Torrijas, a bit of history for you to make

Ready-to-eat torrija

Torrijas is a sweet that is usually eaten in Spain only around the time the Holy Week, or Semana Santa, is celebrated. You can buy them at the local bakeries, but many people also produce their own home-made ones, as they are fairly easy to make.

The origin of this sweet is attributed to the Romans. Marcus Gavius Apicius, a 1^st century star chef, included in his renowned recipe book at the time, De re coquinaria, what could be considered the first known “relative” of the modern torrija. However, it was only in the 15^th century that we find the first literary reference that uses a word closest to the modern one.

For many centuries las torrijas were a cheap way to eat and get much-needed calories, as they are made with some basic ingredients such as bread, milk or wine. Their simplicity made them especially appropriate during Lent (a solemn religious observance for many Christian denominations which starts on Ash Wednesday and ends about forty days later on Easter Sunday), a time when meat consumption was forbidden by the Catholic Church, for example.

There are variations of the torrijas recipe depending on where in Spain you are. Milk torrijas are one of the best-known ones across the country, and very typical of a particular region: Castilla and León. They are very tasty and easy to prepare. Here is the recipe!

You will need: 750 grams of bread, 1 litre of milk, 100 grams of sugar, 2 cinnamon sticks, olive oil, 2 big eggs, cinnamon powder and sugar to dust.

It is important that the bread is about 1 centimetre thick and that is not very fresh. You can cut the slices after you put the milk with the cinnamon sticks and the sugar to boil. Mix well and once it has boiled you can leave it aside to cool down.

Once the milk is cold you can dip the bread in it, being careful that the bread does not break, and then dip it also into the bowl where you would have beaten the eggs. Then it is time to fry the bread in olive oil.

Once you have fried them you can place the torrijas on some kitchen paper towel so that the excess of oil is absorbed, and finally you just need to dust them with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon powder to taste. You can either eat them warm or cold, you will find them equally delicious. Enjoy!