Talk of the North > Previous Issues > Issue 3

Soccer Special: Liverpool v Pto Pollensa
Learning the Language
Keeping the Port Clean
Calling all Footballers
Capturing Mallorca on Canvas
A Touh of Magic


Recipe - Tortilla de Patatas

For 18 years Liverpool Ramblers Amateur Football Club has been coming to Mallorca to play against a Puerto Pollensa team. This year the annual match for the Eladio Lorente memorial trophy (named after the local man who started the ball rolling all those years ago) takes place on Saturday September 17th at Puerto Pollensa's football ground on the Formentor road.

Twenty members of the Liverpool team arrive the day before the match and are determined not to jeopardise their chances of victory by visiting too many bars on their first night! Two members of the team, Willy Hall and Miles Pickering, are old hands at pacing themselves as they have travelled over every one of those 18 years for the game.

Just over two years ago, Willy and Miles managed at last to persuade Puerto Pollensa players to make the trip to Liverpool for a return match -- and now there is no stopping the local lads. The visit has become an annual event and the party has grown each year, indeed next February when Puerto travel to Liverpool their wives are going, too -- something Liverpool Ramblers have never allowed!

So, if you fancy an entertaining evening watching live international football, get yourself over to Puerto Pollensa's football ground (up the Formentor road, round the corner from the military base and Hotel Playa Mar) on Saturday February 17th. Kick-off is at 7pm.
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If you have always promised yourself you would try to learn or improve your Spanish language skills, now is the time to seize the bull by the horns! You have until the end of September to book for the Catalan and Castillian language classes for adults run by Pollensa Council. There are classes at all levels from beginners to more advanced students, and the Catalan classes are completely free of charge. Courses run from mid-October to the end of May and the exact timing of classes is decided by the majority of those wishing to attend. For more information or to register for the courses contact the Pollensa Council Languages Department on 971 530 108 or call in at their offices at the foot of the Calvary steps.

Alcudia Council offers similar classes in both languages, call 971 548 488 for more details.


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Pollensa council has announced that special "dog poo" bins will shortly be installed in Puerto Pollensa. In this trial run, four bins will be put around the town (including near Caprabo supermarket and in the square) and a campaign aimed at encouraging owners to clean up after their pets will also be launched.

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Would be football players in the Pollensa area over the age of three years (no upper age limit or sex discrimination!) are welcome to join in the sporting action at Puerto Pollensa’s football ground. There are teams to suit all age groups.

Anyone who wants to play football need only go along to the ground (at the end of the Carretera Formentor near the military base and Hotel Playa Mar) between 5pm and 8pm Monday to Friday and ask to speak to the person in charge of football that week (the job rotates between members).

With the arrival of several new British players recently, Puerto Pollensa now boasts some of the most cosmopolitan squads on the island, so whoever you are you are sure of a warm welcome.

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When artist Lynette McDonald (pictured below) holds an exhibition of her paintings, a little thing like a severe thunderstorm with forked lightning and pouring rain was not going to deter anyone from taking a look. More than 50 admirers of her work braved the elements to attend the opening of her exhibition last week at the La Caixa Gallery in Pollensa, and judging by the number of red “sold” markers going up, they were not just admiring but buying the paintings to enjoy in their own homes.

Lynette, who was born in New Zealand but came to Europe in the sixties, first came to the island on holiday, and then moved to Mallorca permanently more than 12 years ago. She has always painted but did not take her “hobby” more seriously until fewer family commitments meant she was able to devote more time to it.
The current exhibition of oils and watercolours, which lasts until September 14, contains many new paintings which Lynette, a prolific artist, has completed in the past 12 months. And although admitting to being inspired by the beautiful countryside in this area, the Pollensa town square on market day is obviously one of her favourite subjects -- and one that is captured charmingly.

Her ability to depict the smallest details makes Lynette’s still life paintings extra special, too; fruits you feel you could pick up and eat, for instance, and a wonderfully vibrant poinsettia that kept drawing eyes to it from all over the gallery.
If you read your copy of Talk of the North in time to catch this exhibition, it is one well worth going to see.

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By Johanna MacDonald

It’s 5 o’clock in the afternoon on Friday and the end of my working week at the office. My eyes are tired, my head is hurting and my neck and shoulders are aching after sitting in front of a computer screen too long, so it seems the perfect time to pay a visit to the Japanese masseur so many people had recommended to me.

