Sericaia
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 Sericaia with characteristic cracks | |
| Alternative names | Siricaia Sericá Sericá |
|---|---|
| Type | Conventual sweet Pudding Blancmange Custard |
| Course | Dessert |
| Place of origin | Portugal |
| Region or state | Elvas, Alentejo |
| Main ingredients | Milk, wheat flour, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest |
| Ingredients generally used | Reine Claude Plums (stewed, as an accompaniment) |
| Similar dishes | Manjar branco, Soufflé |
Sericaia is a Portuguese pudding similar to a soufflé, from Elvas, Alentejo.[1] It is often accompanied with stewed Reine Claude plums grown in the region.[2][3][4]
Sericaia is believed to have been influenced by Malay-Indo serikaya (and srikaya), a result of the Portuguese exploration and colonization of Portuguese Malacca in the early 1500s.[5] Serikaya, in manuscripts written in the 1600s define it as a coconut custard.[6][7][a][b]
Constantino de Bragança, governor of Goa, Portuguese India is said to have brought the seri kaya recipe back to Portugal in the 1500s where it was re-interpreted by the nuns in the convents and monasteries of Alentejo.[9] Specifically in Elvas, at the convents of Nossa Senhora da Conceição and Santa Clara.[4] Cinnamon, another key ingredient in sericaia, was also brought back from Asia in 16th century.[10]
Another interpretation suggests that it was the other way around―the Portuguese sericaia influenced the creation of seri kaya, dairy milk was substituted with widely available coconut milk and bread replaced pastry.[11]
