Description
The Sobao Pasiego PGI is a baked product consisting of wheat flour, butter, sugar, eggs and additional ingredients like dextrose, glucose and salt, to which rum, anise or grated lemon peel can be added as well as some authorised additives.
Production Area
The production area of Sobao Pasiego PGI includes some municipal areas of the Autonomous Community of Cantabria, in the northern area of the Iberian Peninsula.
Production Method
The preparation of Sobao Pasiego PGI takes place in different phases. At first, the mix is prepared with a precise amount of ingredients. It is important that every component of the mix is added in conformity with precise proportions. The quantity of butter, sugar and wheat flour must be at most 26% of the mix, whilst raw eggs are 19%, glucose and salt 0.3%, and rising agents 1.5%. The additives that may be added in addition to the so-called rising agents are potassium sorbate, butter aroma and humectants. After having prepared the mix, baking takes place and then the cooling down phase takes place. Once ready, the product is packed, wrapped and labelled.
Appearance and Flavour
Sobao Pasiego PGI is quadrangular in shape and characterised by an external gold colour and a bright yellow crumb. Its consistency is dense and spongy, whilst the flavour is sweet with a strong hint of butter.
History
The Gran Enciclopedia de Cantabria reveals that its origins go back at least to the beginning of last century. Some writers like Garcìa Lumas and Vega Ruiz report that at the beginning the product was prepared with simple bread, sugar and butter. This recipe, which enabled to prepare this cake reusing leftovers from other dishes, was changed in 1896. Indeed, at the end of the 19th century, a cook from Cantabria, Eusebia Hernández Martín, has started to replace the bread with wheat flour, to which lemon, anise, rum and eggs were added. The product's reputation has grown from the second half of the 20th century, when the first producers based in the Pas region moved near the main highroads to make easier the product's marketing and spread. At present, as wrote in the Inventario Español de Productos Tradicionales (Spanish list of national products), Sobao Pasiego PGI, which originated in Vegas de Pas, is considered one of the most representative products of the Cantabrian area, by now spread in the entire Spain.
Gastronomy
Sobao Pasiego PGI may be conserved for about 90 days in suitable conditions: stored in a cool and dry place. It can be eaten alone or, thanks to its delicate buttery aroma and sweet flavour, combined with chocolate, caramel, vanilla-based creams or also with jams and candied fruits.
Marketing
The product is sold as Sobao Pasiego PGI. It is sold packed in a quadrangular paper tray, with the sides bent upwards, in three different weights: big, weighing from 130 to 180 gr, medium, weighing 40-80 gr and small, with a weight between 20 and 40 gr.
Distinctive Features
The distinctive features of Sobao Pasiego PGI have kept unaltered over time thanks to the accurate production method passed on from generation to generation and refined over centuries.
