Alcomonias

Also known as: Santiago do Cacém Alcumunias · Historic Lisbon Alcamonia

Toasted flour, honey and pine nuts in an age-old diamond.

Origin: Santiago do Cacém — an Alentejo sweet of probable Arab origin
Region: Santiago do Cacém
Season: Year-round · especially at autumn fairs

Sweetness

Richness

Difficulty

Alcomonias are small brown diamonds made with toasted wheat flour, honey — or brown sugar — and pine nuts. The hot paste is rolled out, cut before it cools and left to air-dry, developing a firm, dense texture.

It is an austere and highly distinctive composition: the deep toast of the flour meets fragrant honey and the delicate resinous note of pine nuts. They remain closely tied to the traditional fairs of Santiago do Cacém.

Ingredients

toasted wheat flour
honey or brown sugar
water
pine nuts

Taste & texture

Dense, toasted and honeyed, with buttery pine nuts and an uncommon earthy sweetness.

Variations

The formula may use honey or brown sugar; traditionally it could use rolão, a coarse dark fraction of wheat flour.

Where to try it

At traditional pastry shops and fairs around Santiago do Cacém, especially the Feira do Monte and festivities in Santo André.

Pairs well with

Strong coffee, pennyroyal tea or an Alentejo liqueur.

History

The name, diamond shape and ingredients suggest roots in the period of Arab presence. The word alcomonia appears in fifteenth-century documents, and the sweet is also recorded in Minho and among Lisbon street sellers. In Alentejo it became especially associated with the Feira do Monte and the Feira de Santo André.

Sources: tradicional.dgadr.gov.pt

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