Gamba de Sóller
Mallorca's prized deep-water red prawn, trawled out of Port de Sóller and Port d'Andratx and eaten barely cooked — the island's answer to Palamós.
Gamba de Sóller is the red prawn (Aristeus antennatus, the same species landed at Palamós on the mainland) caught by Mallorcan trawlers working out of Port de Sóller and Port d'Andratx. Locally it is also called gamba roja or gamba vermella. The sweet, fragile flesh is treated with restraint — a fast grill or boil — and the deeply flavoured head juices are the prize. It is a fixture of the island's better seafood tables and a point of local pride.
How it's served
Briefly grilled or boiled and eaten with the fingers, tail meat first, then the sweet juices sucked from the head.
- Origin
- Port de Sóller, Mallorca
- Etymology
- Gamba is Catalan and Spanish for prawn; Sóller is the north-western Mallorcan port it is landed at.
Frequently asked
Is the Sóller prawn the same as the Palamós prawn?
They are the same species, Aristeus antennatus, the deep-water red prawn. Gamba de Sóller is landed by Mallorcan boats at Port de Sóller and Port d'Andratx; Gamba de Palamós is landed on the Costa Brava. Both are prized and eaten the same way.
How is it eaten?
Barely cooked — a quick grill or boil — so the sweetness survives. The tail meat is eaten first, then the intense juices are pressed from the head.
Related terms
- Gamba rojaThe deep-red Mediterranean prawn from the Catalan and Valencian coast. One of the most prized seafood ingredients in Spain, eaten grilled or raw.
- Gamba de PalamósThe Costa Brava's flagship deep-water red prawn, landed at Palamós and traceable by daily quayside auction — eaten barely cooked so the sweetness shows.