ENTER A PRODUCT: Submission #13

General Info
------------
Product name: Meloja
Scientific name (for reporting plants, animal breeds, insects, etc.): Meloja
Category:
Category: Dolci

Geographic area:
Geographic area: Andarax, Provincia di Almería, Spagna
Latitude: 36.91114800259415
Longitude: -2.63929088507303
Location: 36.911148,-2.639291
Formatted Address: Andarax, Provincia di Almería, Spagna
State/Province: Andalusia
Country: Spagna
Country Code: ES


Product description
-------------------
Product description:
The meloja is a dessert of Arab origin, made from honey macerated with seasonal fruits. In Arab gastronomy, meloja was used to make mead or as a condiment to sweeten dishes when honey was scarce, especially during the pumpkin harvesting season from April to November, since in Ohanes, pumpkin was used as a basic fruit. It has similar properties to honey, since it can be considered a good natural preservative. Therefore, it was and is a way to preserve fruits throughout the year, such as: citron or angel hair pumpkin, peach, figs or orange.
The meloja is an energetic, very sweet product that is used also as a mid-afternoon sweet. The ingredients included would be honey and the cooked pumpkin.
The elaboration of the meloja requires a long period of time due to the cooking time required. The honey is simmered in a pot for ten or twelve hours together with chopped pumpkin, and then left to rest until it cools down. Normally, once it is made, it is placed in small glass jars for preserving.

Gastronomic use:
The meloja certifies the importance of honey in the gastronomy of the Andarax valley and the Alpujarra throughout history. Currently, in this area there is only one producer of meloja, since, due to the difficulty of extraction and processing, it is a product that despite the link it maintains with the territory is disappearing.

Relationship with the local ecosystem and processing:
In the Andaráx valley, honey production begins when the bees take advantage of the almond blossoms in January and February to start and continue the transhumance in spring with rosemary to produce their exquisite monofloral honey or albaida, among others. This transhumance passes in the month of June to high mountain areas. The beekeepers move their hives to the floral fields of the peaks of the Alpujarra, which have later blooms given the temperatures and this allows them to cover a longer period of honey production.
The honey of Sierra Nevada- Las Alpujarras, North Zone of Granada, the coast and the mountains of Granada, have documented more than ten centuries of history, with permanent allusions to the quality and abundance.


Culture and history:
The meloja becomes important in the Andarax valley during the civil war and post-war period, when the scarcity of food in the territory and the link with the existing food, created the need to make the most of the traditional products of the territory.
Honey is a product whose history in these regions is documented since the beginning of the 14th century. During the conquest of the kingdom of Granada by the Christian troops, many chronicles were written in which continuous allusions are made to the abundance and excellence of the honey of the Kingdom of Granada. Since then and until the 19th century, the importance of the sector in the area of the Alpujarra and the valley of the Andarax continues to be alluded to.

What are the conservation risks?:
Today, the process of obtaining the honey by the beekeepers of the Andarax valley is totally traditional and respectful with the environment. The beekeeping is usually done by the traditional system of brushing bees with brushes of single or double row of natural bristles. The darker and denser honey that remains adhered to the walls of the honeycomb is also extracted and is used to make meloja.

IS IT PRODUCED BY AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLE / COMMUNITY?: NO

Upload space
------------
ADD IMAGE:
- Image: https://medsnailgeodatabase.famp.es/slowfood/sites/default/files/webform/segnala_un_prodotto_bk1/19/meloja_2_OK.jpg
- Image: https://medsnailgeodatabase.famp.es/slowfood/sites/default/files/webform/segnala_un_prodotto_bk1/19/meloja_1.jpg

ADD LINK/URL:
- url: https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/meloja/