The Special Ingredient in Matiz Torta de Aciete

The Spanish torta or crispbread has been around for over 100 years. It's a favorite breakfast and snack of the Andulcians and is believed to have its roots in the Moorish cuisine.

In 1870, Antonio Prieto Pinto, established Hermanos Prieto Gordillo as a family bakery on the main plaza in Castilleja de la Cuesta in Seville.

Alongside conventional bakery fare, the family also produced tortas for local consumption.

Today, Antonio's grandson Francisco and his brothers run the family business with their mother, the boss, who continues to work the front-of-house doling out sweet Magdalenas muffins and fresh-baked bread to her neighborhood clientele.

Francisco supervises the making of the tortas using his grandfather's recipe that he safeguards in his head. Each morning, as he makes the dough, he varies the ingredients ever so slightly depending on the quality of the flour and the humidity in the air. Once the dough meets Francisco's standards, he turns the dough over to the women in the bakery who for years have perfected the technique of hand patting the tortas into their characteristic shape.

The town of Seville is known for its oranges, and Prieto Gordillo has added a Seville orange flavor to the line up of superb tortas that we can now offer to our customers in the US. But the special ingredient remains in Fransico's head and heart.