Bolo Negro de Loriga

Description: Sweet cake, made from flour, eggs, sugar, milk, cinnamon and baking soda. It has an original shape – rectangular – and dark color, given by the cinnamon introduced in the recipe.

Particular characteristics: Characteristic flavour and texture, retangular and dark format.

Region: Centro

Ingredients used: Flour, eggs, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and milk.

Preparation: Beat the eggs very well with the sugar, add the cinnamon, milk and flour mixed with the baking soda. Bake in a very hot oven for about 1 hour.

Know-how: Traditionally it was beaten manually and baked in a wood oven, in the shape of a thin, rectangular and tall tin, so that the dough could rise and bake without leaking.

Forms of commercialization: Restaurants and other commercial establishments.

Product availability throughout the year: All year round.

History of the product: It is pointed out as a probable origin its connection to the English "colony" residing in Loriga between the midnineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, due to the similarity with the shape of the typical English cake and which traditionally accompanies tea, a drink also deeply rooted in the place.

Representativeness in local food: Previously associated with festive seasons, such as Easter, it is currently consumed throughout the year. A striking food in the culture of Loriga, it remains a strong link between the people of Loriga and their land.

Source: Produtos Tradicionais Portugueses, Lisboa, DGDR, 2001