Where it comes from
Chirivel and Vélez Rubio (Los Vélez) · Cuevas del Almanzora · Almería city · Olula del Río
The Almerian alfajor is cut with a knife and shared around the table: a compact paste between two wafers. In Los Vélez it is made with honey: the Chirivel and Vélez Rubio recipe calls for 500 g of honey, 250 g of almonds, 400 g of crespillo — crumbled dry unleavened bread —, aniseed and lemon, pressed a centimetre thick between wafers and dried for two days. Tradition presents it as a recipe of Muslim heritage, more than a thousand years old.
The word comes from the Hispano-Arabic al-hasú, "the filling", and was already in Nebrija's dictionary in 1492; the only protected geographical indication is in Medina Sidonia, not Almería. The province has two other versions: the almond alfajor of the Cuevas del Almanzora area — syrup at the ball stage, almond and wafers — and the capital's, with equal parts raw almond and sugar, cinnamon and lemon.
It is still made today in the workshops of Los Vélez, such as Juan José Martínez Asensio's artisan bakery in Chirivel, with almond and honey alfajor. It is a December sweet: if you travel to Los Vélez at Christmas, take a whole torta home for the festive table.
What it is made with
- Honey
- Ground almonds
- Crespillo (dry unleavened bread)
- Aniseed
- Lemon zest
- Orange zest
- Anise
- Cinnamon
- Wafers
- Sugar (capital's variant)
Underlined ingredients link to Local produce.
How it is made at home
- Crumble the crespillo almost to a powder and grind the almonds.
- Warm the honey over low heat until fluid and slightly thick.
- Add the almonds, crespillo, aniseed and zests, and work into a uniform paste.
- Spread the warm paste over a wafer, a centimetre thick.
- Cover with a second wafer and press.
- Leave to dry for a couple of days before cutting into portions.
- Panadería artesanal Juan José Martínez Asensio (Chirivel)