Where it comes from
Fondón and Laujar de Andarax · also Dalías and Albox
A good mantecado melts in the mouth without resisting: lard, flour, sugar and almond, and depending on the version lemon, cinnamon or white wine. The province's old recipes — almond and wine mantecados, measured in pounds and made with candeal flour — show the custom is an old one in Almería.
In the Almerian Alpujarra two houses have turned it into a trade. In Fondón, Especialidades Campos Valverde — CAMP Fondón — has been a family business since 1953: mantecados, polvorones, roscos and almond pastries, additive-free, with the special lemon mantecado "the one in the blue paper" as its star product. The season starts every 5 August, with 34 workers and more than 200 tonnes a year travelling to Spain, France and the Netherlands; the firm is part of Sabores Almería. In Laujar de Andarax, Dulce Andarax – Mantecados de Laujar, founded in 1995, works by hand and, if you can't stop by, ships to your door.
The same tradition lives on at the Pastelería Escobar in Dalías (1952), the Panadería Las Pocicas in Albox and the almond mantecados of Productos Pichote in Rioja. There is no protected designation for sweets in Almería: the fame of these mantecados is that of their workshops, and the box travels home well.
What it is made with
Underlined ingredients link to Local produce.
How it is made at home
- Toast the flour in the oven until lightly coloured, then let it cool.
- Grind the toasted almonds.
- Work the lard with the sugar into a cream.
- Add the toasted flour, the almonds and the chosen flavouring (lemon, cinnamon or wine), and bring together without over-kneading.
- Roll out the dough, cut round pieces and lay them on a tray.
- Bake until barely golden and let them cool completely before wrapping.
- Mantecados de Fondón
- Mantecados y Especialidades Dulce Andarax
- El Mantecado de Laujar
- Pastelería Escobar, S.L.
- Productos Pichote, S.L.
- CAMP Fondón – Especialidades Campos Valverde (Fondón)
- Dulce Andarax – Mantecados de Laujar (Laujar de Andarax)
- Pastelería Escobar (Dalías)
- Panadería Las Pocicas (Albox)
- Productos Pichote (Rioja)