A Catalan treat for All Saints Day
Panellets are traditional for remembering our loved ones
One of the things I love to do is to get deep in the regional specialties of Spain. It’s what made my time traveling around the country with my daughters for our show José Andrés and Family in Spain so special…we tried many, many amazing bites from around the country, which gives a deeper understanding of the history, people, and culture of the regions.
Well, here is a recipe you might not have tried before, a specialty of the region of Catalunya where I grew up (you might remember that I was born in Asturias, and that my family moved to Barcelona when I was 6). In Catalunya we speak a differently language, Catalan, as opposed to the Castilian Spanish of most of the rest of Spain. A side note…did you know that there are actually FOUR official languages in Spain?? Castilian, Catalan, Basque, and Galician…plus there are different languages in Asturias, Valencia, Aragon, and elsewhere!
So this recipe is for a cookie called panellets. In Catalan, it means “little breads,” but they’re more like little cookies than little breads. They’re made with almond flour, sugar, and eggs, and they usually have a coating of pine nuts, though sometimes people will use coconut flakes or cocoa in place of the pine nuts. They’re common for Tots Sants, the Catalan name for All Saints Day, which is coming up on November 1st (you have plenty of time to practice the recipe and get it right for the big day…though they’re actually very simple!). It’s traditional to visit the cemetery and remember departed loved ones, then to go home to eat panellets, roasted chestnuts, and maybe have a glass of sweet wine or Cava. The origin of panellets is unclear, but there has long been a tradition to bring little breads—panellets, of course—to the church or to the cemetery as an offering to the dead.
So…make a few batches and share them with family and friends for Tots Sants, All Saints Day, and remember your loved ones. You will be joined by many, many Catalans doing the same!
Panellets
Makes about 18 cookies