‘Tradition, if it fails to adapt to the times we live in, dies’

How did you end up in Mallorca?

I used to teach courses at the Barcelona Charcuterie School.  In 1995, a student from Mallorca showed a lot of interest in my work and invited me to start something on the island. I came for a month, and due to the factory launch and various technical issues, I ended up staying. Mallorca grabbed me, and also offered me the chance to work closely with sobrassada, a sausage that had always fascinated me.

What draws you to sobrassada?

I’ve always had a love for it. In my shop in Mataró, I experimented with it and sold it.  I started asking questions and did some research. I love how the taste reminds you of the old days. If memories had a flavour, they would taste like sobrassada. It’s a unique flavour, absolutely wonderful

What are the secrets behind a good sobrassada?

The pig’s diet, good quality paprika and proper curing. To get a good product, I think it’s really important that the pig receives a natural diet rather than animal feed. Also, at Can Company we use ‘Tap de Cortí’ paprika, which is of very high quality. It needs to be young to make the most of its antioxidant, aromatic and flavour potential. When it comes to curing, it's all down to fabricating wintery conditions in our drying sheds. These days you can slaughter the pig in January at three degrees, then by two o'clock in the afternoon, it's twenty degrees. Also, sobrassada is like a living thing. You need to control it, give it love, see it and smell it. This is the only way to ensure the best possible curing process.

Beyond the traditional kind, you also make some really innovative sobrassadas. What have you been working on lately?

Right now, we’re making a sobrassada with Mahón cheese. In the beginning it was very difficult and we were a little worried about whether customers would like it. We’re really happy because when people try it, they notice the flavour of both the sobrassada and the cheese. We’ve managed to make a well-balanced product. We also make one with curry. The curry we use has all the spices that sobrassada had before the arrival of paprika in Mallorca in the 16th century. Innovation and globalisation have always been a thing; but now everything moves at a quicker pace.

Where does your passion for innovation come from?

I’ve always been quite restless. Tradition, if it fails to adapt to the times we live in, dies. Before coming to Mallorca, I focused more on another type of sausage, botifarra, adding new ingredients like saffron milk cap. In the beginning, lots of people told me that botifarra was a classic that shouldn’t be touched. Now, thousands of kilos of botifarra with saffron milk cap are sold. If this product keeps going for another fifty years, it’ll become a classic. With the sobrassada with Mahón cheese we’ve achieved a fantastic product, and if that’s a success for the next one hundred years, it’ll also become a classic.  I also think that if you do what everyone else is doing, you’ve got to compete on price

Is every part of the pig used?

Absolutely. For example, we make Ánima, which is literally made by straining a black pork sobrassada. It’s the pure essence of sobrassada in liquid form that can be used as a dressing in different dishes. I had been making it for a long time, and Maca de Castro suggested we put it on the market.

The Roca brothers have also used your products. You’ve collaborated with Ángel León. What’s it like working with these chefs?

We’re really happy. Lots of major chefs from Spain and abroad know us and use our products. It’s an honour because they can’t allow themselves to use products that don’t work, that don’t add something to their dishes. It’s so satisfying to hear them praising the product.

What other sausages are you making?

Being revolutionary is not just about making new things, but also bringing back products to the market that have disappeared. In that regard, we’ve brought back figatella. The old recipe was really complicated. At Can Company we’ve breathed new life into it to make a succulent product adapted to modern customs and standards. We also make nora, a traditional sausage from Palma which is a lot like Christmas stuffing.

You’ve been described as the enfant terrible of charcuterie. Do you agree with that?

That nickname came from journalist Andreu Parra who published my first interview. Now, at my age of 61, enfant sounds odd to me. I’m more like the vieux (old man) terrible [he laughs]. I was worse when I was younger, but now, everything I’ve learnt has helped me to have fun and understand why certain things happen.