| Portuguese: Malassada | |
| Alternate Name: | Portuguese: Filhós, malasada |
| Country: | Portugal |
| Region: | São Miguel, Azores |
| Type: | Fried dough |
| Main Ingredient: | Wheat flour, sugar, eggs, milk, yeast |
| Minor Ingredient: | Cinnamon, molasses |
| Similar Dish: | Bola de Berlim, farturas, filhós, sonho, fried dough, cascoréis da Guarda |
Malassada is a Portuguese fried pastry from the Azores. It is a type of doughnut, made of flattened rounds of yeasted dough, coated with sugar and cinnamon or accompanied with molasses.[1]
The name Portuguese: malassada is often used interchangeably with Portuguese: [[filhós]].[2] However, according to the Direção-Geral de Agricultura e Desenvolvimento Rural (DGARD), these two regional pastries are distinct―the Azorean Portuguese: malassada is made during Portuguese: Carnaval,[1] while the Portuguese: filhós of Penedono is made with brandy and olive oil instead of milk and is enjoyed year-round.[3] Another similar pastry from the Central Region is Portuguese: Cascoréis da Guarda.[4]
The Portuguese: malassada is believed to be derived from the Portuguese: [[filhós]] from mainland Portugal and Madeira, a product of the growing sugar industry during the sixteenth century.[5] It was exported throughout Macaronesia, where it was introduced to the Azores and Canary Islands, reaching as far as Brazil during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.[6]
Portuguese: Malassadas were first described in the Portuguese: Dicionário Houaiss da Língua Portuguesa in 1609, and recorded in the ledgers of the Portuguese: [[Convent of the Incarnation (Lisbon)|Convento da Encarnação]] in Lisbon between 1688 and 1762.[7] The Portuguese: Gastronomia Tradicional da Madeira e do Porto Santo describes the mal-assada referring to the "undercooked" dough inside.[8] However, another version asserts it was previously made using Portuguese: mel (Portuguese: [[molasses]]), having been named Portuguese: melassadas or Portuguese: melaçadas.[1]
Historically, Portuguese: malassadas were conventual sweets prepared for Terça-feira Gorda with the intention of using all the lard and sugar in one's home before Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten Season which limits the use of fats and sugars as a form of fasting and penance, similar to other traditions like Pancake Day.[9] It is a traditional confection eaten in the Azores and Madeira during Portuguese: [[Carnival of Madeira|Carnaval]].[7]
In 1878, Portuguese laborers from Madeira and the Azores immigrated to Hawaii to work in the plantations.[7] They brought with them their traditional foods, including Portuguese: malassadas―where it is now commonly spelled as malasadas.[10] In the past, Catholic Portuguese immigrants shared it with friends of other ethnicities in the plantation camps.[11]
Today, there are numerous bakeries in the Hawaiian Islands specializing in Portuguese: malassadas where it is made around the year.[12] While traditional Portuguese Portuguese: malassadas do not have any type of filling, in Hawaii they are smaller but proportionally thicker, are sometimes filled with custard or creams flavored with coconut, chocolate, lilikoi (passion fruit), guava, mango, ube, or pineapple.[13] In Hawaii, Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras) is known as "Malasada Day".[11]
In the United States, Portuguese: malassadas are cooked in many Portuguese homes on Fat Tuesday. It is a tradition where the older children take the warm doughnuts and roll them in sugar while the eldest woman – mother or grandmother – cooks them.
On the East Coast, in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, there is a high population of Portuguese-Americans. Festivals in cities such as New Bedford and Fall River will often serve Portuguese cuisine, including Portuguese: malassadas.[14]
(2010) Patrick Andrews - "Pioneering the Malasada" Queensland, Australia. 2010