Talk of the North > Previous Issues > Issue 4

Wedding Capital of Europe?
Pollensa Wine in Bottle Trials
Caring Faces of North Mallorca
Formentor Swim
Puerto Pollensa 5 - Liverpool Ramblers 3
A Gentleman and his Art

Recipe - Monday Chicken Curry

June may be the traditional month for weddings in the UK, but here in Mallorca most couples prefer to wait for the cooler month of September -- flowers and elaborate hairstyles soon wilt in the summer heat, as well as guests in three-piece suits! And with the promise of fine weather coupled with beautiful scenery, the north of Mallorca has made a name for itself as the perfect place to start off married life.

The Reverend Michael Redfearn, chaplain to the Anglican Congregation of St Andrew's in Puerto Pollensa, has certainly had a very busy September, conducting wedding ceremonies or renewals of vows at the church in the main square of the Port itself, the Hermitage Chapel at La Victoria, Alcudia, and the church of San Jordi in Pollensa town, as well as in Alcudia town, S'Olivaret (a village between Alaro and Orient) and Deia. Plus he says he already has bookings for September next year.

For people who don’t live permanently in the area, the actual legal part of the marriage must be done in their home town, but many brides and grooms feel the ceremony here on the island is their happiest day, and the one with the photos they will cherish the rest of their lives.

Lynsey Caves, whose photo with new husband Simon O’Neill is on our front page and below, is from an Irish family who have had a holiday home in Puerto Pollensa for more than 17 years, so, for her, there was never a question of where she wanted her wedding ceremony to take place. Other newlyweds, such as a couple from California who tied the knot here recently, choose Mallorca to escape the pressures of a huge wedding and demanding family and friends – it’s far enough away to put off all but the most determined guests!

Certainly all the facilities are here in the area – flowers, cakes, photographers, restaurants or catering facilities, even people who will organise the whole show for you. The church has full information on what’s involved for a marriage in Mallorca on its web site
(www.hillyfields.freeserve.co.uk/anglicanpalma).

Meanwhile, Talk of the North would like to extend its congratulations to local resident Rachel Shuckburgh on her marriage in Pollensa on September 17th, and also to the couple whose forthcoming wedding, a civil ceremony, will be the first single-sex marriage in the area, we wish Luis and Angelo every happiness.

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The first wine from the new Pollensa vineyard is now being bottled in a trial run to test the quality of the drink. The bottles are not for sale as yet but if the tasters approve the wine, Pollensa’s Mortitx label could be sitting alongside other Mallorcan wines by Christmas.

Vinyes Mortitx, a company made up of some 48 businesses and individuals, mostly from the Pollensa area but including a contingent from Palma and one local American resident, planted a variety of grapes three years ago. The vineyard is on an estate some 600m above sea-level in an area just off the Pollensa-Lluc road. Antonio Enseñat Magraner, a member of the Vinyes Mortitx group who owns a bodega and delicatessen in Pollensa town, has high hopes for the Mortitx vintages stressing that a quality product produced while taking great care to be environmentally-friendly is the main aim of the organisation.

Señor Enseñat was delighted with the interest shown in the local product and clearly very proud of Vinyes Mortitx’s achievements. And the wine? Well, at first sip of the white wine he gave me to taste, I thought it lacked a little body, but then the full flavour came through. It was smooth and more oaky than fruity with none of the sharpness you might expect from a young wine -- and at 12.5% it packed a healthy punch. This is definitely one to look out for, certainly tourists in the area will be snatching the bottles up as souvenirs, but the Mortitx label will be finding itself on many fine dining tables in its own right before long, too.

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The Anglican Congregation of St Andrew's held a Thank God It's Friday fund-raising dinner at Bona Cepa Restaurant in Puerto Pollensa on September 16th, and raised 300€ for AFAMA, the local charity that helps sufferers from Alzheimer's Disease. Pictured right, Brian Lowndes presents diner Sylvia Warr with her raffle prize of a meal for two donated by Bona Cepa.

A tombola stall at the Crown Inn, Puerto Alcudia on September 15th raised 295€ for Victoria's Animal Refuge. The Alcudia refuge receives no council funding and relies on ventures such as this, plus its regular Alcudia market stall, to care for the animals.

