Aletria is a custardy

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Port ...

dessert based on

vermicelli Vermicelli (; , , also , ) is a traditional type of pasta round in section similar to spaghetti. In English-speaking regions it is usually thinner than spaghetti, while in Italy it is typically thicker. The term ''vermicelli'' is also used to ...

(''aletria''). In the Beiras region aletria has a compact consistency, and is able to be cut in slices, whereas in Minho its consistency is more creamy.

Origin

Llibre de Sent Soví, a set of two 14th-century manuscripts, in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid ...

, contains a compilation of 200 recipes, of which there are two with ''alatria'' (170: ''Qui parla con se cou alatria'' or "how to cook vermicelli" and 171 : ''Qui parla con se cou carn ab alatria'' or "how to cook meat with vermicelli"). However, what they called vermicelli should have a very different shape from the current thin strands of dough. Vermicelli was probably brought to the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

by the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct o ...

in the 8th or 9th century. It remained in Portugal and incorporated into Portuguese cuisine, and began to designate the mass of very fine yarns, with which a typical Christmas candy, present in almost all regions of the country, is prepared. The name ''aletria'' itself has disappeared in Spain, remaining only in the region of the ancient Kingdom of Murcia. It is however noteworthy that

Catalan cuisine 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 ...

has enriched itself a lot with products promoted by the Arabs, including

References

{{Portuguese cuisine Portuguese cuisine Portuguese desserts Custard desserts Egg dishes