Pionono is a rolled food item found in Spanish-speaking countries. In Spain, it is a sweet pastry, while in South America, it is a sponge cake with sweet or savory fillings. Caribbean piononos are made from plantains.
A pionono is any of several food items found in one or another Spanish-speaking country. The common factor between them is that they are, in some way, rolled up during preparation. In Spain itself, a pionono is a sweet pastry, while in South America it is a sponge cake rolled around sweet or savory fillings. Caribbean piononos are made from plantains. There is no agreement on where the name originated, but in Spanish “pio nono” means “pio nine”, and many believe that a baker in Spain originated the name pionono for his version of the sweet pastry in honor of Pope Pius IX.
In the Spanish regions of Granada and Andalusia, a pionono is a small sweet pastry with a shell soaked in honey-based syrup, filled with a cream mixture and topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon. The combination of honey and cinnamon flavor dates back to at least the 10th century, during the Moorish occupation of Spain. Piononos as they are now made, however, likely originated in the late 1800s.
Several South American countries, including Argentina, Peru, and Uruguay, know pionono as a thin, lightly sweetened sponge cake rolled around a filling and sliced like a jelly roll. The same sugary cake layer is used for both sweet and savory toppings. Sandwiches used as desserts are often filled with dulce de leche, a thick milky caramel filling. Other sweet options include various whipped creams and fruit mixes, jams or chocolate cream.
Savory piononos can be made with any sandwich filling. Classic blends include a variety of cheeses, such as Swiss and ham, hard-boiled eggs, roasted red peppers, and green olives. Mayonnaise is a common addition along with lettuce, tomato and blue cheese.
In the Caribbean, piononos have a savory filling, and the wraps around the fillings are plantains, a type of banana that must be cooked before eating. The yellow plantains are peeled, cut lengthwise, fried until pliable, then rolled into circles and filled. The ends are dipped in egg or a mixture of flour and egg and the roll is pan-fried on both sides to seal the fillings. In Puerto Rico, whole pionono is sometimes fried.
Beef fillings are popular, especially those like picadillo, where the meat is mixed with spices, green olives, and raisins. Other possibilities include stuffed with cheese, chicken lobster, shrimp or vegetables. Yellow plantains are sweet, so like South American savory pionono, they use a combination of sweet and savory flavors.
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