Inca is a city full of artisans capable of creating unique and special products, both from the delicious gastronomy of the island, and its famous leather products, ceramics and much more.
They are also known as “Inca biscuits”. They were first produced in the 19th century, for sailors, as a substitute for bread when they spent long periods at sea. It is a product that is kept in perfect condition for a long time and is easy to store. For this reason, they are also called “pa de barca” (boat bread).
They are made with oil, flour, yeast and salt. They are oval in shape with a small hole in the middle.
In Inca there are currently some bakeries that still produce these biscuits using traditional methods. Furthermore, there is the Quely factory, a pioneer in the production of Inca biscuits and which currently continues to manufacture and sell this Majorcan product across the globe.
They can be eaten accompanied by both sweet flavours (jams, chocolate, etc.) and salty flavours (sausages, sobrasada, cheese, etc.) or spread with a little oil and salt.
This is a pastry made from flour, sugar and eggs. The most well-known are those made by the cloistered nuns of the Monastery of Saint Bartholomew.
The ensaimada is one of our most traditional pastry products, and has a very peculiar origin, as Joan Seguí from Forn Sant Francesc tells us in his book Forn Sant Francesc. Panadería y respostería tradicional. “The ensaimada was one of the vehicles that the island's converted Jews, before the expulsion order issued in 1492 by the Catholic Monarchs, used to prove that they had converted to Christianity, just like the canons had ordered. To do this, they decided to elaborate one of their typical braided breads, with lard, an ingredient forbidden in the Jewish religion. In this way, they were clearly able to prove that they had converted to Christianity. That's where the word "ensaïmada" comes from; saïm, which means lard in Mallorquin.”
This pillar of our gastronomy is baked in ovens with flour, sugar, yeast, eggs and saïm (lard). Furthermore, as explained by Joan, winner of the World's Best Ensaimada Award in 2017, “the ensaimada was once a filling-free pastry and, although they are sometimes still sold like this, nowadays, they are more often filled with a wide range of flavours, such as ''cabello de ángel'', pastry cream, hazelnut cream, white chocolate, walnuts, cream, even apricots, sobrasada and banana”.
The traditional Majorcan pastry can be savoured in many Inca bakeries and patisseries, which have the seal of the Regulatory Council of the PGI Ensaimada de Mallorca. Furthermore, in cafés, a coffee with milk is usually served with a slice of ensaimada.
Sweet dough in the shape of a rectangular bar, made of honey, sugar, cinnamon and almonds. If the almonds are ground, it is called ''turrón flujo''; if they are whole, ''turrón duro''. In Inca, the speciality is “torró fort d’Inca”, which is consumed all year round, but, in particular at Christmas when they are a must-have in all households.
The pork industry is also renowned in Inca. Products derived from “slaughtering” pigs go back a long way in Majorca, and Inca, of course: black pudding, “sobrasada'”, “camaiot”, “variado”, etc.
As for non-food products, there is, of course, the footwear industry and everything made with leather: gloves, belts, jackets, bags, etc. Inca has a long history of shoemaking, dating back to the 15th century with the shoemakers' guilds, which is still around today with big and renowned brands. Likewise, in Inca, the industry and crafts of ceramics, painted tableware, decorative plates, ''siurells'' and other products made with clay are also worth mentioning. See the Footwear Route.