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Alfajor
Topics: Argentine cuisine Chilean cuisine Peruvian cuisine
An alfajor is a traditional cookie in some countries of the Americas , most notably in Argentina and Uruguay. However, it can be found in Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Brazil and Chile. Its most basic form consists of two round sweet biscuits generally joined together with dulce de leche and/or jam and covered with powder sugar. In most alfajores there are layers like cake, and the dulce de leche fills in between.
Another popular feature of the alfajor, although not always present, is a coating of black or white chocolate (many alfajores are sold in "black" and "white" flavours). There's also one variation, called "Alfajor de nieve", that instead of having a white or black chocolate coating, it has a "snow" coating. The "snow coating" consists mostly of a mixture of egg whites and sugar. Peruvian alfajores are usually coated in powdered sugar, as seen in the picture, and are filled with manjar blanco. Most alfajores come packaged in aluminium foil, similarly to most chocolate bars, though hand-made are just as accessible and generally packaged in plastic wrap or wax paper.
Other varieties of alfajor include different elements in the preparation of the biscuits, such as peanuts; they also vary the filling and coating and even add a third biscuit (alfajor triple).
Though the food has been popular in Argentina and Uruguay since the mid 19th century, it has its roots in the Middle East. The name alfajor is derived from Arabic , which means "stuffed" or "filled".
In the province of Cadiz, Spain, there is a completely different confection also called alfajor that is made of flour, honey, almonds and several spices, such as cinnamon. It is most commonly sold around Christmas.
See also
Krembo
External links
Alfajores Merengo (Santafesino Type)
Alfajores Estancia El Rosario (Cordobes Type)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Alfajor