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The annual swim from the beach of Formentor to the Sant Pere beach in Mal Pas, Alcudia, which took place on September 10th, was won by Carlos Lopez in a time of 1 hour 38 minutes and 29 seconds. Esther Nuñez was the first woman home with her time recorded at 1 hour 47 minutes and 40 seconds.

Ninety three swimmers started the seven kilometre swim which all acknowledged was more difficult this year due to high waves and a facing wind, plus the menace of stinging jellyfish.


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Liverpool Ramblers AFC have never won a match against the Puerto Pollensa Veterans football team in the 18 years that they have been coming to Mallorca to play for the Eladio Lorente Memorial Trophy -- and this year was no exception! But, as the 5-3 result suggests, it was no easy match for the home side, and at half time with the score at 2-2, it even looked as if Liverpool could get that elusive victory. It was not to be, however, though the standard of the football itself was very high.

"They are playing better than I've ever seen them," said Geoff Thomas, owner of The Codfather fish restaurant in Puerto Pollensa, and one of the prime movers behind the annual event.

There is no doubt that both teams relish the occasion and as they set off for a celebration meal the only talk was of how Liverpool would get revenge when the Port team visit the UK next February for a return match.

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There can be few people in the area who do not know, or at least know of, the artist Alfonso Loeffler, whose paintings are currently on show at the La Tafona de Ca’n Reiet gallery in Pollensa. Though born in Bilbao, he has lived in the north of Mallorca for nearly 50 years, and in that time established a well-deserved reputation as one of nature’s true gentlemen. With typical courtesy he found time during a garden party at his home in Puerto Pollensa to tell Talk of the North when and how he came to practise his art.

“I came to Mallorca in 1958 to work on the reception at the Hotel Formentor. I have always painted, but at that time it was only watercolours in my spare time. I met a German couple here who wanted to receive tuition from the artist Dionis Bennassar -- a wonderful man – but they didn’t speak Spanish and asked me to go along with them to his studio to translate. That’s all I went for, to translate. But Bennassar thrust a canvas and some oils at me and said, “Paint”. I protested, “I am only the translator”, “No”, he said, “you paint”. And that was my introduction to oils, I haven’t painted in watercolours since.”

Alfonso met and married wife Dorothy here almost 40 years ago and between them they have four children (three girls and a boy, now all, of course, adults). Dorothy is also well-known on the island for her years of writing for the Majorca Daily Bulletin and for her work for the English-Speaking Residents’ Association of which she is currently president. So with family commitments, work and also an involvement with local politics, it wasn’t until his retirement that Alfonso was able to devote more time to his painting.

The current exhibition is his sixth individual one in Pollensa although he has participated in collective exhibitions in the north of Mallorca since the 1970s. Admirers of his work packed the charming little Tafona de Ca’n Reiet gallery, which houses one of the oldest olive presses in the area, on opening night Friday September 23.

The works on show (one of which is pictured right) are in a mixture of Alfonso’s styles, but all have that same dream-like surreal quality he brings to all his paintings – the sort of pictures you can never tire of looking at, because there is always something new to see. But don’t take my word for it, go along and see for yourselves, the gallery is at Carrer Santo Domingo, 17 (opposite the entrance to the Santo Domingo Cloisters) in Pollensa town and the exhibition runs until October 9. (opening times: Tuesday 6pm to 8.30pm; Wednesday to Saturday 10.30am to 1pm, 6pm to 8.30pm; Sunday 11am to 1.30pm).



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Do you ever have cooked chicken meat left over after a Sunday roast and not know what to do with it? A chicken curry is the simple and satisfying answer. Follow our recipe below, adding extra fruit and vegetables if desired.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)
3-4 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 apple, cored and sliced
1 oz plain flour
2-3 tbsp curry powder
juice of half a lemon
1-2 cups chicken stock or tomato juice
A handful of sultanas
1 tbsp desiccated coconut
2 tbsp mango chutney
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 cups cooked chicken, diced
1-2 cups of uncooked long grain rice
fresh coriander (optional)

Method:
Sauté the onion, garlic and apple in the olive oil for about 10 minutes.
Mix flour and curry powder into the pan and cook for one minute. Remove pan from heat.
Add lemon juice, stock or tomato juice, sultanas, desiccated coconut and mango chutney, place back on heat and bring to the boil.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Stir in chicken.
Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, cook the rice in plenty of salted boiling water.
Drain rice and spoon onto serving plates. Top with the chicken curry and finally sprinkle with fresh coriander.


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

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