Fartons (, plural. es, fartón) are confectionery sweets typical of the

Valencian Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the Carche, El Carche comarca in Región de Murcia, Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance lan ...

town of

Alboraia Alboraya () or Alboraia () is a town and municipality of the province of Valencia, Spain. It is situated very close to the city of Valencia. Originally a farming community, Alboraya has grown in recent decades following the development of the me ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Elongated and glazed with sugar, they are made of

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

, and a

leavening agent In cooking, a leavening agent () or raising agent, also called a leaven () or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action (gas bubbles) that lightens and softens the mixture. An alterna ...

. This delicate and spongy sweet is made for dipping in

orxata Horchata (; ), or (), is a name given to various beverages, which are generally plant-based, but sometimes contain animal milk. In Spain, it is made with soaked, ground, and sweetened tiger nuts. In Latin America and other parts of the Americas ...

horchata Horchata (; ), or (), is a name given to various beverages, which are generally plant-based, but sometimes contain animal milk. In Spain, it is made with soaked, ground, and sweetened tiger nuts. In Latin America and other parts of the Americas ...

, a drink made of

tigernut ''Cyperus esculentus'' (also called chufa, tiger nut, atadwe, yellow nutsedge, and earth almond) is a species of plant in the sedge family widespread across much of the world. It is found in most of the Eastern Hemisphere, including Southern Eur ...

s that is served cold. Fartóns are also eaten with hot beverages such as

hot chocolate Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener like whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate ...

caffè latte Caffè latte (), often shortened to just latte () in English, is a coffee beverage of Italian origin made with espresso and steamed milk. Variants include the chocolate-flavored mocha or replacing the coffee with another beverage base such as ma ...

Origin

According to an apocryphal legend,

James I of Aragon James I the Conqueror ( es, Jaime el Conquistador, ca, Jaume el Conqueridor; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and Valencia from 1238 to 1276 ...

called the drink orxata "pure gold" because of its texture and sweetness. In the 1960s, the Polo family developed an oblong pastry that was sweet and delicate. It had a spongy texture that was perfect to soak up orxata. Because of its long shape, fartóns could also reach the bottom of a glass. This was the beginning of Fartóns Polo.

Variations

In the 1990s, the hospitality industry began to serve frozen pastries and with it a new variation of fartóns, the so-called flaky fartóns. Flaky fartóns are made with a different dough, resulting in a different texture. Other variations include spongy fartóns, made from wheat flour, sugar, sunflower oil, water, eggs, fresh yeast, bread supplements, and salt. A commercial variety of flaky fartóns are made with animal fat and have a denser consistency.

Nutritional information

Spongy fartóns do not contain

preservatives A preservative is a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food products, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by ...

or artificial coloring. The nutritional facts for 100g of spongy fartóns are: calories: 372,6kcal/1559,1 kJ, protein: 9g, carbohydrates: 58,8g, and fat: 11,3g The nutritional facts for flaky fartóns are; calories: 413,3kcal/1729,2kJ, protein: 7,3g, carbohydrates: 51,7g, and fat: 19,7g

References

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External links

Fartons Polo
Spanish pastries Valencian cuisine