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| The "Moor's" (Almond) Cake. Photo by Mir Masud-Elias. Copyright 2015. |
There's a recipe for almond cake that I've wanted to try for a long time in my gluten free cakeless (read, bleak) existence. The coldest day this year struck the right inspiration today, perhaps by fueling the desire for some sweet, high-calorie, shut-in indulgence. This recipe is by none other than Claudia Roden as tested out by The Vintage Mixer.
The cake itself is called Tarta de Santiago (Santiago's Pie), a specialty of Northern Spain in general and the pilgrimage town of Santiago de Compostela in particular. Many Catholic pilgrims annually walk or bike for miles on the Camino de Santiago or Saint James's Way to visit the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, where Saint James Matamoros' body is said to be interred.
The history of Saint James (real and imagined) is not without controversy as his biggest claim to fame is as the "Moor Slayer", i.e., the slayer of Muslims, which you can imagine is a pretty horrible association as far as I'm concerned. So, why make the cake that commemorates this unpalatable bit of history?
Why, to reclaim it, of course! Spanish cooks learned as much from the slayed "Moors" as anyone else did (just google "influence of Muslims on Spanish cuisine"). Although I'm not claiming (as I've no evidence to do so) that the Tarta de Santiago has its roots in Spanish Muslim cuisine. No, of course not. It's just that this almond cake certainly reminds me of almond halva or halwa (except that halva uses butter instead of eggs).
As I learnt from a Pakistani article on gajar ka halwa or carrot halva: "Halwa finds its roots in the Arabic language and refers to many dense or compact desserts. Originally halwa was either flour based or used various nuts with sugar, milk and butter to create a sweet gelatinous, or hardened nutty dessert. It is commonly believed that this kind of halwa was introduced to the settlers in India through trade with the Middle East and Asia Minor during the expansion of the Mughal Empire."
An article emphasizing the impact of the Muslim halwa on the Jewish halvah goes into more detail:
"Derived from the Arabic word halwa, which means sweet confection, halvah’s centuries-old origins are widely debated; nearly every Middle Eastern culture claims it as its own. Some scholars have suggested it originated near Byzantium, now Istanbul, some time before the 12th century, while others believe it dates back all the way to 3000 B.C.E. Evidence exists that it was originally a somewhat gelatinous, grain-based dessert made with oil, flour and sugar. The first known, written halvah recipe appeared in the early 13th century Arabic Kitab al-Tabikh [The Book of Dishes], and included seven variations. A cookbook from Moorish Spain in the same era tells of rolling out a sheet of candy (made of boiled sugar, honey, sesame oil and flour), sprinkling it with rosewater, sugar and ground pistachios, and covering it with a second layer of candy before cutting it into triangles. Ultimately, halvah spread across the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Central Asia and the subcontinent. In each new locale, its name and ingredients changed slightly. Egyptians called it halwa and mixed in pistachios, almonds or pine nuts, while Indians shortened the name to halva and flavored it with regional products such as ghee, coconuts and dates. One of the sweet’s most prominent enthusiasts was Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566), the Ottoman Empire’s longest- reigning sultan, who had a special kitchen built next to his palace that was dubbed the helvahane [house of halva], where some 30 varieties of the confection were produced. One, made with sesame tahini, was adopted by Ottoman-ruled Romanians who passed it on to Ashkenazi Jews in Europe. It was this version that made the transatlantic journey to America in the early 20th century."
So, in these embattled times, why not engage in some culinary diplomacy if not a straightforward sleight of hand and reimagine the Moor Slayer's Cake as the Moor's Cake?
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sick of all the slaying going on in the world. And, while I'm not advocating for the tone-deaf Marie Antoinette callousness of "Let's all eat cake and be just peachy", I am asking for all of us to examine and reexamine everything we've learned and come to know and not simply to remember with hatred, but to reimagine with love and compassion.
Although this post just missed Valentine's Day by a day, I don't need a special (Hallmark-inspired) day to show you all my love with my words and my food.
Peace and love always.
The "Moor's" (Almond) Cake*
- 1/2 pound whole almonds, preferably blanched, or almond flour
- 6 large eggs, separated (and set aside for 30 minutes)
- 1 cup superfine sugar
- Grated zest of 1 orange
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 4 drops almond extract
- 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
- Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
1. Finely grind the almonds in a food processor if using whole almonds.
2. With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with the sugar to a smooth pale cream. Beat in the zests and almond extract and ground cardamom. Add the ground almonds and mix very well.
3. With clean beaters, beat the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold them into the egg and almond mixture (the mixture is thick, so that you will need to turn it over quite a bit into the egg whites).
4. Grease an 9-inch springform pan, preferably nonstick, with butter and dust it with rice flour/flour or spray with cooking spray. Pour in the cake batter, and bake into the preheated 350°F for 40 minutes, or until it feels firm to the touch. Let cool before turning out.
5. Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with confectioners' sugar. Or, if you like, cut arabesque stars out of paper. Place stars all over the cake, and dust the cake with confectioners' sugar, then remove the paper stars.
6. Serve with a dollop of Labne, sour cream or Greek yogurt.
*Italicized modifications are my own changes to the Vintage Mixer's recipe
