| Ensaïmada |
| Products - Baleares | |||
 Few other products from Mallorca are more typical or famous than the ensaimada. This wonderfully sweet, spiral shaped, pastry has become breakfast for visitors to this island as well as the Mallorcans themselves. Its consumption has in fact spread out into bars, cafés and overseas bakeries. Many visitors arriving on Mallorca do so with requests from relatives and friends to bring them back one of the superb, rich, ensaimadas made here. This is not just foreign tourists but those from mainland Spain itself, Mallorcan ensaimadas have an excellent reputation amongst the Spanish. I am sure anyone visiting this beautiful island has experienced people at airports and ports carrying the typical ensaimada boxes and not letting them out of their sight. There are a variety of these tasty pastries now, ranging from the traditional ensaimadas to the ones filled with 'cabello de ángel' (pumpkin jam) or custard cream. The name ensaimada comes from the word 'saim' which means lard, one of the ingredients. However, the origin of this particular pastry is still much disputed. Many believe that the creators of the ensaimadas originally were the Arabs, introducing it in the year 909, hence its similarity in shape of the turban. While others believe that it stems from the 'bulema', a roll made by the Jews in the past. Filled or plain  The ingredients to make the dough for this sweet bun are : Flour, eggs, sugar, yeast, milk and pork lard (although, more often than not nowadays, especially when making them at home, the latter can be substituted for olive oil). The dough is rolled out very, very flat and extrememly thin first, then it is rolled up like a coil , almost snake linke. It is then wound around in a circle until it takes on its characteristic spiral shape. It should not be wound too closely as it must first be allowed to rise. Once it has risen it is then baked. After baking it is dusted with icing sugar. The traditional ensaimada is made with just the dough, with no filling. Over the past few years it has also been filled with an assortment of delicious fillings from pumpkin jam, custard cream, to chocolate and cream. The filled ensaimadas are generally larger and are therefore usually eaten as a dessert at get-togethers with family and friends. The small ones, made without any filling are a delicacy for breakfast, a perfect compliment to a cup of coffee. This product was granted its own Denominación de Origen or Guarantee of Origin, a few years ago, and is therefore controlled by a regulating Council,. This guarantees the quality of the ingredients as well as its production. The ensaimada is a product which can be eaten in practically all of the bars and cafés in Mallorca and in fact on each of the islands in the Illes Balears. Many bakeries and cake shops actually make them in their own ovens.
|
