Almond trees in all their splendor

The almond is a fruit full of vitamins and minerals, tasty like few others and essentially Mediterranean. Coinciding with the beautiful flowering of the almond trees, a visual event that nature gives us annually in early February, Son Servera celebrates every year, the Fira de la Flor d'Ametller, a day dedicated to this fruit that honors the Mallorcan landscape.

Upon arrival, we leave the car in the center of town and walk towards the church square, where the lively atmosphere of a special Sunday is already noticeable. In the terraces of the bars, full of people enjoying an unusual sun for the month of January between breakfast and the first vermouth, a relaxing atmosphere is felt in the air.

We let ourselves be led by the river of people that takes us to the entrance of the Cases de Ca s'Hereu, flanked by thatched blocks crowned by almond blossom branches. We have arrived at a very special fair.

In an environment with a lot of history and charm, as soon as we cross the threshold we find a huge courtyard full of curious onlookers who are already discovering the wooden stalls, covered with striped awnings and decorated, again, with almond blossom branches.

Between locals and visitors, we calmly investigate each stand.The local product is the absolute favorite and almonds, of course, are the common denominator. Everything revolves around it: utensils made with almond wood, liqueurs, soaps, candles, oils and perfumes coexist with gastronomic products -special mention to cheese and sobrasada- and with creations of other artisans: honey, jewelry, bags and wallets with roba de llengües.

A group of xeremiers contributes to the festive atmosphere while we taste some products -almost all the stops offer free tasting- and we get some to take home until, at noon, it's time for the performance of the local group Sa Revetla, which dances ball de bot to the rhythm of popular music.

After enjoying this show - so folkloric, so local, so ours - we leave the patio and on the way to the houses we find a display of old agricultural machinery, worthy of a museum that bears witness to the history of the island's countryside: carts to collect the almonds, canes to pull them down from the tree and instruments to open them as it was done in the old days.

Back to the present, we resume our improvised route and meet some friends that we at Travel to Zero know well -and whose products we are big fans of: the vegan cheese of Bon Bessó -which has already almost sold out all its delicious 'redonets', what a success, Alejandro! the preparations of Ametlla+ -that blessed invention that makes our daily life in the kitchen easier-, the preserved food of Fleur from Madre Sierra -direct to Son Servera from Banyalbufar-, the tasty proposal -always gluten-free- of Típic, from Porto Cristo,- and the drink of gods made by Mandragora Hidromel, in Inca.

Tradition and everything handmade excites us, so we were hypnotized watching a group of people creating old-fashioned llata accessories, palmito by palmito, in an almost meditative state. Right next door, in an old animal shed, we find an exhibition of paintings that also brings together the posters of the thirteen previous editions of this fair and one last acquaintance: the stop of Alejandra Epifani, from Cartonpia, who sells her magnificent jewelry made with cardboard and reused paper. We get our hands on some earrings that we fall in love with at first glance and we take to our mouths some caramelized sugared almonds that two 'madones' make for the enjoyment of the most greedy attendees.

Once the tour is over, it is time to regain strength, so we go out in search of a free table in a bar in the village. Today, they tell us, in honor of the fair, they're preparing special dishes with almonds as the main ingredient. A round day that places value on an essential product in our recipe book and in our beloved landscape.