Formigos (Porto Christmas Bread Pudding with Port and Nuts)
- Prep
- 15 min
- Total
- 35 min
- servings
- 8
- Calories
- 340 kcal
- Difficulty
- Easy
Formigos are one of the oldest Christmas Eve sweets in Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia and the Douro coast. They were born in the convents of the north, where the nuns used up scraps of bread, leftover sugar syrups and the nuts kept for winter. They’re ready in 35 minutes, easy to make on Christmas Eve while the salt cod or the octopus cooks.
The name, from formiga (ant), is said to come from the patient way they were made, bit by bit, the small pieces of bread, raisins and nuts scattered on the dish with cinnamon and pine nuts looking like an anthill.
Recipe
Formigos de Natal
A historic Christmas Eve sweet of Porto, the Douro coast and the Minho, born in the old convents to use up bread, nuts and sugar syrups: pieces of day-old bread soaked in a fragrant syrup of brown sugar, honey, lemon, cinnamon and port, bound with egg yolks.
Ingredients
For the formigos
Method
Making the brown sugar and honey syrup
- 1In a wide pan, bring the 500 ml of water to the boil with the brown sugar, honey, butter, pinch of salt, lemon and orange peel and cinnamon sticks. Boil for 5 minutes to make a light, fragrant syrup.
- 2Add the currants, walnuts, almonds and half the pine nuts to the syrup and simmer for 3 minutes more.
Soaking the bread and binding with eggs and port
- 3Turn the heat to the lowest setting, remove the citrus peel and cinnamon sticks and add the torn bread. Fold it in gently with a large fork (without mashing it) for 4 to 5 minutes until the bread soaks up the syrup.
- 4Pour in the port and let it bubble for 2 minutes to cook off the excess alcohol and concentrate the aroma.
- 5Take the pan off the heat, temper the beaten yolks and egg with a little hot syrup and pour them into the formigos in a thin stream, folding gently with the fork.
- 6Return to low heat for 2 minutes until the eggs set in soft strands around the bread. Move to a dish, dust with ground cinnamon and decorate with the rest of the toasted pine nuts.
Formigos or mexidos?
They share almost the same ingredients as the mexidos of the Minho, with two classic differences: formigos are made in a clear syrup of water, brown sugar, honey and port (mexidos use milk), and they’re folded with a fork so they stay loose instead of turning to mush.
Tips
Use bread a day or two old, which soaks up the syrup without falling apart. Don’t skimp on the port: it cuts the sweetness of the honey. They’re even better after 12 hours on the dish. Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
