Xuixo
 | |
| Alternative names | Xuxo |
|---|---|
| Type | Pastry |
| Course | Breakfast or tea |
| Place of origin | Spain |
| Region or state | Catalonia |
| Main ingredients | Crema catalana, sugar |
 Cookbook: Xuixo  Media: Xuixo | |
Xuixo (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈʃuʃu], Western Catalan: [ˈ(t)ʃujʃo]; also known as xuxo; Spanish: suso) is a viennoiserie pastry from the city Girona in Catalonia, Spain. It's a cylindrical pastry filled with crema catalana that is deep fried and covered with crystallized sugar.
Commonly eaten for breakfast or tea it is honored as Producte de la Terra (English: Product of the home country) by the Department of Agriculture, Farming and Fishing of the Government of Catalonia.
It is assumed that this pastry originated in Girona in the 1920s in a pastry shop owned by Emili Puig in the Street Corte Real. A French pastry shop showed him the preparation of cream filled pastry and this served him as an inspiration for the Xuixo.
This pastry is very popular not only in Girona but has been also accepted in the surrounding areas and can also be found in Tarragona, Castellón de la Plana and Valencia.
In the second half of the 20th century it was one of the most demanded product in the Xurreries (pastry shops, Spanish: churrerías) and nowadays it is commercialized by a candy brand that sells them not plain but with a chocolate icing.
The legend
According to a legend in Girona the invention of the Xuixo has to be credited to el Tarlà, a very sympathical person that is very present in the legends of this area. This acrobat that entertained the citizens in a quarantine during an epidemic, fell in love with the daughter of a pastry chef. Once when he visited his beloved girl her father appeared and he hid in a bag of flour. Unfortunately he sneezed (which sounds like xui-xui) and was discovered. Before the pastry chef could get angry he promised to marry his daughter and give him the recipe of a special pastry: the Xuixo. He named it after the sneeze that betrayed him. Nowadays a figure of el Tarlà can be seen every year during the spring festivities when its copy is erected at the place where he had entertained the people of Girona.
The popular Xuixo procession
The foundation "Fundació Oncolliga Girona" and the government of Girona organize the popular procession Marxa del Xuxo. It's a procession in which the whole family participates and strolls through the streets of Girona to discover the city's beauties. After the walk the participants are entertained with Xuixos that have been prepared by the board of pastry chefs of Girona.