Arnadí: A Valencian Setmana Santa Tradition

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No one really knows the story behind the unusual Valencian sweet known as arnadí. Commonly believed to be of Arabic origin, it is considered one of the oldest desserts in Spain. Also known as "carabasa santa" because it was traditionally made for Setmana Santa (Holy Week), it starts to make its appearance in homes in winter when pumpkins are plentiful.

Today, you can find it in many places in the Comunitat Valenciana during Lent and Holy Week, but Xátiva in La Costera comarca (county) is its reputed birthplace and is where it's still most popular today. Arnadí from there is made with pumpkin, but in some villages in the surrounding comarques of La Safor and Ribera Alta it is prepared with sweet potato, or a combination of the two. As with any recipe, you can find hundreds of iterations, but most agree on the basics: pumpkin, sugar, eggs, ground almonds, lemon zest and cinnamon, with pine nuts and almonds to decorate.

One ingredient that makes a surprise appearance in a number of the old cookbooks is black pepper. While modern bakers know that a dash of freshly ground black pepper can "wake up your cakes," in Spanish cooking it's a spice that is used very sparingly and this is the first time I've come across it in a Spanish dessert. So, I just had to try it—and was very pleasantly surprised.

You're unlikely to find this sweet unless you're in the Comunitat Valenciana over the Easter holidays, but I encourage you to make it at home. Made with the simplest of ingredients, it only requires a bit of planning to roast and drain the pumpkin before assembling, and it does make for a rather striking—and delicious—centerpiece at the end of a meal with family and friends.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1.5 kg fresh, pumpkin (or 500 grams cooked, drained pumpkin)
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 175 grams sugar
  • 150 grams ground almonds
  • 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
  • zest of one lemon
  • 1/2-1 tsp black pepper
  • 50-80 grams raw, whole peeled almonds
  • 30-50 grams pine nuts
  • olive oil, or other neutral oil

METHOD

Prepare Pumpkin

  1. First you'll need to prepare the pumpkin. Wash it, cut into 3 or 4 large chunks and discard the seeds and stringy center.
  2. Place in a baking dish flesh side up and coat with oil. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until flesh is fork tender, about 45 minutes.
  3. Once it has cooled, scrape the flesh from the skin and place it in a fine-mesh colander (or cheese cloth) over a bowl in the refrigerator and let it drain overnight. If you are short on time you can squeeze it through a clean dishcloth to get rid of the excess liquid. However, if you use detergents or fabric softener with heavy perfumes, they will "flavor" your pumpkin, and not in a yummy-that's-so-delicious kind of way.

Make Arnadí

  1. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F).
  2. Place the drained pumpkin and egg yolks in a sauce pan and blend with an immersion blender just until smooth.
  3. Add the sugar, ground almonds, cinnamon, lemon zest and black pepper. Cook over medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently.
  4. Put mixture in round terracotta, ceramic or glass baking dish and shape into a cone. Decorate with almonds and pine nuts. Sprinkle with sugar.
  5. Bake for 35-45 minutes, making sure the nuts are golden but not burnt.

Enjoy!

Notes:

I started off with a 1.5 kilogram chunk of fresh pumpkin. The roasting process will reduce the water significantly; much of it will evaporate and a good amount will pool in the bottom of the dish. After placing the flesh in the refrigerator overnight, another 200 grams of water drained off, leaving me with just over 500 grams of pumpkin.

Alternative cooking methods for the pumpkin include boiling or microwaving it. While both are faster than roasting, the cooked pumpkin will retain a great deal more water, which you'll have to drain or squeeze out, and you'll miss out on the caramelized flavor that roasting imparts.