Mallorca (pan dulce)
A soft coiled sweet bread dusted with powdered sugar, descended from the Majorcan ensaimada and adopted as its own on the island. It is eaten plain or split, filled with ham and cheese and pressed, which is the most ordered savory version. It is a breakfast staple alongside café con leche.
Example
A pressed ham and cheese mallorca with powdered sugar still on top is sweet and salty at once, and that is how people order it.
Best tours and tickets
Curated from Viator. We may earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you.
San Juan Guided Turtle Snorkel Tour and Complimentary Videos
★★★★★ 4.9 · 18,453 reviews
From $39View tour
Top Rated El Yunque Rainforest & Waterslide - SmallGroup Tour
★★★★★ 4.9 · 16,427 reviews
From $45View tour
Half-Day Yunque Rainforest Waterslide & rope swing Guided Tour
★★★★★ 4.8 · 8,008 reviews
From $25View tour
Related terms
Food
Quesito
A puff pastry roll filled with cream cheese and glazed with sugar, baked in every bakery on the island. You eat it...
Food
Pan sobao
A soft, faintly sweet white bread that comes out of island bakeries several times a day. It is the base of local...
Drinks
Café puertorriqueño
Arabica coffee grown in the central mountains, above all around Yauco, Adjuntas, Jayuya and Maricao. It is roasted...
Food
Mofongo
The signature dish of Puerto Rican cooking, made from fried green plantain mashed in a wooden mortar with garlic, oil...
Frequently asked questions
Sweet or with ham and cheese?
Both are normal. The pressed ham and cheese one still carries powdered sugar on top, and that contrast is the point.
Where is the most famous one?
Old San Juan has historic cafés known for it, but any neighborhood bakery bakes its own.
