''Alajú'' or ''alajuz'' is a Castilian cake originating in

Cuenca Cuenca may refer to: People * Cuenca (surname) Places Ecuador * Cuenca Canton, in the Azuay Province ** Cuenca, Ecuador, capital of Cuenca Canton and Azuay Province ** Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuenca Peru * Cuenca District, Huarochirí ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is traditionally made with an

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

base, roasted

bread crumbs Breadcrumbs are a culinary ingredient consisting of flour or crumbled bread of varying dryness, sometimes with seasonings added. They are used for a variety of purposes, including breading or crumbing foods before frying (such as breaded cut ...

spices In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

, and

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

. It is then covered with two

wafers A wafer is a crisp, often sweet, very thin, flat, light biscuit, often used to decorate ice cream, and also used as a garnish on some sweet dishes. They frequently have a waffle surface pattern but may also be patterned with insignia of the foo ...

on the sides of the base. Almonds may be substituted with other nuts, such as

pine nuts 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 ...

History

In its most authentic form, ''Alajú'' is made in parts of

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

bordering Castilla-La Mancha–especially in Ademuz and the

Utiel-Requena Utiel Requena is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) for wines located in the province of Valencia (Valencian Community). It takes its name from the two neighbouring towns of Utiel and Requena. It is renowned for the predominant u ...

region. Traditionally, the Utiel-Requena region is more Castilian, than

Valencian Valencian can refer to: * Something related to the Valencian Community ( Valencian Country) in Spain * Something related to the city of Valencia * Something related to the province of Valencia in Spain * Something related to the old Kingdom of ...

–it was after all a part of the province of

until 1851. The cake is most popular in the municipality of

Moratalla Moratalla is a small town and the center of a large municipality of the same name in the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia in southeastern Spain. In 2018, the population of Moratalla was 7,944: some 5,600 in the town of Moratalla itsel ...

in northwest

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

, near Alcarria. This is probably because honey is widely available in that region. The word ''Alajú'' comes from the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

term "Al-hasu", meaning "filling". It was also a typical dessert in Tudela, Spain, and is similar to a version currently eaten in

. A "lost dessert", it was revived from historical recipes. It is usually made with two '' Turrones''–nougats made of

and

almonds The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera by corrugations on the sh ...

, respectively called "''miel royo''" and "''turrón royo''". These differ from ''alajú'' as they do not include breadcrumbs.

References

External links

* How to make ''alajú'' step by step (Spanish
Rtve.es
� Spanish desserts Andalusian cuisine Valencian cuisine {{Spain-cuisine-stub