Tortas de Aceite

Tortas de aceite from Castilleja de la Cuesta, near Seville, are round baked sweets fragrant with olive oil, sesame and anise. Each piece of dough is spread thin by hand, pressed into sugar and baked with the sugared side facing up. The slightly uneven edges and the lightly crumbling surface still show the movement of the hand that stretched them. Even this thin dough contains yeast, and the mixing temperature and the speed of dividing affect how fermentation proceeds.

Dividing into equal portions and stretching each piece by hand

A dough of wheat flour, olive oil and other ingredients is divided into equal portions, and each is spread thin and round by hand. Stretching it evenly from the center outward means no thick lumps remain after baking, so it becomes a thin disc. Because the work is done by hand, the size and the waves along the edge vary slightly from piece to piece.

The producer Inés Rosales has also carried on the method of shaping each piece by hand to the present day. The company’s recipe (its proportions of ingredients and method of preparation) uses extra virgin olive oil and keeps the combination of sesame, anise and sugar. When baked, small blisters form on the thin surface, and grains of sugar remain on top.

The specification in the registration application published in 2012 describes two separate stages: a machine process that divides the dough into equal portions and a shaping process in which each piece is spread by hand. A ball of dough is placed on the palm of one hand and pushed out from the center with the edge of the other hand, and the hand is then struck against a container of sugar so that a thin coating sticks to the surface. The specification also requires that, when the round of dough is transferred to the baking belt, the sugared side faces up.

Yeast is also added to the dough. The specification sets the temperature after mixing and kneading at 25–28°C, and the dough must neither over-ferment nor fail to ferment while it is in the divider. Although the baked sweet is thin, it is not simply flour and oil mixed together and dried.

For the registered product, the diameter is 13 centimeters with a tolerance of 2 centimeters either way, and the thickness varies from 1 millimeter at the thinnest parts to 7 millimeters at the thickest. Because hand-stretching does not produce a uniform sheet, the edge and the center also brown differently. The tortas are baked for a short time, cooled, and then wrapped one by one in paraffin paper. Individual wrapping is the step that allows the thin sweets to reach customers without losing their shape.

Sugar on the surface and the flavors of olive oil, sesame and anise

Olive oil binds the flour and at the same time gives flavor to the whole sweet. Sesame remains as small, toasty seeds, and anise adds a sweet aroma even in small amounts. Because the sugar is on the outside, the sweetness of the first bite is followed by the aroma of the thinly baked dough and the seeds.

Unlike pastry in which many layers are created by folding, this sweet is made by stretching a dough mixed with oil and seeds thin and baking it. No large hollows form, and when broken it splits into thin shards.

From a home-made Easter sweet to a commercial product

The registration application explains that thin sweets made at home around Easter spread as goods for sale at the beginning of the 20th century.

According to the history of the Inés Rosales company, in 1910 Inés Rosales Cabello spread the sale of sweets made with a formula handed down in a household in the Aljarafe, on the outskirts of Seville, beyond her own home. The company says that the work of local women who stretched the dough one piece at a time was also tied to these sales.

Tortas de aceite de Castilleja de la Cuesta, bearing the place name, were registered in 2013 as an EU Traditional Speciality Guaranteed. The name protects the traditional production method, including shaping and wrapping each piece individually.

How it differs from torta de Aranda, which also uses oil

The Spanish word aceite means oil. However, not everything with this name is the thin sweet of Seville. The torta de Aranda published by the bread-making technologist Francisco Tejero is a bread with oil drizzled over the surface and indentations pressed in with the fingers before baking. It is eaten with dishes such as roast lamb. It differs in both use and content from the thin Seville sweet scented with anise and sesame and coated with sugar.

Tortas sevillanas de aceite displayed in a shop in Seville. They look different from the thin, individually wrapped products. Photo: Dodo, 2009-01-24, Seville, Spain. Original image / CC BY-SA 4.0. Reduced version from the source, with no additional processing.

Serving with cheese or fruit, and savory products

Today, savory versions and versions that bring out the flavor of sesame are made as well as sweet ones. Besides eating a piece on its own, the producer also suggests serving them with cheese or fruit. The aroma of sweet tortas goes well with the saltiness of cheese. The new savory products also use a dough that makes the most of olive oil.

Among the products introduced by a Málaga resident is one flavored with orange. Although it is the same thin sweet, it offers a freshness different from the flavors of anise and sesame.

Glossary