A valuable legacy from the nuns of Santa Maria de Arouca Cistercian Monastery, transmitted from generation to generation, the conventual sweets are one of the best Arouca and Montanhas Mágicas® visiting cards.
Daughters of the traditional Portuguese nobles of the North and Center of the country, the nuns would bring the family recipes from their homelands. Fleeing the austerity of the Rule, the tenants of the rich and powerful monastery had at their disposal large quantities of eggs, sugar, almonds and animal fat, the basic ingredients of this monastic sweets, of which we highlight the Sweet Chestnuts, Morcelas Doces (black pudding-shaped sweets made with breadcrumbs, almonds and cinnamon), Barriga de Freira (kind of mousse made with eggs, breadcrumbs and almonds), Manjar de Língua (pastries made with almonds and cinnamon), roscas (kind of sweet breads) and Charutos de Amêndoa (cigar-shaped sweets with a sugar, egg and almonds filling) and the Bola de S. Bernardo (cake made with eggs and olive oil).
The confection secrets were transmitted to some families by the maids of the last nuns who inhabited the Monastery until the end of the 19th century. The protection of these secrets guarantees the quality of the sweets, especially with regard to the proper use of the ingredients and their quantities, as well as the form of confection.
