Why do we like torrijas so much at Easter?

torrija easter

With Easter Sunday, Holy Week ends today, which means a return to routine after a well-deserved vacation. The return for many is somewhat bitter so to sweeten this moment we will talk about torrijas, the most typical Easter sweet.
Lovers of torrijas are counted by legions, which shows how integrated this dessert is in the Iberian culture. However, not everyone knows its origin or why it is consumed only at Easter.

Origin of torrijas

recipe

It is said that it was the Romans who invented torrija. The gourmet Marcus Gavius ​​Apicius included in his famous recipe book 'De re codamientos' a dish called pultes tractogalate (porridge stewed with flour and milk) that we could qualify as the ancestor of torrija.
However, the first time the word torrija appears in writing was in Christmas carol number IV of the Salamanca writer Juan de la Encina (1468-1533), predecessor of Lope de Vega and Calderón de la Barca, where he associates this sweet with biblical images .

Torrijas, the dessert of the poor

The sobriety of the ingredients with which torrijas are made (bread and milk) made them the dessert of the poor for centuries being a cheap food to recharge energy and to be able to eat a sweet from time to time without spending a lot of money. In fact, to prepare torrijas, the ideal thing is that the bread is something hard, of two or three days. They are also made with sweet wine, because popular tradition tells us that torrijas represent the body and blood of Christ.

Given that the Catholic Church prohibits its faithful from consuming meat during some days of Lent, torrijas fulfill a similar function to that of Arab pastries, whose high content of honey and nuts reconstitutes the body of all carbohydrate deficiencies. carbon after Ramadan.

The secret of the success of torrijas

assorted torrijas

The secret of the success of torrijas is none other than its simplicity of preparation, presentation and its delicious flavor. Many with a sweet tooth wonder why, if they like them so much, they are not offered in pastry shops the rest of the year. The answer is that each season has its own sweets: in Reyes the roscón is prepared, in Easter the torrijas and monas, in All Saints the donuts and saint's bones ... this allows us to enjoy a different dessert in each season. and let us not hate them. Also, if someone has a craving for French toast, they can always make them by hand at home.

Varieties of French toast

In pastry shops you can find torrijas of different flavors: tiramisu, wine, chocolate and truffle, vanilla, cream ... However, the one that tends to be the most successful is the traditional one, the one with only sugar and cinnamon. The preparation time for a loaf of bread should not be more than one hour and the savings compared to those bought in a bakery is approximately 30 euros. However, paying 3 euros in any store for a torrija is not a great expense and allows you to taste torrijas with flavors that require more effort when preparing them.

How are torrijas prepared?

fried torrijas

  1. Ingredients: The first thing is to choose the basic ingredients: bread, milk, egg and sugar. The bread can be from the day before although many choose to buy a special baguette for torrijas that cost around 2 euros in any supermarket.
  2. Preparation: Once we have all the ingredients, we must put on the table a saucepan with a liter of milk and about 100 grams of sugar and cinnamon. Let the mixture heat up and remove from the heat before it boils.
  3. Crafting: With the bread already cut into slices, you have to soak the torrijas with the milk and let them rest on a tray for about five minutes. We will take advantage of this time to beat the eggs in another container and prepare a pan with plenty of oil to fry the torrijas. Then the bread soaked in milk must be passed through the beaten eggs. Next, you should start frying the torrijas in the hot oil for about two minutes. With the torrijas already in the source, it only remains to sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon to taste.

The best places to buy torrijas

In any case, if we don't have time to prepare them, they can always be bought at any pastry shop in Spain. Next, we present a brief route to find the best torrijas in our country:
Madrid:
  • The house of torrijas (Paz, 4, Madrid)
  • Nunos Pastry Shop (Narváez, 63, Madrid)
  • Sylkar Restaurant (Espronceda, 17, Madrid)
  • Eat dCine (Príncipe de Vergara, 87, Madrid)
  • La Dominga (Holy Spirit, 15, Madrid)
Sevilla:
  • La Campana Confectionery (Sierpes, 1, Seville)
Asturias:
  • Tino House (Alfredo Truan, 9, Gijón) 
Aragon:
  • Lac House (Mártires, 12, Zaragoza)
  • Fantoba Pastry (Don Jaime I, 21, Zaragoza)

Basque Country:

  • La Viña (Hainaut, 27, Bilbao)

Castile and Leon:

  • The Sil Tavern (Joaquín Blume, 2, Ponferrada, León)
Homemade or bought, classic or chocolate, milk or wine ... now is the time to sink your teeth into this typical sweet because after these holidays they will disappear from the shop windows.

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