Happy Holidays! Are you curious to know what culinary wonders are typical of the island at this time of year?
Whether it's starters, main courses, desserts or drinks, in every Ibizan home there is still a love for the most local flavours.
If you want to discover them, we recommend you read this post to the end.
It's not just Christmas time
The Ibizan people have always been linked to the traditions of the sea and the countryside.
That is why the matances are celebrated up to twice a year, when the pigs fattened throughout the year are used to make products for the whole year.
More than just a day of work, it is a social event, in which friends, family and neighbours get together to make different sausages such as sobrassada and butifarró, and to extract the bones and meat. And also to eat, of course.
The first gathering takes place between All Saints' Day and Santa Catalina (25 November), and the second between February and March.
Is this important for Christmas?
The Christmas table in Ibiza
Although there are fewer and fewer houses that celebrate matances, what is still enjoyed are the typical sausages and traditional dishes.
In this way, Christmas becomes an ideal time to share a good loaf of bread with sobrassada toasted on the grill, and even to serve a plate of lovingly made arròs de matances.
In addition to this, baked meats are often prepared, such as leg of lamb, or porcella (suckling pig).
For dessert, bescuit (sponge cake) and salsa de Nadal, a liquid nougat made with chicken stock, lamb, almonds and honey; both are absolutely essential.
And during the after-dinner drink, don't miss the Ibizan herbs!
Menus for the 2022 fiestas in Ibiza
If you are not passionate about cooking, some of our partners offer menus during the holidays.
If you fancy eating in Ibiza, don't miss out on the offer for this festive season!
Los socios de Eating en Ibiza que permanecerán abiertos
In addition to menus, Six Senses offers a full programme of activities throughout the holidays, including markets, meditation, lunches, dinners, brunches... Don't miss it!
Ca Na Sofia is a beautiful restaurant in Cala Vadella, with spectacular sea views. It will remain open with its delicious traditional menu, made with high quality KM0 products. An ideal choice no matter what day you visit.
A very different atmosphere is Hoyo 19, as it is located on the golf course, overlooking the 9th and 18th holes. They offer wood-fired rice dishes, and a very carefully selected selection of fish and meat. An interesting and unusual visit!
Christmas Eve Menus
The night of 24 December is also a special time: getting together with the family, telling anecdotes, exchanging gifts...
4 of our partners offer different menus for this time of year.
Can Curreu, as usual, offers a menu with new and stimulating flavours, the main course of which is cod confit with creamy potato soup and sofrito de la huerta, followed by lamb ingot with carrot and tarragon purée.
On the other hand, 180 Gastrobar opts for a more reduced and conventional menu, with a delicious shoulder of baby goat at low temperature as the main course.
The Hotel Pacha joins the festivities with a simple but ideal menu, with turbot with baby vegetables and miso sauce as a starter, and sirloin steak with chestnuts and sweet potato purée as a main course.
In the case of The Standard, they offer the same menu for the 24th and 25th, with 3 main courses to share: charcoal-grilled octopus, mushroom and riccota ravioli, and finally suckling pig at low temperature.
If you want to see the full menus, you will find them at the end of this post.
Christmas menus
On 25 December, it is customary to get together for a meal, either with the people we spent Christmas Eve with, or with those we were unable to meet up with.
For this date, Can Curreu, 180 Gastrobar, Mira and The Standard have different menus.
In this case, Can Curreu has a simpler menu, with sea bream fillet with sautéed vegetables and saffron and cava sauce, followed by a peasant chicken cannelloni with roasted garlic cream for main courses.
180 Gastrobar is not far behind, offering seafood cream with langoustine as a starter, and cannelloni stuffed with chicken and pork jowl with boletus béchamel as a main course.
The Mira restaurant offers a choice of fish or meat: sea bass en papillote with seasonal mini-vegetables or confit of acorn-fed duck, osmotised apple with potatoes bridged in their fat and Pedro Ximénez reduction.
The Standard continues with the same Christmas Eve menu, in case you've been wanting to try it.
Want to discover the rest of the menus? Read on to the end.
New Year's Eve Menus
For the most special night of the year, six of our partners offer menus.
Can Curreu has an elaborate menu, the main courses of which consist of wild sea bass with sautéed vegetables and sour cream, followed by beef sirloin with piquillo pepper puree and mushroom sauce. All accompanied by wines and cavas, of course.
The 180 Gastrobar menu is not far behind with its fish and prawn suquet, followed by a suckling pig at low temperature.
For tonight, El Hotel Pacha has a menu with meat and fish: wild sea bass with truffled parmentier and asparagus, and secondly angus sirloin with roasted sweet potato, tarragon and rum sauce.
La Brasa also joins in with a menu offering a variety of options for starters and mains; choose from various meat and fish options depending on what takes your fancy.
For tonight, Mira offers a spectacular tasting menu, starting with some incredible starters, followed by tuna tataki on a bed of wakame seaweed and then a Rossini sirloin with boletus and foie accompanied by a potato gratin.
On New Year's Eve at The Standard you can enjoy a charcoal-grilled snapper and a baked leg of lamb as main courses to share, in addition to the starters.
All include lucky grapes and cotillion, so the fun doesn't stop.
Happy New Year!
Menu gallery
