Pa amb oli
Photo: Rafael Ortega Diaz · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Pa amb oli is built on pa moreno, the dense unsalted brown loaf Mallorcan households baked to last a week, and on tomàtiga de ramellet, the hanging tomato variety that keeps through winter on a string. The bread is rubbed rather than sliced with tomato, dressed with island olive oil and salt, then topped. It predates tourism entirely and remains what Mallorcan families eat when nobody wants to cook, which is why every Palma bar has a version on the board.

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Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield Serves 2Hands-on 10 minTotal 10 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 4 thick slices dense brown country bread
  • 2 ripe ramallet or vine tomatoes, halved
  • Mallorcan extra virgin olive oil
  • Flaky sea salt
  • Mahón cheese or sobrassada, to top
  • Green olives, to serve

Method

  1. Toast the bread lightly, just enough to firm the surface without drying it out.
  2. Rub the cut face of a tomato half hard across each slice until the crumb is stained red.
  3. Pour olive oil generously over each slice and scatter with flaky salt.
  4. Top with sliced Mahón cheese or a smear of sobrassada, and serve with olives alongside.

Tip from the editors. Use bread with a tight, chewy crumb. Airy sourdough collapses under the tomato and oil.

Where to eat pa amb oli

Pa amb oli in Palma

Featured by TableJourney as a signature dish of Palma. See where to eat Pa amb oli in Palma or the Palma signature dishes guide.

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