“Palo” of Mallorca
“Palo” is an
exquisite liqueur protected with a Geographical Denomination since 1993: “Palo”
from Mallorca.
It’s taken
as a appetizer before meals, unlike herbs.
You can take it alone, with ice and some lemon or with siphon, the most popular
way in the Balearics.
The liqueur
“Palo” is obtained by macerating the cinchona bark and gentian root, later is
added caramel. That’s why it has a sweet flavor at first but later it turns
bitter, because of the plants and the caramel.
Historically,
we should thank the Countess of Chinchon the existence of this liqueur. In
1638, the countess ill with a fever while she was in Lima, she was treated with
the cinchona bark and got better. Then, when the countess turned to Spain, she
brought the bark, that became very popular.
In the
Balearic, the cinchona bark was used to cure the malaria, a fever transmitted
by mosquitoes. Little by little, the recipe was undergoing changes until turned
into the liqueur we know today.