Ensaïmada

The ensaïmada is a bread product from Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, commonly found in southwestern Europe, Latin America and the Philippines. The ensaïmada de Mallorca is made with strong flour, water, sugar, eggs, mother dough and a kind of reduced pork lard (called saïm in Catalan) which gives the bread its name. The handmade character of the product makes it difficult to give an exact formula, so scales have been established defining the proportion of each ingredient. The bread apparently has a Jewish origin, deriving from bulemas, using lard instead of olive oil as a means of escaping the suspicions of authorities during the Inquisition. The first written references to the Mallorcan ensaïmada date back to the 17th century. Though wheat flour was mainly used for making bread, there is evidence this typical bread product was made during that period for festivals and celebrations. In Mallorca and Ibiza, a sweet called greixonera is made with ensaïmada pieces left over from the day before.