Tarta de Santiago

Traditional dessert from Galicia

Media: Tarta de Santiago

Torta de Santiago (in Galician) or Tarta de Santiago (in Spanish), 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]

Background

The Galician for cake is torta whilst it is often referred to as tarta, which is the Spanish word for it. It has a round shape and can be made with or without a base which can be either puff pastry or shortcrust pastry.^[3] ^[4]

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.^[5]

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]

References

^ ^a ^b "Tarta de Santiago". Baking Mad.
^ ^a ^b "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.
^ "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.
^ 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.
^ "Postres del Mundo. Galicia: La Tarta de Santiago". Viajar Y Celebrar (in Spanish). 8 August 2017.

External links

Media related to Tarta de Santiago at Wikimedia Commons

Galician cuisine

Soups and stews

Caldo galego
Caldo de castañas

Empanadas

Empanada galega de trigo
Empanada galega de millo
Empanada galega de centeno
Empanada galega de hojaldre
- of Zorza
- of Xoubas
- of Bovinos or of Porcos
- of Zamburiñas
- of Vieiras
- of Mexillóns
- of Luras
- of Polbo
- of Papuxas
- of Atún or bonito, con pasas
- of Bacallau con pasas
- of Vegetables
Costrada from Pontedeume
Empanadilla
Empanadilla de la vigilia