Spain is also rich in the most pastry gastronomy, the one that when dates such as the Christmas or the Easter they are highlighted in bakeries and supermarkets. The catalog of recipes and irresistible delicacies to sweeten the holidays is very wide but the most authentic sweets of Lent are in Seville. The star destination to live and see how deeply rooted and integrated such a passionate culture is in society. A good Sevillian has a deep feeling for eastern, declared of International Tourist Interest in the capital of Andalusia. You want to know what confectionery stands out there before and during the days of processions?
Much more than torrijas and pestiños
Whether you are not Andalusian or if you are, you sure know how to identify the French toast and pestinos with the autonomous community of the south of the peninsula. Without a doubt, these two delicacies are the most famous of the typical candy store at Easter, especially from Seville, and more the first than the second. Its enormous tradition linked to Arab culture has been maintained to this day.
La torrija It is made by hand with a fried sliced bread in olive or sunflower oil, after soaking in a mixture of ingredients that varies according to the family recipe. Now, in general, there are three different varieties: wine and honey, milk or brine (water and salt). Finally, they are topped with sugar, cinnamon or even chocolate as the most innovative addition. The first one that sweetens so much is the most used.
The result is a fluffy sweet that Sevillians fall in love with every year, as much as the pestinos. They are some dough canutillos fried in olive oil and spices. In the true Sevillian recipe, anise, sesame, cinnamon, wine, salt, cloves, yeast and honey are used. After bathing in a mixture of all these ingredients, the result is a Very aromatic crunchy bite.
But, beyond those most authentic Lenten sweets (which can have different versions depending on the Andalusian province) in different parts of Seville other very unique delicacies are made. One of them is the double blanket from El Aljarafe, Sevillian region where this recipe is popular whose name already anticipates its shape.
Double and vinegar blankets from El Aljarafe
Indeed, it is a fried dough (of flour and egg) which is given several turns during cooking in abundant oil to achieve a result similar to that of blankets. Then, a very surprising ingredient in pastry that is added is the vinegar, a total rarity. However, this flavoring gives it a curious flavor that has three advantages for the preparation: it acts as a good preservative, as well as being a natural yeast-style booster, and it also manages to add a fluffier texture to the double blanket. This is also usually bathed with a mixture of honey or various spices.
Depending on the municipality of Aljarafe in which this vinegary delicacy is made (which could have originated from an error when pouring vinegar instead of wine or another drink) it may have another popular name. For example in salt pans are known as ganotes and in other towns like grandmothers. Although the most common thing is to know them by that more widespread name that even in a locality is attributed to the trademark «Valencina blankets«.
Piñonates, fritters, cocochas, flowers ...
If we continue advancing through the Andalusian cookbook we will find the pinonates, which in Seville are prepared with flour, egg, olive oil, yeast, honey, milk, anise, sugar and orange peels. This last ingredient is very identifying of the capital of Seville. The preparation of the recipe is laborious but it is a crunchy sweetener bite. Normally, some dried fruit such as pinion (hence its name), the most used, or the almond.
Meanwhile, the fritters also stand out among the most authentic Lenten sweets, extended to many areas of Spain. In the province of Seville they are prepared with water, sugar, cinnamon, milk and flour, always with a special touch from the bakery that follows the family tradition. But, without a doubt, the highlight of this sugary fried delicacy is that it is consumed with great popularity in the April Fair, the famous Sevillian holiday. They can have different shapes, from rings to balls.
As for the crooksWe mention them here because, contrary to what you might think with their name, they are neither salty nor fishy. In the Sevillian town of Steppe are the most famous. It is about muffin egg, coconut, sugar and cinnamon. The honey flowers are other hallmarks of the Estepeño confectionery with its particular pretty pink shape, achieved with dough.
Of course, there is still more to this list of most authentic Lenten sweets what in Sevilla they reach their popular heyday with some magnificent recipes. We can cite the fried milk, the wine rolls and the buds sevillanas, without forgetting the famous Oil cakes from Castilleja de la Cuesta that can be found all year round. Anyway, you see how rich is the catalog of delicacies that can be enjoyed in the weeks before Easter. And also on their appointed dates. Among Nazarenes, brotherhoods, thrones, steps and a lot of sentimental passion.
