Arouca Manjar de Língua
A rare convent sweet of eggs, rice and finely shredded beef tongue.
- Origin
- Arouca · Aveiro district
- Place
- Arouca
- Region
- The North
- Category
- Convent Sweets
- Season
- Christmas, Easter and the Feast of Queen Saint Mafalda
- Evidence
- Well documented
Manjar de Língua de Arouca is a spoonable tray sweet made with cooked, finely shredded beef tongue, rice or rice flour, milk, sugar and egg yolks. Slow cooking folds the meat fibres into a sweet creamy mixture, finished with yolks until golden and relatively light.
It is among Arouca's most unusual confectionery specialities and may be sold in 250- or 500-gram tins. The tongue is not merely a name: it is the ingredient that distinguishes this local adaptation of the old manjar branco.
- beef tongue
- rice or rice flour
- milk
- sugar
- egg yolks
- salt
Sweet, milky and yolk-rich, with a thick texture and extremely fine meat fibres.
DGADR describes tongue, rice or rice flour, milk, sugar and yolks. A different Arouca formula also circulates, using tongue, almonds, cinnamon, syrup and yolks without the rice and milk in that description. The shared name therefore covers at least two published formulas and should not be treated as one invariant recipe.
At specialists in Arouca convent confectionery, especially by order and during festive periods.
Black tea, espresso or tawny Port.
The recipe belongs to the tradition of the Bernardine nuns of the former Convent of Arouca. It probably derives from manjar branco, known at least since the 16th century, in which shredded chicken was slowly cooked with sugar and rice. In Arouca, beef tongue replaced chicken and the recipe passed from the convent into local families.
Well documented
Identity supported by institutional, specialist or corroborating sources.
- tradicional.dgadr.gov.pt/pt/cat/doces-e-produtos-de-pastelaria/261-manjar-de-lingua-de-arouca (opens in a new tab)
- cm-arouca.pt/visitar/a-mesa/ (opens in a new tab)
- montanhasmagicas.pt/montanhas-magicas/cultura/gastronomia-vinhos/produtos-locais/doces-conventuais/ (opens in a new tab)
- lifecooler.com/artigo/comer/manjar-de-lngua/329510 (opens in a new tab)
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