In a globalized world plagued by industrial sweets that compete wildly for our attention, the humble cookie Maria survives all generations. Although sometimes accused of being bland and boring, this mythical pasta has hardly needed to change in its more than 100 years of history to continue making a niche for itself in the breakfasts and snacks of millions of families, and not only in Spain.
Contrary to a certain popular belief, which links the name of this sweet to a supposed granddaughter of Eugenio Fontaneda, founder of the well-known brand, in reality they were originally baptized in English, and that is how they are still known in half the world. Because Maria cookies have innumerable versions under infinity of marks distributed by the most unexpected countries.
The Maria biscuit was born in London in 1874, the work of the Peek Freans family business specialized in pasta, whose legacy is today owned by United Biscuits in British lands and the giant Mondelēz in the United States. The company launched a simple sweet cookie that year under the name of marie biscuit, in commemoration of the recent marriage between Grand Duchess Maria Aleksandrovna of Russia and Prince Alfred I of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, son of Queen Victoria.
The biscuit quickly achieved enormous popularity and spread throughout the British territories, colonies and beyond, soon spreading throughout Europe and part of America, and not only from the hand of the original producers. Although there is no single recipe as such, since small variations arose in each territory, it was such a simple product that it became very easy to replicate.
and in that apparent simplicity lies the secret of its success and a legacy that seems inexhaustible.
The tea cake that holds almost everything
The marie biscuitalthough it is sometimes mentioned as cookiesresponds perfectly to the type of typically British pasta and that differs so much, precisely, from the cookies defined by American pastry. Delve into the history and evolution of the biscuits Anglo-Saxons would give for a doctoral thesis, but suffice it to say that they respond to the type of biscuit rather thin, crisp and resistantof those that last weeks and that are perfect to wet in tea, milk or coffee.
Its most immediate antecedent are the masses type crackers or hardtrackwhich before incorporating sugar – an ingredient that was difficult to introduce in Great Britain – were simple hard and crunchy pastes that had to provide quick energy to sailors, soldiers and merchants, resisting long sea voyages. Also food of the working class, by adding sugar they became more nutritious, appetizing and durable, perfect to drink with afternoon tea, before dinner.
The Maria cookie has the seamless texture to drink alone without leaving your teeth and also to dip in a liquid without instantly dissolving. supports a long shelf life and offers the ideal consistency to take away or also to cook with it more complex preparations. It’s sweet, but not cloying; It provides energy without overwhelming and usually sits very well on convalescent or delicate stomachs.
No wonder it became popular as humble family cookie, almost a basic product of the pantry and very present in breakfasts, snacks and after meals, already outside the British ritual of tea. It is one of the pastes that is given the most to young children, ideal for sucking and nibbling when teeth begin to come out, and it was even spread as food for the sick.
The mistaken idea that it is a “nutritious” cookie is still present in the collective imagination and it is not uncommon to find it on hospital menus or children’s diets, to the torture of dietitians-nutritionists.
A post-war survivor
Much loved in half the world, in Spain It is perhaps where the Maria biscuit reached its greatest popularity thanks to the success it achieved thanks to fountainthe company that introduced this type of pasta for the first time in our country.
Created in 1881 by Eugenio Fontaneda In Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia), Fontaneda was born as a small family oven in which its founder made various sweets and chocolates by hand. His success led him to expand the business by moving his activity to a nearby warehouse where the new factory would be installed, already promoted by his son Rafael, who focused the business on the new Maria cookie imported from Europe, from where it also brought the machinery and processes necessary to modernize the company.
At the gates of the Civil War, the company, baptized “National Manufacture of Biscuits, Chocolates and Biscuits Son of E. Fontaneda”, dominated the market of the area and managed to make its flagship product become well known in nearby communities, until the conflict paralyzed the business. But he would only do it momentarily.
Already in the middle of the post-war period and despite the economic and social crisis in which the country was submerged, Fontaneda managed to continue growing thanks to its good relations with the regime and the good management of Rafael’s business. He managed to benefit from the quota policy established by the Franco regime and also had the advantage of producing his own sugar.
The company continued to grow and expand, modernizing its facilities and progressively increasing production. By the middle of the 20th century, the Maria biscuit was already a common product and familiar in almost every home and, it was such a success of the company, that other brands were installed in the area, getting to know Aguilar de Campoo as ‘the capital of cookies’.
The family heirs continued with the business until the crisis in the sector in the 1990s forced the company to close several facilities and sell the company to the multinational Nabisco in 1996. A decade later, it would be Kraft, currently Mondelēz Internationalwhich would definitely acquire the brand.
Today Mondelēz continues to manufacture them, keeping the original legacy, preserving the iconic brand and promoting its cookie under the name “the good mary“, in an attempt to differentiate itself from the competition.
Marys around the world
Parallel to the history of Fontaneda and its mythical advertisements and emblems (“How good are the Fontaneda cookies!), the Maria cookie has continued its international journey to become an extremely popular product in many countries, with gastronomic cultures as disparate as those found in Mexico, Brazil, Sweden, China, Japan or Zimbabwe.
With tiny differences in each territory, there are various brands that make their own version of the original marie biscuitalmost always round in shape and adorned with a geometric design running along the edge, showing off the feminine engraved own name in the middle.
In addition to being the favorite cookie for breakfasts and snacks of innumerable generations, has also become a basic ingredient of many desserts traditional homely character.
Thus, they are a recipes icon such as homemade custard, the so-called grandma birthday cake, Portuguese cake, Peruvian chocolate and dulce de leche salami, Brazilian pavé, fried cookies or as a complement to ice cream, puddings and jellies.
Images | iStock – Wikimmedia Commons – BrycroftBoy – Sludge G – Mike Mozart – Dick Thomas Johnson
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