Islanders don’t mind admitting that sobrasada isn’t their own invention. Known as "n’duja," the Calabrian sausage may even trace its origins to the village of Spilinga, in the toe of Italy’s boot. In that village, pork is still prepared with a look, texture, and flavor very similar to sobrasada, but that’s where the similarities end. It’s documented that as early as 123 BC, sobrasada was already a common part of the diet of the “Roman Mallorcans.” In 1403, King Martí l’Humà asked his son’s steward to bring him some sobrasadas from Sicily, showing that the original sausage had already made its way from the Italian peninsula to the largest island in the Mediterranean, and from there likely to the port of Valencia and then Palma. However, it wasn’t until a century later, when products from the Americas began to arrive, that sobrasada became what we know today. The reason? Paprika.