spanish holiday cookies

[reesek]

this is kind of a long shot - but you are all the most amazing resources...i was in spain for a year about 8 years ago. i lived in seville and am dreaming about cookies made there. they were holiday cookies - but they could have just as easily been easter as christmas cookies. i can't remember. they were very simple and came in just a few flavors (i remember loving the cinnamon) i bought them at a little corner bakery across the street from the cathedral. they looked like flat bottomed eggs and had absolutely no browning whatsoever. the texture was uniform - creamy sand. i remember asking a proprietress for the recipe and she just looked at me like i was crazy - i am almost positive however, that she told me that there were only 4 ingredients. (flour, sugar, butter, eggs??) i think the name starts with an "m" - they are butter cookies - so maybe a variation of mantequilla?

i'd love a recipe - these ladies didn't use cookie molds - how did they get the shape? what should the dough look like?

many thanks in advance.

[AlexP]

I believe you are thinking about Mantecados or Polvorones. On the eyes of a foreign they could be seen as similar after 8 years, but if you think the word started with an M... Obviously mantecados would be your best choice.

I did a quick google search and there are some recipes in English on the web. Penelope Casas' books have some as well.

I have never made them myself, but I have been browsing recipes in Spanish lately.

Please, do a search in google with both words and you should be able to have an idea of how to make them. I did see recipes for Mexican and other American countries for both words, so you might need to do a more specific search.

I wish I could give you a link, but with my quick search, I cannot account for the quality of some of the recipes found.

Anyway, I have been eating them for the last few weeks. I ordered them online. But once I have the new stove with a functional oven after Xmas, I should try to make some.

Feliz Navidad

Alex

[reesek]

mantecados! you rock, alex. i looked on google for a recipe - this is what i came up with...

"A kilo is taken from good fat of pig. To him another sweet wine is added a liter of moscato wine either, mixing or with the fat. Soon flour is added to him (all the one that absorbs the preparation, that usually is around a kilo).

It is kneaded and it stretched, leaving it of a thickness of a centimeter or more. Rectangles are cut and it is placed them in a enmantecada plate. The kitchen during about fifteen minutes to hot furnace, and removing them from the furnace (already gilded) goes through impalpable sugar.

They are let cool, and as they are for not berthing itself, it is possible to be kept like other masitas droughts."

maybe i was better off not knowing about the kilo of lard...not to mention that hot kitchen furnace i just had replaced...i swear they used butter at this bakery - i'll keep hunting.

rk

[AlexP]

Yeah, sometimes is difficult to deal with Spanish recipes online. Many are extremely general, without temperatures for the oven, true measurements... Although there are other publications such as Apicius that are quite impressive. Unfortunately, I did not find a recipe for mantecados in this web site.

A took a quick look and some recipes somewhere else that mentioned 200 degrees Celsius in the oven...

Regarding the lard... The ones that I ordered online are Mantecados de Aceite. They are made with olive oil instead of lard and they have sesame seeds on top. They are quite good. You might want to check this type of recipe.

Alex

[reesek]

that recipe was just so awesome - almost exactly like the conversation i had in spain with the baker...very vague. i read a recipe online that used olive oil...and another that just called for "oil." my guess is that i'd want a very light olive oil - nothing extra virgin or strongly flavored. when i was in spain the general cuisine (the kind of food cooked in spanish homes) was very modest - i can't imagine them using anything but a big old can of olive oil...

where did you get the mantecados? i'm so spainsick for them right now!

[AlexP]

Reesek,

I have used La Española Meats with good success for both meats and desserts such as turron, mantecados, and polvorones. Although their web site might not be the best, they have done a great job in all the times I have ordered.

Another source that you might tried is La Tienda I have ordered from them once, just some meats and spices. The service was good, although I think La Española Meats has more competitive prices and a bigger selection.

I am not associated with any of them, just a happy customer.

I do not know where you are located, but somebody mentioned that Cafe Iberico a Spanish restaurant in Chicago has a deli in the restaurant that sells Spanish meats. Maybe you could call any Spanish restaurants in your area and find out if they have any operation of this type. I live in Minneapolis and I have not seen anything like this, but you never know in other areas. You can find a Cafe Iberico link in La Española Meats web site.

Good luck

Alex

[reesek]

alex,

if i wasn't already in love, i'd have to hunt you down. they have cola cao!! they have (cheap) piquillo peppers! i pay $9 for a tiny jar of piquillos in seattle. i've got the mantecados and the rest in my cart. i'm ecstatic!