What is that tasty pastry in Volver?

May 15, 2007 6:01 PM

In Pedro Almodovar's Volver... when Raimunda (Penelope Cruz) and Sole visit their aunt Paula, Raimunda eats a pastry from a plateful that is sitting on the table. Can anyone tell me what that pastry is called?

Also, if anyone knows where I can find these pastries in NYC that'd be great! Thanks!

posted by BugsPotter to food & drink (16 comments total)

Could you be more descriptive or post a picture?
posted by oddman at 6:09 PM on May 15, 2007

Oh, man. . . it's been months since I've seen the movie and I don't have it at hand. It wasn't an ensaimada, was it? That looks sort of like this: @
posted by veggieboy at 6:15 PM on May 15, 2007

empanada?
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 6:47 PM on May 15, 2007

Were they churros?
I saw the film a while back, but I remember them eating long pastries.
posted by Constant Reader at 7:01 PM on May 15, 2007

LOL veggieboy! Maybe they were napolitanas (croissant with chocolate inside). The napolitana has to be the best pastry in Spain.
posted by ubu at 7:18 PM on May 15, 2007

Hmm, thanks everyone for the tries! I'm also working from memory and can't find a picture anywhere. I guess renting the DVD and posting a screen capture may be the only way to figure out for sure. The weird thing is that I remember them being subtitled as "wafers" and not pastries. But they definitely looked more pastry-like to me. Calentitos (from CR's churros link) looks sorta like what I remember them looking like. They were long. If anyone has the DVD...? If not, guess I know what I'm renting tomorrow!
posted by BugsPotter at 7:30 PM on May 15, 2007

I have the dvd at home right now. Planning to watch it tonight. I will post a screenshot when I get to the this scene.
posted by special-k at 7:44 PM on May 15, 2007

Thanks, special-k!!
posted by BugsPotter at 7:51 PM on May 15, 2007

Could they be barquillos? (On a side note, Almodovar notes here that the wafers for Volver were made by his sister.)
posted by zamboni at 8:24 PM on May 15, 2007

Can't get a screencap but they are barquillos. Just watched it now and listened to what Raimunda said. It's around 4:30 minutes into the movie.
posted by junesix at 8:31 PM on May 15, 2007

OK so screenshots here, here and here.
posted by special-k at 8:54 PM on May 15, 2007

Those look more like an oddly shaped churros (i.e not star shaped) than barquillos. The texture looks like a fried dough, but barquillos aren't fried. (They are apparently made in something like a waffle iron).

Of course, the above is just conjecture based on the screen cap. They could be a weird looking, homemade, barquillo, but I'd lean toward a homemade churro from the screen caps.

There is no chance those are croquetas right?
posted by oddman at 9:19 PM on May 15, 2007

The Spanish version of the page linked to by zamboni calls the pastries "barquillos."
posted by Orinda at 9:55 PM on May 15, 2007

Definitely not churros, probably not barquillos. These look more like croquetas as oddman mentioned. They look like they are filled with something almost like an egg roll. It seems odd that if they are a dessert, why aren't they drinking coffee with them???

You can order lots of spanish foods from La Tienda.
posted by JJ86 at 5:59 AM on May 16, 2007

Thirding barquillos. JJ86, people don't actually drink coffee with dessert in Spain like they do in the US. Before or after maybe, but not at the same time.
posted by ubu at 6:44 AM on May 16, 2007

ubu, I think you are talking about the after dinner dessert. Formally, an after dinner dessert is served before coffee anywhere in the world. That is true although casually many people, even in Spain drink coffee with an after dinner dessert. It is becoming more the norm nowadays. At least that is what I observed when I lived there a few years ago. Typical desserts served on their own are eaten with coffee or tea.
posted by JJ86 at 7:23 AM on May 16, 2007