The spiral pastry that defines Mallorcan baking, coiled from a dough enriched with saïm pork lard, proved slowly, baked flat and buried under icing sugar.

The ensaïmada takes its name from saïm, the Mallorcan word for pork lard, which is what separates it from every other coiled pastry in the Mediterranean. Records of the coil date to the 17th century on the island, and it now carries a protected geographical indication as Ensaïmada de Mallorca, which sets the ingredients and the spiral form. Palma bakeries sell it plain or filled with cabell d'àngel, a squash preserve. Forn Fondo alone stocks more than twenty versions behind its Modernista glass.

3 editor picks for Ensaïmada in Palma, ranked by editorial score. All Palma signature dishes · Ensaïmada across every city.