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FijiFlavors · Córdoba
Alfajor from the province of Córdoba, with a soft dough made with honey, filled with fruit jam such as quince or pear, or with dulce de leche, and covered by a thin layer of white icing, without chocolate.
Traditional sweet from Córdoba
Also known as: alfajores cordobeses, alfajor de Córdoba, alfajor cordobés de fruta
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Alfajor cordobés — Córdoba, Argentina
The alfajor is Argentina’s most popular hand-sized sweet: two pastry discs joined by a filling, usually dulce de leche, often coated in chocolate. In the province of Córdoba, in the center of the country, it developed its own version, the alfajor cordobés, a classic travel gift for visitors to the sierras.
The dough of the alfajor cordobés is softer and paler than that of other alfajores and contains a fair amount of honey, which gives moisture and flavor. The traditional filling is fruit jam, such as quince, pear, or peach, although the dulce de leche version is also common. What identifies it from afar is the topping: a thin film of white sugar icing instead of a chocolate coating.
The icing and the honey help the alfajor keep for weeks, which encouraged the custom of taking it as a gift. Producers from the Córdoba sierras say the honey comes from the region itself.
Córdoba also hosts the Fiesta Nacional del Alfajor, held every year in October in the mountain town of La Falda, with a contest that includes a category specifically for the regional cordobés alfajor. The 2015 edition was declared of interest by the National Chamber of Deputies.
In the province, the sweet-making tradition is linked to the colonial heritage and to the Jesuit schools and convents, which were numerous in Córdoba. The alfajor cordobés is made in several towns in the sierras, such as La Falda, Villa Carlos Paz and Alta Gracia, and in the provincial capital.
Córdoba
The alfajor cordobés is a style from the province of Córdoba, made in the sierras and in the capital, without a single documented city of origin.
Flour, honey, sugar, eggs and butter or margarine; filling of fruit jam (quince, pear or peach) or dulce de leche; topping of sugar icing.
Whole, by hand, for an afternoon snack, with coffee or mate. It is one of the most purchased travel souvenirs in the Córdoba sierras.
All year. The Fiesta Nacional del Alfajor takes place in La Falda in October.
Your questions
The cordobés has a softer dough with honey, a filling of fruit jam or dulce de leche, and a white icing topping without chocolate. The most common alfajor elsewhere in the country is filled with dulce de leche and coated in chocolate.
In La Falda, in the Córdoba sierras, every year in October. The contest includes a category for the regional cordobés alfajor. Dates change each edition: check before you go.
A few weeks, thanks to the honey and the icing; that is why it is commonly taken as a gift. Check the expiration date on the package.
Flavors of Argentina
The Buenos Aires pizza: thick dough baked in a pan, topped with plenty of mozzarella and eaten in portions, often standing at the counter. It includes the fugazzeta, filled with cheese and topped with onion, and the fainá made from chickpea flour that accompanies it.
Aromatic white wine from a grape born in Argentina, with floral and fruity aroma. In the high vineyards of the Cafayate valley, in Salta, it has one of its best-known expressions and an annual week of celebrations.
Dark, dense cake fragrant with dried fruit, nuts, brown sugar and spices — a legacy of the Welsh settlers who arrived in Chubut in 1865. It is the centerpiece of the Welsh tea and can be kept for a long time.
Malbec red wine from the old vineyards of Luján de Cuyo, in Mendoza, protected by the Denominación de Origen Controlada Luján de Cuyo, considered the first of the Americas, with rules on grape variety, alcohol content and aging.
A simple dish from Misiones, made of flour, water and salt, sometimes with egg, stirred in the pot until it becomes a crumbly mass. It was born in the province’s yerba mate plantations, among the yerba-mate workers, and is eaten with mate cocido at breakfast.
Small, very juicy empanada from Salta, filled with knife-cut beef in small cubes, potato, scallion, hard‑boiled egg, paprika and cumin, preferably baked in a clay oven and served very hot, with spicy sauce on the side.
