Alfajor

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox food

An alfajor or alajú<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (Template:IPA, plural alfajores) is a traditional confection<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> typically made of flour, honey, and nuts. Originally from present-day Spain, it is nowadays found in Argentina,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Bolivia, Southern Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Southern France, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The archetypal alfajor was born in Iberia during the period of al-Andalus. It is produced in the form of a small cylinder and is sold either individually or in boxes containing several pieces.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Etymology

According to Spanish philologist and dialectologist Manuel Alvar López, alfajor is an Andalusian variant of the Castilian alajú,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> derived from the Arabic word Template:Lang, Template:Transliteration, meaning luxurious, and, contrary to some beliefs that it originated in the New World, was introduced to Latin America as alfajor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The word had been introduced into Spanish dictionaries in the 14th century.<ref name=":0">In Antonio de Nebrija's Spanish-Latin Vocabulary (1495): Template:Cite web</ref>

The publication of historical dictionaries of the Spanish language allows one to document both forms of the original alajur, written as alajú and alfajor. Alajur and multiple geographic variations are sweets made of a paste of almonds, nuts, breadcrumbs and honey.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is possible that alfajor and alajú were Arabisms introduced into the Spanish language in different places and times, and, supposing both came from the same etymology, from a linguistic point of view, alajú is probably an Arabism of Castillian Spanish, and so it is still alive in Cuenca, Toledo, Guadalajara and in la Sierra de la peña de Francia; meanwhile the variation alfajor is Andalusian and Murcian.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In the Americas, the word alfajor was not known until the 19th century.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

A similar sweet called alaú is found in the Arabic-Hispanic cookbook Kitab al-Tabikh, by an anonymous author.Template:Citation needed The Spanish grammarian Nebrija noted the word for the first time in his Latin-Spanish Dictionary (1495) as: alfaxor or alaxur.<ref name=":0" /> In the 12th century, Raimundo Martin describes in his book Vocabulista another possible etymology of the Hispano-Arabic fasur, meaning "nectar".Template:Citation needed

Preparation and presentation

The regulations of the Andalusian Ministry of Agriculture allow the use of only pure honey, almonds, nuts, breadcrumbs, sugar, flour and spices, such as aniseed, sesame, cilantro, cloves and cinnamon. The Protected Geographical Indication alfajores are meant to be presented in a cylindrical shape, with a minimum weight of Template:Convert each, and with a minimum size of about Template:Convert in length and a diameter of Template:Convert. Each of them will be protected with a wrapping paper, and the ends made an ornament in a spiral shape with a ribbon out of the same paper. Once individually wrapped, they may be packaged in wood or cardboard boxes, but never in plastic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Europe

In Spain

File:Alfajores-Horno San Onofre (MAdrid).jpg
Spanish-style alfajores in Andalusia

In Spain, there are a variety of different recipes for preparing alfajores, but the most traditional contain flour, honey, almonds and several spices, such as cinnamon. Alfajores are most commonly sold around Christmas, but in Medina Sidonia, they are available year-round.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The traditional Spanish alfajor has been produced in this town (where it is called an alajú) since ancient times, and the recipe has been traditionally handed down from father to son.<ref name="gastro">Template:Cite web</ref>

Alfajores are still made by craftsmen in Medina Sidonia using natural ingredients that include honey, almonds, hazelnuts, sugar, flour, and breadcrumbs, and mixed with natural spices.<ref name="gastro" /> The manufacturing process has been respected following a recipe found by Mariano Pardo de Figueroa in 1786.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In Medina Sidonia, the annual production of approximately Template:Convert is mostly consumed in the province of Cadiz, but they are also famous in Sevilla, Malaga and Huelva.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 15 September 2004, protected geographical indication was ratified by the Consejo de agricultura y pesca de la junta de Andalucía<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and published in the Official Journal of the European Union as Alfajor de Medina Sidonia on 6 March 2007.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the province of Cuenca, Spain, where the alfajor is called alajú it is made with almond, honey and figs, all wrapped in a wafer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Medina Sidonia was the capital for the Arabic world of confection, where the alfajor has centuries of history with a recipe that has been transmitted from generation to generation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In this town, there is an account of Mariano Pardo de Figueroa, a gastronomist better known by his pseudonym Doctor Thebussem, who documented the history of this sweet, wherein he wrote that on 2 July 1487, Enrique de Guzmán, second count of Medina Sidonia, ordered the council and majors of the region to send to Malaga 50 cows, 50 oxen, 200 calves and provision of alajú from his city.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The recipe documented by the accounts of Thebussem in the 19th century is defined as the following:

