Bienmesabe (Spanish: "it tastes good to me") [1] [2] is a sweet Spanish dessert prepared with honey, egg yolk, and ground almonds as primary ingredients. Its consistency significantly varies depending upon preparation methods used. The dessert is also popular in the cuisine of the Canary Islands. It has been described as influenced by Moorish cuisine. Several variations of the dessert exist.
Honey, egg yolk and ground almonds are primary ingredients in the preparation of bienmesabe, [3] and some versions are prepared using sugar. Additional ingredients may include lemon zest, cinnamon and sweet wine or sherry. [1]
Bienmesabe's consistency varies greatly depending upon preparation methods, and can vary from the consistency of a sticky sauce [4] thick cream [1] or meringue [5] to a custard or cake. [6] Well-chilled versions may have a toffee-like consistency. [1] As a sauce, bienmesabe is sometimes served poured over ice cream. [4] [7]
Bienmesabe is a popular dessert in the cuisine of the Canary Islands, [7] [8] [9] where it is served with cat's tongue cookies. The cookies may be served on the side or crushed and served atop the dessert. [1] On the Canary Islands, the dish may also include rum. [10] It has been described as the "most famous" dessert in Canarian cuisine. [10]
Bienmesabe a traditional Spanish dessert has been described as being influenced by the cuisine of the Moors. [5]
In Panamanian cuisine, bienmesabe is a dessert dish prepared using milk, rice and panela (unrefined whole cane sugar), which is slow cooked. [11]
In Puerto Rican cuisine, bienmesabe is a sweet syrup prepared using coconut milk, egg yolk, rum and sugar. It is used poured atop dishes such as ladyfingers or sponge cake. [12]
In Peru, bienmesabe is a sweet that has been present since the 19th century. [13] The variety that has become popular is the one that is prepared in Lima and has sweet potato as a basic ingredient. [14] There are other variants that incorporate traditional elements of regional cuisines, such as loche, custard apple or lucuma in Lambayeque. [15] [16]
Bienmesabe antequerano is prepared in a marzipan cake form, which has a soft texture and is topped with sugar. [17]
Bienmesabe is a popular dessert in the cuisine of the Canary Islands, where it is served with cat's tongue biscuits. [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] Cookies can be served on the side or crushed and served over dessert. [24] It has been described as the "most famous" dessert in Canarian cuisine. [25]
Its origin dates back to the European era of the conquest of the islands (in the fifteenth century), brought by Spanish settlers, who in turn respond to Arab traditions spread in Spain during the Muslim occupation over seven centuries. The Canarian bienmesabe is made of egg, grated almonds, palm honey and grated lemon. It has a thick, grainy and unctuous texture. [26] It can be eaten alone or with other foods, such as ice cream. You can also include rum. [27]
In Venezuelan cuisine, bienmesabe is a traditional cake prepared using coconut and liqueur. [28] A sweet sponge cake version that is soaked in a mixture of egg yolks and coconut milk exists as well. [29]
The Canary Islands, also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in Macaronesia in the Atlantic Ocean. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are 100 kilometres west of Morocco. They are the southernmost of the autonomous communities of Spain. The islands have a population of 2.2 million people and are the most populous special territory of the European Union.
Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and most parts of China, there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal.
Catalan cuisine is the cuisine from Catalonia. It may also refer to the shared cuisine of Northern Catalonia and Andorra, the second of which has a similar cuisine to that of the neighbouring Alt Urgell and Cerdanya comarques and which is often referred to as "Catalan mountain cuisine". It is considered a part of western Mediterranean cuisine.
Crème caramel, flan, caramel pudding, condensed milk pudding or caramel custard is a custard dessert with a layer of clear caramel sauce.
Rice pudding is a dish made from rice mixed with water or milk and other ingredients such as cinnamon, vanilla and raisins.
Gofio is a sort of Canarian flour made from roasted grains or other starchy plants, some varieties containing a little added salt. Gofio has been an important ingredient in Canarian cooking for some time, and Canarian emigrants have spread its use to the Caribbean and the Western Sahara. There are various ways to use it, such as kneading, dissolving in soup, and baking. It can also be used as a thickener. It is also found in Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile, where it is known as harina tostada and is employed in a wide variety of recipes. The gofio commercially available in the Canary Islands is always finely ground, like ordinary flour, despite the definition given in the Spanish Dictionary of the Royal Academy. It can't be seen at shops other than the Canary Islands.