Located on a covered terrace along Puerto Pollensa’s pine walk, you will find Yuki, who is from Tokyo, offering shiatsu massage for 16 euros per 15 minute session. Shiatsu is an old, traditional Japanese healing method and translated literally, means ‘finger pressure’.

Yuki beckoned me into a chair. He felt my neck and shoulders. ‘Very stiff!’ he said and got to work massaging my shoulders, neck and head.

The effect was instant and with Yuki’s magic touch and the view of the rippling sea and the mountains before me, I felt the week’s stresses and strains drain away. The massage not only relaxed me to the point of almost drifting off, it felt wonderful, and after 15 minutes, my head had stopped aching and my neck and shoulders had loosened up considerably. When I stood up, I felt six inches taller and so much better.

Yuki is self-taught and has been coming to Puerto Pollensa every summer for the last six years. When I asked him, ‘Why Puerto Pollensa?’ he said that he had been travelling around Europe and met some friends who told him about this ‘beautiful tourist resort’ so he decided to take a look for himself.

His clientele consists of all sorts of people, from the very young to the very old. He often treats children who are stiff around their necks and shoulders due to too many hours playing computer games and says that a common problem with adults, also, is tightness and aching from spending too long in front of their PCs.

Yuki is here in the Port until mid-October, so if you are feeling tense, stressed out, stiff, if your body is aching, or if you simply fancy getting pampered, think about paying Yuki a visit.

He’s not sure whether he will be back next year or not - it depends which way the wind blows him – so now might be your only chance!

Yuki offers head, neck and shoulder, back, feet and body massage -- he has a small room behind the terrace for the full body massage. Visit him at Paseig Vora Mar, 17, or call him on 619 478 240.

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Spanish omelette or ‘tortilla de patatas’ is a cheap, easy-to-make and adaptable dish. It can be eaten hot or cold depending on the weather and your mood, served cut into cubes with cocktails sticks as a ‘tapa’ or aperitif, or in slices or wedges accompanied by a mixed salad and fresh, crusty bread as a delicious main meal.

Unlike the better-known French omelette, which should be made quickly over a high heat, the Spanish omelette needs to be cooked more gently so that the middle is not too runny.

The French omelette is best eaten straight away and always hot. Its Spanish counterpart on the other hand improves if it is left to rest for at least five minutes before eating, keeps in the fridge for a day or two and can be re-heated in the microwave unless you prefer it cold.

As with the French omelette, the ‘tortilla’ is made in a frying pan (preferably non-stick), but unlike the French version, both sides need to be browned. You can buy a special ‘tortilla’ pan (a sort of double pan which allows you to turn the omelette over to cook the other side) or you can use the more traditional method of placing a plate on top of the pan, turning the ‘tortilla’ out and then returning it to the pan to cook the underside. The simplest method, however, is to place the frying pan under the grill to brown - be careful not to melt the handle!

Spanish recipes for ‘tortilla’ vary from region to region. It can also depend on what you have in your fridge and what you fancy. You can replace the potato with spinach, for example, leave out the onion and add garlic or green pepper, etc. Here follows a recipe for traditional potato and onion ‘tortilla’.

Ingredients:
olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and diced
6 eggs, beaten
salt and black pepper

Method:
Heat 2tbsp oil in pan.
Add onion, potatoes, salt and pepper. Gently fry until beginning to turn golden.
Cover the pan and cook for a further few minutes until the potato is slightly softened.
Remove the onion and potato mixture from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
Put the onion and potato mixture in a bowl with the beaten eggs and stir.
Transfer the omelette mixture to a large frying pan containing clean oil.
Cook over a low heat for 15 minutes.
Transfer the pan to a pre-heated hot grill until top is browned.
Leave to cool a little then ease the omelette out onto a large plate.

¡Buen provecho!

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Contact
Ann MacDonald, C/Llevant 46, 2d, 07470 Puerto Pollensa.
Fax 971 864 163
E-mail: carduusann@yahoo.co.uk

Advertising & Editorial Office:
C/Llebeig s/n, bajos (near the square) Puerto Pollensa
Tel: 971 864 703
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Opening hours: Monday to Friday 9am-1.30pm