Template:Blockquote

In the Americas

In the Caribbean

In Puerto Rico, they underwent creolization, lost their almond and gained ground cassava. They can take varying amounts of sugar and spices. It's possible that Puerto Rico's most common version of this dessert (South American version with dulce de leche) reached Puerto Rico from Venezuela, but the opposite is also possible. Depending on region some add cornstarch, citrus zest, ginger and honey, filled with chocolate, vanilla cream, dulce de leche, fruit paste, or coconut. The filling can be mixed with almonds, sesame seeds, coconut flakes, or sprinkles. Traditional "alfajores" in Argentina, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela consist of two round, sweet biscuits made of wheat flour or corn starch joined with dulce de leche (known as "manjar blanco" in Peru and as "arequipe" in Venezuela), and optionally coated with powdered sugar. More modern "industrial" varieties in Uruguay and Argentina, are coated with dark or white chocolate (many alfajores are sold in "black" and "white" versions), or simply covered with powdered sugar. These are also known as a Chilean Oreo. One variation is called "alfajor de nieve" (snow alfajor) and has a white coating consisting of a mixture of egg whites and sugar. Most alfajores come packaged in aluminium foil. Alfajores are made in various diameters and are consumed as snacks.

In South America

Argentina

File:Merengo alfajoreria 2.jpg
Former Merengo alfajores factory since 1851
File:;erengo alfajores santafesinos Santa Fe Argentina Titi Nicola 27.jpg
Alfajor Santafesino

The first authentic Argentine alfajor known is the Alfajor de Santa Fe. Colonel Néstor Fernández from Santa Fe took it to the Battle of Caseros in 1851, and it was then that the army tried it and it became so popular that General Justo José de Urquiza had a weekly shipment of these Santa Fe alfajores delivered to his estancia in San José de Entre Ríos. This alfajor is closely linked to the history of the city of Santa Fe. The production of these typical Santa Fe alfajores began in 1851 in a shop located on the southwest corner of San Jerónimo and 3 de Febrero streets, a few meters from the Cabildo (where the Santa Fe Government House currently stands). Its owner and creator was Hermenegildo Zuviría, nicknamed "Merengo." The basic ingredients of this alfajor were round cookies made of toasted dough filled with dulce de leche and topped with meringue icing. Its popularity arose with the holding of the Constitutional Convention in 1853.<ref>[1]</ref> "On the ground floor and on the upper floor of Merengo, two very important, very Santa Fe-style events were being developed, which would emerge here and have national significance. On the upper floor, Gorostiaga was drafting the text of the Constitution; on the ground floor, Hermenegildo Zuviría, alias Merengo, was making the Santa Fe dulce de leche alfajor. It's the same era, and it's very difficult to find a building that combines, in so few square meters, "the construction of two objects, so different, yet so representative of us Santa Fe residents to the country."<ref>[2]</ref> It was on that occasion that alfajores became known throughout the country thanks to the 24 constituents who, after living in Santa Fe for six months, chose this dessert to take home as a souvenir. The nickname "Merengo" gave rise to a brand that can still be found today in stores selling alfajores in the city of Santa Fe. Today, it is a heritage of the city of Santa Fe and is handcrafted in that city and its surrounding areas.<ref>[3]</ref>

They are also manufactured in the provinces of Santiago del Estero and Tucumán, and the Havanna brand manufactures them in the city of Mar del Plata and in most of the tourist places of Argentina.

The Cordobes alfajor stands out among the regional varieties of Argentina; it is filled with jellies of fruits (generally of quince), one of the most well - known brands is Estancia El Rosario.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Other outstanding variety is the alfajor from Santa Fe which has no less than three puff pastry covers adhered to one another with much dulce de leche and everything glazed (Industrial preparations can be differentiated because they are not coated in the lower part, since the coating is made in plates).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In addition, In Santa Fe, it can be acquired the Rogel, of similar characteristics, but bigger (the size of a small cake) and the variety from Tucuman, which is known as a clarita and it is made up with two crunchy cookies as covers and filled with a jelly made up of sugar molasses. In Argentina, alfajores made up of cornflour are very consumed as well (covers made up of maize starch, filled with dulce de leche and grated coconut around the joining).

