Fios de ovos
Portuguese egg-yolk strands spread globally through trade and colonization.
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This confection can serve as a cake or pudding garnish, a cake filling, or be consumed by itself.[1]
Key facts and history
Portuguese nuns are believed to have created fios de ovos around the 14th or 15th century.[2] Convents and monasteries used egg whites to starch laundry, which resulted in many leftover yolks.[2] In Japan the dish is called keiran sōmen; in Cambodia, vawee; in Malaysia, jala mas; in Thailand, foi thong; and in the Malabar region of Kerala, India, it is known as muttamala.[3] Letria is the name for this dish in Goa.[3]
Marta Rocha Torte, a cake named for Miss Brazil 1954 Martha Rocha, is topped with fios de ovos in Brazil.[4]
What the cited sources add
According to a 2023 article in The Hindu, nuns began using egg yolks to make Muttamaala to prevent wasting them.[5] De Monteiro observed that vawee is available only from a small number of Phnom Penh shops, where women who formerly lived in the Royal Palace produce it.[6] Pandanus leaf-flavored sugar syrup is used to boil foi thong in Laos.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Fios de ovos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets", Oxford University Press, 2015, p. 553 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Fios de ovos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Marina Alves (2008), Dos deuses. Online article, Jornal da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, accessed on July 5, 2009. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Fios de ovos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mimi Sheraton, "1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List", Workman Publishing Company, 2015, p. 272; Eric Rath, "Food and Fantasy in Early Modern Japan", University of California Press, 2010, p. 103–104; Longteine De Monteiro, "The Elephant Walk Cookbook: Cambodian Cuisine from the Nationally Acclaimed Restaurant", Houghton Mifflin, 1998, p. 280; Mahsinah Abdullah, "It's sweet by any name", New Straits Times, July 24, 2012; Bangkok Post Educational Services, "Three tempting Thai delicacies". Accessed on October 29, 2011. en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Fios de ovos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "A World of Cake: 150 Recipes for Sweet Traditions from Cultures Near and Far", Storey Publishing, 2015, p. 86 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Nagarajan, "How the Portuguese introduced the signature dish of Muttamaala to Malabar", The Hindu, 14 April 2023. facts only, no text reused. thehindu.com
- Wikipedia, "Fios de ovos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Longteine De Monteiro, "The Elephant Walk Cookbook: Cambodian Cuisine from the Nationally Acclaimed Restaurant", Houghton Mifflin, 1998, p. 280; Longteine De Monteiro, "The Elephant Walk Cookbook: Cambodian Cuisine from the Nationally Acclaimed Restaurant", Houghton Mifflin, 1998, p. 280 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Fios de ovos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Culloty, "Food From Northern Laos: The Boat Landing Cookbook", Galangal Press, 2010, p. 174 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Fios de ovos (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Brazilian cuisine
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Fios de ovos (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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