Spanish Fruit Breads and Cheese - A Perfect Pairing!

Chances are, if you’re lucky enough to be in Spain during the holidays and are invited to share a meal, you’ll be offered all sorts of traditional holiday sweets. Maybe some almond turrón or a few alfajores... but you also might be offered a slice from a large, solid round reminiscent of a wheel of cheese. However, this wheel is dark in color and more solid – it is comprised solely of dried fruit and nuts. Spanish “fruit breads” are the essence of sweet simplicity.

The “fruit breads” of Spain aren’t really bread at all, but a sweet compressed round of dried fruits and nuts that are eaten in slices. Fruit breads are most typically eaten around the holidays, but are also enjoyed year-round as a simple dessert or as an accompaniment to cheeses. Our Matiz Fruit Breads are made from figs and apricots paired with walnuts and almonds. We source our fruit breads from a family-owned Spanish company called Biovera. The Sanchez family cultivates fruit trees in La Vera, located in hot, arid Extremadura in central Spain.

Figs and apricots were originally brought to Spain by the Moors. These fruits are original cultivars of the Middle East and northern Africa, but were natural transplants to the desert-like climate of southern and central Spain. In fact, Spanish dates are the most northern dates grown in Europe. Figs are picked and dried in the fall months, preserving them for winter. Once these fruits are dried, their nutritional properties remain intact. Figs and apricots are high in fiber, and apricots are high in vitamin C.  They are an all-natural, delicious treat that you can feel good about!

This holiday season, may we suggest this “recipe” for a festive cheese course with fruit breads and other fine accompaniments from Matiz. !Buen provecho!

Matiz “Just Add Cheese” Course

Lay out an array of some of our finest Spanish cheese accompaniments, add a few good hunks of Manchego, Idiazabál or Mahón and your cheese course is complete!

Matiz Fig Bread

Matiz Apricot Bread

Matiz Date Bread

Matiz Picos and Tortas de Aceite

Matiz Quince Paste

Matiz Marcona Almonds

Dequmana Cured Olives

Matiz Piparras

Arvum Sherry Vinegar

Marcona Almonds - Not Your Typical Almond

For those of you not familiar with marcona almonds they are not your typical almond. Marcona nuts are fatter, rounder and have a buttery taste, like a cross between an almond and a macadamia nut.

The Marcona almond grows in the coastal areas of Spain, mainly in the region around Valencia and Alicante. The marcona has an insect resistant hard shell and can therefore be grown without the use of pesticides.

The Marcona tree is actually quite difficult to grow and is not very productive. It is a risky proposition for an almond producer to grow Marconas as they are harvested in February and a freeze could destroy the crop. But the risk is worth the reward, because Marconas are savored all over the world and are a staple at Spanish tapas bars everywhere. Chefs in Spain also prefer cooking with the Marcona and they are used in the production of traditional Spanish turrón, a nougat confection that is very popular in the holiday season.

At Culinary Collective we import Matiz Marcona almonds which are fried in olive oil and salted. They complement everything from cheese and fruit to wine or beer. Also try adding them to salads, chopped and sprinkled on desserts or as a coating on fish.