Honoring the Dead with Bread: Tots Sants & Panellets

Catalunya is steeped in history and culture, plenty of which also bear tasty gastronomic customs! One such example is Tots Sants (All Saints’ Day) on November 1st, which features chestnuts, sweet potatoes and the delightful little “breads” known as panellets.

These tiny treats are made from a marzipan base of sugar, egg and ground almonds, though recipes vary considerably from household to household. Many families pass down their own, uniquely modified version of the recipe often adding boiled potato or sweet potato to the mix—a modification at which purists balk. Traditionally they are covered in pine nuts, but other twists to the recipe include the incorporation of lemon, orange, coconut, chocolate, strawberry, quince, chestnut, hazelnut, coffee or cinnamon, with each unique combination meaning that very few panellets will ever be the same.

Remembering the Dead

Panellets, which translates as something like "unusually tiny breads," are associated with commemoration of the deceased, owing largely to the relationship they bear with All Saints' Day. Traditionally, local citizens would gather on November 1st to spend the night ringing the church bells, serving as a reminder to the rest of the population that they must pray for the souls of the dead. At midnight, neighbors would share a feast of nuts, biscuits, sweets and wine with the bell ringers as a gesture of gratitude for their service—and within this feast would lie a selection of freshly baked panellets.

Catalan literature dating back to the 18th century cites an annual fair of chestnuts and panellets held in Cituat Vella on November 1st in which large trays of panellets would be raffled off (a tradition which still continues in some villages to this day). People would bring these baked goods to church in baskets to have them blessed by a priest and then eat them in the church with the rest of the community. This, as well as the custom of visiting the graves of loved ones, fills All Saints' Day with collective religious acts and gives panellets a ritualistic meaning. Though the origin of eating panellets on All Saints' Day is not clear, in many European countries there remains a long-standing tradition of bringing small bread rolls to church or to tombs and gravestones as offerings for the deceased. This custom quite possibly has its roots in ancient Roman funerary traditions, such as the nine-day Parentalia festival in which relatives honored their ancestors by feasting at the family tomb and leaving offerings of flowers, bread, wine, salt or grains.

Many Shapes and Sizes

All Saints’ Day is celebrated in countries all around the world, with each nation bearing its own unique gastronomic traditions. In Austria, for example, the allerheiligenstriezel—a plaited loaf of brioche bread—is given to godchildren by their godparents. It is believed that its shape symbolizes an ancient funerary ritual of cutting off braided hair to mourn the passing of a loved one. Historically, it was also customary to offer this bread to the poor, given to them on behalf of the dead, with the request that they pray for the deceased.

A similar tradition is found in Italy, with the baking of pan co' Santi. Originating in Siena, this bread is made distinctive by an abundance of walnuts and raisins, as well as the marked presence of black pepper. Though many bakeries in Siena now stock the bread from the end of August, its presence on November 1st is unmissed, owing to the symbolic custom of offering food to the deceased in order to aid their journey in the afterlife.

Finally, there is the Mexican preparation of pan de muerto. It is believed that the origin of this bread dates back to the arrival of the Spanish in 1519. Some legends tell the tale of human sacrifice, during which a princess was offered to the gods; her heart would then be bitten into by the individual leading the rite as a sign of gratitude. The Spanish, supposedly finding this practice to be barbarous and inhumane, forbade this practice and replaced it instead with a wheat bread coated in red sugar—and so creating pan de muerto. The loaf has a famously circular shape to symbolize the cycle of life and death, with a small circle in the center to mark the skull of the deceased, as well as raised strips of dough symbolizing bones. 

Catalunya prides itself on panellets which adorn household tables at this time of year, uniting Catalans across the region around the commonality of these small delicacies. While the symbolism of baked treats in celebration of All Saints’ Day is clearly far from unique to this region, like so many traditions, there really is something special about it. Nowadays, All Saints’ Day is a public holiday, so, why not head over to your local bakery and taste some panellets for yourself, or perhaps follow a recipe and bake your own?