Panellets (, singular: ''panellet''; Catalan for "little bread") are the traditional

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

of the

All Saints' Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the Church, whether they are know ...

, known as Castanyada, in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

, Eivissa and the

Land of Valencia Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land surface ...

, with

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

s and

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of ...

es. Panellets are often accompanied with a

sweet wine Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a mea ...

, usually ''moscatell'', ''mistela'', ''vi de missa'' or ''vi ranci''. Panellets are small cakes or cookies in different shapes, mostly round, made mainly of

marzipan Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and ...

(a paste made of almonds and sugar). The most popular are the panellets covered with

pine nut Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), or pignoli, are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are traded locall ...

s, consisting of the panellet basis (marzipan) rolled in pine nuts and varnished with egg. In

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

, in southern Spain, these cookies are known as ''empiñonados''. Panellets date at least from the 18th century, when they were used as blessed food to share after some religious celebrations (Panellets de Sant Marc and Panellets de la Santa Creu)." Within the EU and UK, panellets have

Traditional Speciality Guaranteed A traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG; : traditional specialities guaranteed) is a traditional food product protected under European Union and/or United Kingdom law. This label differs from the geographical indications protected designation of ...

status.Official Journal of the European Union
(accessed 01/07/2015)

References

{{Nut confections Catalan cuisine Cookies Traditional Speciality Guaranteed products from Spain Marzipan

See also

References