Ibiza in the Wild
Ibiza is beautiful in wildlife and seasonal produce. Our immensely brick red and rich soil combined with the perfect Mediterranean climate and golden sunshine provides our little island with conditioned agricultural grounds for some wonderful nutritious foods.
According to Ibiza Produce “Over the past decades, Ibiza’s land use has changed from flora and farmland to urban development and forest cover. This has led to a loss of rural landscapes and the disappearance of local plant varieties, animal breeds and traditional knowledge. Ibiza’s food supply is now largely dependent on imports”
Samos Deli agrees that purchasing fresh local foods is one of the most environmentally friendly and charitable things we can all do for the island and Planet Earth. In Ibiza approximately 90% of the food we consume is imported from other countries with the vast majority of our agricultural land and farms lying dormant with organic produce productivity at an all time low.
Together as a community we desire to make a stand and create a greater demand for fresh, organic and locally produced foods – directly from Ibiza.
Spring Season.
Each and every season Ibiza has the potential for bountiful and various seasonal produce. Spring is a time to get outside and engage in some fantastic al fresco dining with a wide range of new calender ingredients. During the Spring, Ibiza offers a great deal of fresh fruits and vegetables like kale, chard, artichokes and asparagus and an array of orange and lemons, peaches and newly blossomed strawberries.
Seasonal produce is renowned for its great taste, staggering fibre content and nutritional values compared to other imported counter and processed veggies. So let’s take a closer at out top three fav’s and wonderful island foods on offer;
Kale
Dark, deep green with an almost bluish tinge in colour; kale, a vegetable belonging to the Brassica Family and known as a nutritional power plant with health benefits reaching through the roof. Low GI, overflowing with antioxidants, an excellent source of fibre, a natural cleanse for the colon and a better source of calcium than any dairy product.
Kale has a particularly earthy and somewhat bitter taste and is not to everybody’s personal preference. However, for those of us who do love the leafy green know the wide variety of options available to get a bunch of kale into our systems. Kale smoothies, kale chips, seared kale, kale pesto… kale juice! Ummm, delicious!
Chard
Perfect tossed into a summer salad, thrown into a wok for a stir fry or simply eaten as a warm healthy snack much like crunching on a piece of cooked asparagus.
Chard is another deep green leaf vegetable sometimes with a reddish colour which comes from the family Chenopodiaceae – very close to its sibling, beets; but is rather grown for its leave as opposed to its roots for eating.
The many health benefits of chard are an impressive list of vitamins, nutrients, and organic compounds that are unique and highly beneficial to your health including managing diabetes, eye health, bone density, blood circulation, pressure and heart health.
Asparagus
Perhaps the most interesting of looking vegetables; sometimes described as a pencil shaped vegetable with a round and compact head that narrows at the tip. Surprisingly enough asparagus comes in a multitude of shades from purple, green and white varieties.
Whether you decide to add asparagus as a fresh ingredient into a warm meal or you simply place it as an additional side dish to your meal – its earthy taste similar to broccoli with a slightly more salty and bitter edge, is really one of its kind.
Asparagus is considered as one of the first veggies that will show up in the spring garden and is absolutely packed with great fibers and antioxidants.
Samos Deli and Ibiza
At Samos Deli we strive to our local economy and maintain an eco-friendly, cultural and community stimulus. It is important for us to see local businesses, service providers, farms and native ecological products nurtured and thriving.
We want to see our islands local produce ultimately supporting small, independent businesses and families as well as encouraging future generations to value and invest in the islands welfare and future. Let’s all try to eat more seasonal produce and buy locally from our farming communities.