Just in case you've been under a rock, Eurovision is here, which means: Eurovision parties! This year’s competition (during which Europe’s brightest and most glittery talents compete for singer-superstar glory) is being held in Lisbon, Portugal, so we’re expecting a bevvy of Portuguese-inspired foods to steal the show. Enter our menu right here.
The Portuguese certainly don’t hold back when it comes to baking and sweets, in fact, they revel in it. So when we went searching for all things Portuguese sweet, penis-shaped cakes weren’t something we were expecting to pop up.
Doces fálicos (a phrase that into English literally as phallic sweets) hail from the northern Portuguese town of Amarante, which is nestled one of the most conservative – and staunchly Catholic – areas in Europe. This, along with their precisely phallic shape, makes these baked goods a little unusual to behold.
Each year over the first weekend in June, Amarante is essentially flooded with these sugar-iced, cream-filled penis cakes in honour of Saint Gonçalo, the town’s eponymous patron saint. The doughnut-esque cakes are found in all manner of shapes and sizes and are said to symbolise fertility, good luck in love and fidelity. They are usually bought by or gifted to young single women as tokens of affection or good luck charms, and perhaps also as a not-so-subtle reminder of their capacity for procreation.
"The ritual of handing out the cakes of Saint Gonçalo probably go back to the Roman age or even to pre- and proto-historical societies,” Sonia Files from the Amarante tourism board . “The rituals remain, and are represented in the giving out of the phallic sweets, together with dried figs, every year on January 10, and then at the June street parties in honour of the saint."
Not much is known about Sāo Gonçalo and why he’s come to be represented in the form of a penis cake. He was a Roman Catholic priest who died in the 13th century, but anything beyond that is hard to confirm. Was he particularly well-endowed? Was he the patron saint of fertility? Or is phallus worship simply a time-worn, hangover practice, at least back to Ancient Roman times? Maybe the less we actually know, the better.
Whatever its origin, this tradition doesn’t seem to be going anywhere fast. Despite a hiatus during the Portuguese dictatorship (in which they were labelled obscene and immoral) from 1924-1974, doces fálicos are nevertheless heralded these days as Amarante’s calling card. Some are up to one metre in length – something we’re sure would impress Sāo Gonçalo if he were around to see it.
Want to make doces fálicos? Find an authentic recipe
