Tarta de Santiago

Tarta de Santiago
Typical presentation with the Cross of the Order of Santiago
Alternative namesTorta de Santiago (in Galician)
CourseDessert
Place of originSpain
Region or stateGalicia
Serving temperatureChilled/room temperature
Main ingredientsGround almonds
  •  Wikimedia Commons logo Media: Tarta de Santiago

Torta de Santiago (in Galician) or Tarta de Santiago (in Spanish),[a] literally meaning cake of St. James, is an almond cake or pie from Galicia with its origin in the Middle Ages and the Camino de Santiago.[1] The ingredients mainly consist of ground almonds (almond flour), eggs, and sugar, with additional flavouring of lemon zest, sweet wine, brandy, or grape marc, depending on the recipe used.[2] It is the most well known of the cakes of Galicia.[3]

Torta de Santiago has a round shape and can be made with or without a base which can be either puff pastry or shortcrust pastry.[4][5] The top of the pie is decorated with powdered sugar, stencilled by a silhouette of the Cross of Saint James (cruz de Santiago) which gives the pastry its name.[1] The origin of the cross being decorated on the cake dates to 1924 when the "Casa Mora" began to adorn the almond cakes with the silhouette.[6] The cross is a symbol of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimages,[7] and the cake said to reward pilgrims upon the completion of their journey.[8]

Food writer Claudia Roden traces the origins of the cake to the 11th century, as Jews fleeing the Almohad Caliphate headed north, bringing their almond Passover cake.[9] The application for protected geographic status identifies the first documentary evidence of the cake's existence as dating to 1577, when it was mentioned in notes of what was being eaten at the University of Santiago de Compostela.[2]

In May 2010, the EU gave Tarta de Santiago PGI status within Europe. To qualify, the cake must be made in the Autonomous Community of Galicia and contain at least 33% almonds, excluding the base.[2] The cake is sold by many restaurants and bakeries in the region.[10][9]

  • Tarta de Santiago in a restaurant's cake display, in the Spanish city of Valladolid.
    Tarta de Santiago in a restaurant's cake display, in the Spanish city of Valladolid.
  • A version sold on the Camino de Santiago.
    A version sold on the Camino de Santiago.
  • A slice, with ice cream
    A slice, with ice cream

See also

  • List of almond dishes

Notes

  1. ^ Torta is the Galician word for cake, while torta is the Spanish word.

References

  1. ^ a b "Tarta de Santiago". Baking Mad. 26 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 'Tarta de Santiago' |EC No: ES-PGI-0005-0616-03.07.2007". Official Journal of the European Union. 16 September 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  3. ^ Medina, F Xavier (2005). Food Culture in Spain. Westport, Connecticut & London: Greenwood Press. p. 109. ISBN 0-313-32819-6.
  4. ^ "Resolución de 3 de marzo de 2006, Indicación Geográfica Protegida «Tarta de Santiago»" (PDF). número 69 (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. 22 March 2006. pp. 11254–11255.
  5. ^ Bilotta, Carmen (2 October 2017). "Tarta o torta di Santiago, l'antico dolce dei pellegrini di Santiago di Compostela" [Tart or cake of Santiago, the historic sweet of the Way of Saint James]. La Gazzetta del Gusto (in Italian). Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Postres del Mundo. Galicia: La Tarta de Santiago". Viajar Y Celebrar (in Spanish). 8 August 2017.
  7. ^ Rios, Alicia; March, Lourdes (1993) [1992]. The Heritage of Spanish Cooking. North Sydney, New South Wales: Limited Editions. p. 230. ISBN 0-09-178186-8.
  8. ^ Wurgaft, Benjamin A; White, Merry I (2023). Ways of Eating: Exploring Food Through History and Culture. California Studies in Food and Culture. Oakland, California: University of California Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-520-39298-4.
  9. ^ a b Roden, Claudia (2012). The Food of Spain: A Celebration. London: Michael Joseph. pp. 53, 472. ISBN 978-0-718-15719-7.
  10. ^ Rios, Alicia (2015). "Spain". In Goldstein, Darra (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 640. ISBN 978-0-199-31339-6.
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