Where it comes from
Province-wide · also at El Chive (Lubrín)
Bite into a papaviejo and the name makes sense: boiled, mashed potato, flour, egg, milk and a little lemon or orange zest, fried in oil and rolled in cinnamon sugar. The potato acts as a sponge and leaves a moist crumb no other fried sweet has. Oral tradition says it was the "papa para viejos", a bite soft enough for the elderly, and the "poor man's dessert" of the years when potato stood in for flour.
It is the Lent and Holy Week sweet of Almerian homes, on the table with arroz con leche, huevos a la nieve, leche frita, borrachillos, hojuelas and roscos; in El Chive (Lubrín) it is also fried for Jueves Lardero and at Christmas. It is made in other Andalusian provinces too, but here it has stayed in the shop windows.
No need to wait for Holy Week to try one: the capital's confiterías — Capri, Hernández, La Guinda — sell them for much of the year. Ask for it warm, when the cinnamon still clings to the sugar and the crumb is at its best.
What it is made with
Underlined ingredients link to Local produce.
How it is made at home
- Boil the potatoes, peel them and mash them while still hot.
- Mix the mash with flour, egg, milk and the zest to make a soft dough.
- Let the dough rest a while so the flour hydrates.
- Fry spoonfuls of dough in hot oil until golden outside.
- Drain on paper and roll in cinnamon sugar while still warm.
- Confitería Capri
- Confitería La Guinda S.L.
- Confiterías in the capital (Capri, Hernández, La Guinda)