If you have ever been in Mallorca, I am sure you have seen “ensaimadas” everywhere. People have for breakfast, as a snack, or just buy as a fresh and delicious souvenir to take away for your family or friends.
What you might be don´t know, is that following the opinion of two famous chefs from Mallorca called Andreu Genesta and Tomeu Arbona, the Ensaimada have its origin as a dessert that the Jewish population of this mediterranean island used to cook for Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year´s eve).
Nowadays ensaimada is cooked with pork fat, but originally is was made with olive oil. As the families had to bring everything to the central oven of every village, once the Inquisition was looking for “conversos” (converted jews), they replaced the olive oil with the fat in order to look alike as the rest of the village.