Muscovites or the secret of the Oviedo delights that all of Spain wants
two steps from the Escandalera Square , in the heart of the city is the confectionery Rialto , a family business founded in 1926 and **where the Muscovites were born more than 80 years ago**.
Technically, Muscovitas are very fine pasta made from Mediterranean Marcona almonds, cream, sugar and wheat flour. –there are rumors that they are working on a version for celiacs-, bathed in an exquisite chocolate coating and made by hand, with a spatula, one by one.
This delicacy includes a secret ingredient that only a select few know about, the pastry chefs of Rialto.
This is the gesture of happiness
Emotionally, the crisp, delicate Muscovites are the main reason why it's impossible to stroll down San Francisco Street without feeling the sweet anticipation that something delicious is just around the corner.
And the truth is that it is very difficult to pass in front of the Rialto gate and resist the temptation to enter . And even more so considering that they always rest in your shop window, attracting attention, the celebrated Muscovites.
This sweet sin a few years ago was practically hardly known outside of Asturias. However, today it is easy to find them in gourmet shops throughout Spain, from Seville to Santiago de Compostela , including Madrid, where Rialto has a store (Calle de Núñez de Balboa, 86) .
as i said Oscar Wilde, the best way to get rid of temptation is to fall into it . And in this case there is no need to feel bad about it, because we are not alone. The fascination that Muscovites arouse is no longer a secret , in just four years the workshop has multiplied production by three and are currently in the 30,000 daily Muscovites.
Now that the law dictates that all the ingredients must necessarily be reflected in detail on the boxes, what remains a secret that the family jealously guards is the recipe.
Francisco Gayoso, great-grandson of the founder of the bakery, is the current manager and of course, he keeps the intrigue.
The best gift
Just five years ago the family, due to the growing demand, has been forced to open a second workshop -the first is located above the bakery-, where Muscovites are the queens of production.
For someone like me, who has been eating these pastas all my life, visiting the workshop has allowed me to get rid of the burden of conscience (if ever there was) at a stroke: I have no lack of reasons to be in love with this sweet , to give it to my friends, to always sneak a stop in Rialto to everyone who visits me in Asturias, which goes without saying, always ending up taking a little box of Muscovites under the arm.
In the workshop is where you really see the magic of the product , because there you understand the true meaning of the word craftsman.
And it is that the whole process is manual, from dosing the dough with the pastry bag on top of the trays, before baking, to preparing the chocolate or spreading it with the spatula on the dough once it is baked.
When you see that laborious process with your own eyes you understand why each Muscovite has a different shape and why the taste is inimitable.
At this point it is clear that if you have not yet tried them, you must be aware that these tea biscuits, crispy and tasty , they are an addiction from which it is very difficult to escape.
You open the box to snack – you can choose from five sizes, from 150 grams, containing about 15 Muscovites , up to a quarter of a kilo, half a kilo or a kilo, which would be about 100 Muscovites - and if you get carried away you will end up eating them in one bite and you will have to skip dinner.
If you are thinking of giving them away, or expect them to be given to you, keep in mind that a kilo costs more than 50 euros. However, it is money very well spent.
The artisanal process of making Muscovites