If there is something that truly defines Christmas, it is sitting at the table surrounded by the people you love. In addition, these important dates are dressed in color when the expected moment arrives to finish a good meal with the undisputed kings of these festivities: shortbread, marzipan, shortbread and nougat.
confront you a plate of Christmas sweets is almost like looking for your present under the tree , among so many brightly colored wrappers in different shapes. Beneath that multicolored brilli brilli is most of the work and effort of great craftsmen who watch to maintain these traditions. Because behind that melting pot of colored tissue paper, there are many stories behind.
THE MANTECADO WAS BORN FIRST
Mantecado and Polvorón did not appear at the same time and there is some discrepancy regarding the place where these sweets probably appeared for the first time. Although there is evidence that In the Sevillian town of Estepa, mantecados were already made in the 16th century, there are those who maintain that the Polvorón arrived before the mantecado and that they appeared before in Antequera. The controversy is served.
The reality is that the ice cream does have a possible precursor, the so-called “mantecate” , a sweet almost identical to the ice cream that it was eaten in pre-Columbian America . It is believed that the discovery of the New World could mean, among other things, the importation of this recipe (among many others) and that it was used by the Spanish palates of the Modern Age.
Preparation of shortbread and shortbread in Estepa, Seville.
It is known that this recipe was already put into practice centuries ago in the convent of Santa Clara de Estepa , thanks to the fact that it was collected in a manuscript that is attributed to Don Diego Colón, a supposed relative of the discoverer, and that the nuns kept it safe. Although this document dates from 1702, it is not proven that it belonged to any relative of Columbus. Now, this didn't stop the nuns from making history with this sweet primal that made with butter, lemon, cocoa and sugar.
The creation of the powder , for this reason, it is understood that it was later, taking as a pattern the ice cream already invented and modifying its ingredients . In Estepa they have known how to remain faithful to the centenary recipe of this precious delicacy and that is why we have had to go there to find out a little more. There is no better place than one of the cradles of ice cream and shortbread.
COUSIN BROTHERS BUT WITH BIG DIFFERENCES
Steppe every year insists on telling us that Christmas begins there. Not in vain It is the first town in Spain to illuminate its streets with Christmas lights. ; neither more nor less than from the 4th of November. The streets of Estepa smell like ice cream and it is the smell that leads us to the sweet name (Currents, 12), one of the most exquisite mantecados houses. There we are received by his manager, Rafael Arias, with a tray of shortbread and mantecados.
Rafael gets into the matter: “The Polvorón and the mantecado are similar but at the same time they are different. The first always has almond (the ice cream may or may not have it). Together with presence of cloves , there we have the two most important characteristics of the Polvorón. Then its shape, which is very characteristic since if the ice cream is round, the Polvorón is always oval ”, explains our expert.
In addition, Rafael tells us that the Polvorón is something traditional that is made basically only there. The ice cream is more versatile and is made all year round . “The Polvorón has been established as something already established like this, with its characteristic flavor and the shortbread has been given the property of having more flavors,” he specifies, but not before giving us a taste of two of those Christmas wonders almost fresh from the oven.
The mantecado and the Polvorón are first cousins and have many common elements such as lard, which has to be Iberian pork, ground sugar and flour , which according to Rafael has to be dried to obtain the optimal point. The reason why the flour is dried or toasted It is to ensure that the dough loses moisture and the shortbread (or shortbread) is firmer and does not fall apart. This discovery is due to Filomena Micaela Ruiz from Estepe. , “La Colchona”, which with this invention revolutionized the world of ice cream in the 19th century, putting Estepa on the crest of the wave in this matter. Today This technique is basic in the elaboration of these Christmas sweets.
In matters of shortbread we find lemon, cocoa, coconut, extra virgin olive oil and many more flavors that make the difference between one and the other. Of course, the shortbread can be made of almonds, like the shortbread, but it will not have the sugar on top and, as the teacher Rafael comments, it will be round and not oval . The Polvorón stays true to tradition with its icing sugar sprinkled on top, while the Manteca usually comes topped with toasted sesame seeds or some other sprinkled on occasion. the texture is similar , but while the mantecado is more compact, the Polvorón is looser; It is still a shortbread with a significant presence of almonds and hence the texture is somewhat different.
Almond Shortbread.
Despite the fact that at this point the possible doubts have been cleared up when it comes to differentiating the shortbread from the shortbread, surely more than one is assailed by a doubt: Why do the mantecados and the shortbread that we buy in the supermarket taste practically the same? Rafael is clear about it: “It is a matter of mass production and therefore quality. The almond, which is very important, the quality of the flour used, its purity and roasting, the quality of the butter, the quality of the spices. Quality at the end of the day”, he sentences. And reason is not lacking.
AND IF WE LEAVE ANDALUCIA…
Mantecados and Polvorones are made throughout Spain, but although the technique is similar, the results are quite different. In Castilla la Mancha, for example, in many places the mantecados are made puff pastry, introducing an ingredient that does not exist in those we know from Estepa, the egg . Of course, with a good party of sugar around.
In some areas of Galicia Polvorones are not made solely with lard. You have to move to To Coruña to discover the Polvorones de Ace Pontes , which are made with cooked cow and pork lard, half and half, and chopped almonds. Mantecados and shortbread from Pontes they are an institution , and its texture (egg is also used in its preparation) is nothing like the Estepeños. They are very forceful, you have been warned.
Traveling and traveling we find mantecados in which it has been used hazelnut or anise, as they do in Aragon or in the form of pasta, as we find in many parts of Extremadura. Each region has its peculiar way of making mantecados and Polvorones, and in places like these they are not even similar to each other. Do you still have doubts? Surely not anymore.