Travel Guide
Sweet Andalusia
Andalusia has a sweet tooth eight centuries old. The honey, almonds, cinnamon and orange-blossom water that flavour its cakes and pastries are a direct inheritance from Al-Andalus, kept alive in village bakeries and, wonderfully, behind convent walls. And the city an hour from Cortijo Bujio is named after the sweetest symbol of all — the pomegranate. Here is a taste of the region's sweet side.
Much of what Spain considers "traditional" dessert is, at heart, Moorish. The Muslims of Al-Andalus brought sugar cane, refined the use of almonds, honey, cinnamon, aniseed and orange-blossom water, and left a whole vocabulary of sweets behind them. You taste that legacy in:
One of the loveliest traditions is dulces de convento — sweets made and sold by cloistered nuns, often through a torno, a revolving hatch that lets you buy without ever seeing the seller. Convents across Andalusia are famous for their almond cakes, yemas (candied egg yolks) and biscuits, recipes handed down for centuries. It is one of the most atmospheric ways to buy a souvenir you can eat.
Just outside Granada, in the town of Santa Fe — the very place where the surrender of Granada and the funding of Columbus were signed in 1492 — they make a famous small pastry called the pionono: a roll of thin sponge soaked in syrup and topped with toasted cream, eaten in one or two blissful bites. It is named, cheekily, after Pope Pius IX ("Pío Nono"). History, it turns out, tastes of syrup and cinnamon. (See our guide to 1492.)
And then there is the pomegranate. In Spanish, the word for the fruit and the word for the city are the same: granada. The pomegranate is the city's ancient symbol, carved on its monuments and split open at the base of its coat of arms — a fruit brought and prized by the Moors, and a perfect emblem for a place of hidden, jewel-like richness. Look for it everywhere in Granada, from fountains to lamp-posts.
Finally, don't miss the region's subtropical sweetness: the cherimoya (custard apple), mango and avocado grown on the Costa Tropical, the only mainland-European coast warm enough for them. A ripe cherimoya, eaten with a spoon, is one of Andalusia's great simple pleasures. (See our guide to the Costa Tropical.)
Why are Andalusian sweets so almond- and honey-based? Because they descend from the sweets of Al-Andalus. The Moors brought sugar cane and made almonds, honey, cinnamon and orange-blossom water central to Andalusian baking.
What are dulces de convento? Sweets made and sold by cloistered nuns, often through a revolving hatch (torno) — almond cakes, candied yolks and biscuits from centuries-old recipes.
What is a pionono? A small syrup-soaked sponge cake topped with toasted cream, from Santa Fe near Granada, named after Pope Pius IX.
Why is Granada associated with the pomegranate? Because granada means "pomegranate" in Spanish. The fruit is the city's symbol, appearing on its coat of arms and monuments.
Cortijo Bujio is close to the sweet traditions of Granada. Read on about food & drink around Granada, the Costa Tropical and 1492.
Sources: Turismo de Granada on Santa Fe and piononos; Andalucía.org on Moorish gastronomy and convent sweets; on the pomegranate as the symbol of Granada.