria. “I put a lot of love into it,” she says when we ask her how she prepares and gives such a good flavor to the daily dishes of Mallorcan cuisine or the varied tapas at the establishment, right in front of Manacor's Town Hall, which is reopening after a well-deserved vacation. Everyone who knows her knows that she doesn't like to boast about her knowledge in the world of Mallorcan cuisine, but people who have tried some of her daily dishes or tapas know that she has something that makes her so special when entering a kitchen.

Xisca, last May it was already 3 years since you and your husband have been running Nou Convent Cafeteria. Happy with the step taken, would you go back?

— One thing you have to be clear about, and that is that both my husband Pep Lluís and I like to always be truthful, to be honest and not to lie. I'll be very frank with you; three and a half years ago, one morning, my husband got out of bed and said to me, "Xisqueta, this evening I don't know what's happened to me, but I've woken up with the very clear idea that I have to change my job and start a new life away from the magazine, and whatever God wills will be." I, who have known him for many years, had noticed for a few months that he wasn't happy where he was, so I told him: "Well, don't worry at all, do you want us to look for premises to run our own café, the two of us?". From the first moment he said yes, so we agreed that if we found any premises not too big that were being transferred, we would try to make it a reality. In a few weeks we saw on social media that this small premises in front of the Manacor Town Hall was being transferred, we agreed on the price for the transfer, as well as with the owner, and here we are. And you asked me if I would go back, at first I was a little scared because there are many things to pay and you don't know if you'll have enough customers to get it going, but now I can say that I'm happy to have taken the step, and even more so seeing that we have met new people whom we now love and appreciate and whom, in fact, we feel as if they were part of the same family.

Nou Convent Cafeteria is gaining traction, whether for its varied dishes, the 'aguiadet de pilotes', pork trotters, tumbet, frit de matances, or snails with aioli. Happy with what they say about you?

— We didn't expect people's response to be so good. More and more people have tried either our varied tapas or some dish of the day, and the truth is that it's all praise, and very importantly... they come back!

The aroma draws you in to look for at least one serving. Where does this good hand for cooking come from for you?

— First of all, a lot of love, but also many years of working in the kitchen, both in Mallorcan and international cuisine. But I'll tell you more, I believe that this touch or whatever you want to call it, that I add to Mallorcan cuisine, I got it from my mum, who is a great cook, and from my grandmothers; one of them, grandmother Francisca, made delicious frits and rice dishes, and from the other, grandmother Catalina, who made spectacular desserts, whether it was a gypsy arm or cream pastries with puff pastry and whipped egg whites that everyone loved. By the way, one day I'll have to try making them and offering them to our customers.

You started with your man, but now you have a little more help, don't you?

— Yes, we have our daughter Laura who has helped us these two months of July and August while she is on vacation from her studies at the UIB, and then when we don't have our daughter, my sister-in-law Antònia helps us the rest of the year for a few hours. I must thank them for the good rapport there is, both with us and with the clients, which is also important.

Are you only open from morning until noon?

— Yes, from 8 a.m. to 3.30 p.m., and from Monday to Friday, except holidays. We also open when there is some event in front of the City Hall that is worth it for the people who attend.

So, in these three years the number of clients has been increasing, and I suppose the demand for dishes too?

— Yes, we have already reached a ‘maximum’. We are clear that, for now, we neither want to extend hours nor bring in more people, because that leads to more headaches, more stress, more nerves… In principle, we want to keep the same schedule, the two of us, one inside the kitchen and the other outside, and the help of our daughter or my sister-in-law. Nothing more. There are clients who, perhaps one day will come at 10 or 11 am to order the dish of the day and we have to tell them it’s finished, and many tell us “well, make more”, but it’s not that easy. To begin with, our kitchen has the meters it has and they are not many, and on the other hand, I am the only cook and my hands can’t do any more. But it must be said that if we have finished the dish of the day, we always offer them other options, such as assorted tapas or combined dishes, of course!, if they want, they can leave with a portion of other things.

