VIVA NOLA September 2019

nola food
Beignets and
Sopapillas
By Marcella Escarfuller
@Bubblegumcatering
Hispanic Heritage Month is fast
upon us, which has me thinking
about one of the most delicious fried
dishes out there – sopapillas. They
are such a staple in Hispanic culture
that many Latin American countries
have their own take on sopapillas.
Not to mention that these beautiful
honey-soaked, sugar-covered pillows
are undeniably similar to New
Viva NOLA Magazine - Page 28
Orleans’ beloved beignets. For those
you will notice that sopapillas
are light and flaky, while
beignets are soft and doughy.
unfamiliar with sopapillas, they are
squares or rounds of fried dough
made from simple choux pastry, with
the addition of a leavening agent,
such as baking powder. The word
sopapilla (also sopaipilla or sopaipa)
was introduced to the Spanish
language in medieval Spain, from the
Mozarabic language of Al-Andalus
(the then-Muslim-controlled Iberian
Peninsula). The Mozarabic word,
xopaipa, meaning bread soaked in oil,
was derived in turn from the ancient
Germanic word suppa (literally bread
soaked in liquid).
Unlike sopapillas, beignets are made
from yeast dough. And that’s pretty
much the only difference between
the two. That’s why you’ll notice
that sopapillas are light and flaky,
while beignets are soft and doughy
through and through, just like your
traditional American doughnut.
The word beignet (literally fritter
in French) comes from the early
Celtic word bigne, meaning to rise.
Beignets have been associated with
French Mardi Gras since the 16 th
century. Prior to that, beignets were
introduced into Mediterranean
France in the Middle Ages through