File:AlfajoresTriples.jpg
Argentine and Uruguayan alfajores
File:Alfajores.JPG
Peruvian alfajores

Alfajores have been popular in Argentina and Uruguay since the mid-19th century. However, these differ from the Spanish alfajores in that they are made with two round cookies with different sweet fillings between them. The filling is usually dulce de leche, although there are many variations. They can be covered with powder sugar (the traditional ones), glazed sugar (Santafesinos or "de nieve"), grated coconut or chocolate. Argentina is one of the world's largest consumers of alfajores,<ref name="Samela">Template:Cite web</ref> both in total numbers and in per capita calculations, actually consuming more than a billion alfajores a year,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> while being the most common snack for schoolchildren and adults.<ref name="Samela"/>

Some of the best-known alfajor brands in South America are the Argentine "Balcarce", "Jorgito", "Capitán del Espacio", "Guaymallen", "Suchard", "Havanna", "Cachafaz", "Juanote" and "Estancia El Rosario",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Uruguayan "Punta Ballena", "Sierra de Minas", "Agua Helada", "Juana la Loca", "Alfajores Portezuelo", "Marley", and Peruvian "Casa del Alfajor".

In Chile

The cornflour alfajor is consumed during the whole year in the central areas of Chile; on the other hand, in the southern areas of Chile, it is consumed another variety of alfajor, generally for Patriotic festivities of September.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The alfajor is basically a sponge cake or cookies adhered with manjar (dulce de leche) and generally coated in meringue or marmalade and optionally with sprinkled icing sugar.<ref name="web.archive.org">Template:Cite web</ref> Two types of alfajores are mainly outstanding in Chile:

  • The first type of alfajor, similar to the one of corn flour prepared in other countries of Latin America, is prepared over all the territory of Chile, and mainly in the central area of Chile, where it is a traditional candy. It is known with other names as "candy of corn flour" or the typical "chilenitos".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The chilenitos are manufactured with corn flour or other types of flour and tend to be simpler and smaller than the typical alfajores.
  • The second type of alfajor, considered the true traditional alfajor of the country and known as "chilean alfajor", is mainly prepared in the southern areas of Chile. Unlike the traditional alfajores of corn flour, it stands out because it is prepared with two hojarascas (kind of thin and firm cookie) that, since they are previously baked, acquire a curved form in their extremes. They are adhered to each other with dark brown sugar, panela, manjar or with confectioners cream<ref name="web.archive.org"/> (if they are filled with dark brown sugar, the hojarascas are a little bit thicker and flatter than those filled with manjar). Optionally, they can be garnished in the end of the filling with grated coconut as it is the case of the alfajores filled with manjar or with ground nuts.

Template:Blockquote

Industrial alfajor

Mass-production of alfajores<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> traces back to the Atlantic coast of Argentina in the 1950s. Brands such as Havanna and Balcarce, and as many as 30 others, have been introduced into shops and supermarkets. Statistics of the year 2021 shows that inhabitants of Argentina consume 6 million alfajores per day.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Supermarkets carry a wide variety of products, up to 34 different kinds. These include "triple alfajores", which are composed of three biscuits adhered to one another with dulce de leche and covered with chocolate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In Peru

Alfajores made their arrival to the Viceroyalty of Peru, the largest administrative district of the Spanish Empire in South America in the 16th century, and have been popular since, especially the artisanal types.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In Argentina

The alfajor has been manufactured and consumed since colonial times<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in the territories that today belong to Argentina.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Guinness World Record: the biggest South American alfajor

According to Guinness World Records, the biggest alfajor in the world, measuring almost Template:Convert in diameter and Template:Convert in height and weighing Template:Convert, was made on 11 December 2010 in Minas, Lavalleja Department, Uruguay.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The giant alfajor was made to mark the celebration of Uruguay's first National Alfajor Festival. More than 30 people participated in the preparation of the record-breaking alfajor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

Template:Portal

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Snack cakes Template:Filipino food

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Alfajor&oldid=417400"