Polvorones

The story

Polvorones, crumbly shortbread cookies that melt in the mouth, take their name from the Spanish word polvo (dust)—a reference to the way the cookie all but collapses into powder at the first bite, a texture that calls for a large amount of fat (traditionally lard) relative to the flour. The Andalusian town of Estepa has long been known as a center of both industrial and family production of polvorones, with dozens of producers large and small that every year ship millions of individually wrapped cookies all over Spain and to the diaspora. As with many Iberian holiday sweets, their origin is linked to the convent tradition of confectionery, in which nuns spent centuries developing recipes from cheap, available ingredients. Polvorones are usually wrapped in thin paper that has to be opened deftly before eating, without the cookie falling apart in your hand—a small skill that becomes almost a game for the children at the holiday table. For Spanish families in the diaspora, polvorones are one of the most recognizable symbols of a Spanish Christmas.