Mithai (sweets) are the confectionery and desserts of the Indian subcontinent. Thousands of dedicated shops in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka sell nothing but sweets.
Bebinca or bebinka, is a layer cake of Indo-Portuguese cuisine in Goa, India. In traditional baking, Bebinka has between 7 and 16 layers, but bakeries can modify the cake recipe as per convenience and taste. It is especially popular during the Christmas season, but is available all year round due to tourism in Goa. It is also easily available to carry and preserve for a long time or eaten fresh.
Canarian cuisine refers to the typical dishes and ingredients in the cuisine of the Canary Islands, and it constitutes an important element in the culture of its inhabitants. Its main features are the freshness, variety, simplicity, and richness of its ingredients, the mix of seafood and meat dishes, its cultural influences and the low knowledge of it by the rest of the world. Canarian cuisine is influenced by other cultures, especially that of the aboriginal inhabitants of the islands (Guanches), and has influenced Latin American cuisine.
Pastilla is a North African meat or seafood pie made with warqa dough (ورقة), which is similar to filo. It is a specialty of Morocco and Algeria. It has more recently been spread by emigrants to France, Israel, and North America.
Papas arrugadas is a traditional boiled potato dish eaten in the Canary Islands. It is usually served with a chili pepper garlic sauce, called mojo rojo, or as an accompaniment to meat dishes.
Canarian Spanish is a variant of standard Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands by the Canary Islanders. The variant is similar to the Andalusian Spanish variety spoken in Western Andalusia and (especially) to Caribbean Spanish and other Hispanic American Spanish vernaculars because of Canarian emigration to the Caribbean and Hispanic America over the years. Canarian Spanish is one of those Spanish dialects in Spain to be called usually español, instead of castellano.
Bermudian cuisine reflects a rich and diverse history and heritage blending British and Portuguese cuisine with preparations of local seafood species, particularly wahoo and rockfish. Traditional dishes include codfish and potatoes served either with an add on of hard boiled egg and butter or olive oil sauce with a banana or in the Portuguese style with tomato-onion sauce, peas and rice. Hoppin' John, pawpaw casserole and fish chowder are also specialties of Bermuda. As most ingredients used in Bermuda's cuisine are imported, local dishes are offered with a global blend, with fish as the major ingredient, in any food eaten at any time.
The cuisine of Sardinia is the traditional cuisine of the island of Sardinia, and the expression of its culinary art. It is characterised by its own variety, and by the fact of having been enriched through a number of interactions with the other Mediterranean cultures while retaining its own identity. Sardinia's food culture is strictly divided into food from the land and food from the sea, reflecting the island's historical vicissitudes and especially its geographic landscapes, spacing from the coastline to the ragged mountains of the interior. The Sardinian cuisine is considered part of the Mediterranean diet, a nutritional model that was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage.
Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance, possibly in Spain. The sponge cake is thought to be one of the first of the non-yeasted cakes, and the earliest attested sponge cake recipe in English is found in a book by the English poet Gervase Markham, The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman (1615). Still, the cake was much more like a cracker: thin and crispy. Sponge cakes became the cake recognized today when bakers started using beaten eggs as a rising agent in the mid-18th century. The Victorian creation of baking powder by English food manufacturer Alfred Bird in 1843 allowed the addition of butter to the traditional sponge recipe, resulting in the creation of the Victoria sponge. Cakes are available in millions of flavours and have many recipes as well. Sponge cakes have become snack cakes via the Twinkie.
Clementine cake is a cake flavored primarily with clementines. It may be topped with a sweet glaze or sauce, powdered sugar, honey and clementines, or candied clementines. It may originate from an orange cake in Sephardic cuisine. In popular culture, the cake played a minor part in the plot of the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
Conejo en salmorejo is a meat dish from the Canary Islands. The main ingredient is rabbit meat that is marinated, then sautéed and finally cooked in the marinade until done.
... the almond- flavoured, meringue-like bienmesabe, a Moorish-influenced dessert.
You'll do no better than bienmesabe antequerano, a soft marzipan cake with sugar and the ubiquitous almond...