It should be better to order the day before

— This would be ideal. We have two numbers to place orders, either by calling or by sending us a WhatsApp to 665 31 46 01 or 639 66 96 00.

I also understand that you can take orders for any kind of Majorcan cuisine, assorted dishes, combination plates, etc., right?

— Indeed, if they order from us 4 days in advance, all those people who have guests at their home for a snack, lunch, dinner or birthday, we can make them any Mallorcan cuisine dish or tapa (tripe, tongue, potato salad, cuttlefish with onion, mushrooms with minced meat, liver with minced meat etc.), escalopes... We give them a quote and that's it. And even, if the order is to be delivered in the late afternoon/early evening, we can bring it to them ourselves. For now, of all the orders we have made, we have never had a complaint, quite the opposite, it has all been congratulations and we are proud of it. I, being small, when they tell me this, I grow a little taller [smiles].

Can you also order some of the homemade desserts you make?

— We always have one or two homemade desserts for those who come to eat at the cafe or those who want to take some portions with them, but if you order with 4 days' notice, I can make them cheesecake with jam, Nou Convent Delights, Nou Convent Sin, or cakes that can be chocolate, orange, carrot, pumpkin, sponge cake with fruit on top or plain, etc.

Returning to the dish of the day, do you have a different one every day?

— Yes, one week we have some dishes and the next week others, and so we go round and people already have a certain idea of what there will be daily, and if they don't like what there is that day, they have other options as I said.

All homemade

— Very homemade. I cook as if I were doing it for my children or family, Healthy food, not strange things like they do now in some places. I'll tell you more, I think those places where food is still made homemade should be valued more, and the authorities should monitor it a bit more, since there are those who say they make it themselves and then it turns out they put it in a machine, give it the necessary minutes, a few grill marks on top and present it as if it were totally homemade, and not even close... For more customer assurance, it would be more appropriate for the Government or the City Council to give a badge to be displayed on the facade to those establishments that prepare food in a homemade way and people could not be deceived... I think so. Homemade cooking has a price, and that which comes out of a bag should have another. It's not fair, people shouldn't be deceived, that's my humble opinion. Homemade cooking is in danger, if it continues like this.

After a few summer months where you leave the 'Dish of the Day' 'parked', for the coming months what dishes will you cook and what will be their price?

— For now we will continue the same with the prices: Monday to Thursday, €6.50; and on Fridays, €8.50. Regarding the daily specials, some will not change throughout the year, while others will change in a few months, depending on the seasonal product. But to start, I can tell you how we will begin, and it will be next Tuesday, September 1st, with the 'aguiadet de pilotes' that our customers like so much. The first week: Monday, Freixura; Tuesday, Aguiat de pilotetes with chicken; Wednesday, Pork or chicken escalope with salad (provisional); Thursday, Tumbet with loin, fried eggs, or mixed; Friday, Seafood frit. And the second week: Monday, Matances frit; Tuesday, Meat cannelloni; Wednesday, Pork trotters; Thursday, Pork or chicken escalope with salad; Friday, Snails with aioli.

Could you tell us what tapas you usually have?

— Normally we will have salad, tongue, tripe, mushrooms with garlic, liver with minced meat, tapas, chicken/spinach croquettes, and some fried dish, either from the slaughter or pork offal. And, as we always say, there comes a moment when something always runs out... or everything, therefore, if you reserve it for us, you will be more sure.

Anything else to finish?

— I want to thank all the people who have come and come to Nou Convent Cafeteria, whether to eat in the premises or to take away whatever they want. Or they simply come for a few drinks. The appreciation you gain for people is incredible and I love to see that all those who come are very good people and they tell us that they feel at home and they return. The first day we opened, more than three years ago, we put up a sign that said and still says 'live and let live', well, both we and the customers are clear about it, we live with them and they let us live, and we are very grateful for it.