Poleá is a very simple recipe from Andalusian cuisine that stands out for its affordable ingredients. Poleá is a sweet flour and milk porridge typical of western Andalusia, whose origin is probably linked to subsistence food. In fact, this recipe is already mentioned by Ibn Razin al-Tuyibi in his Relieves de las mesas recipe book, about the delicacies of the food and the different dishes. Its main ingredients (flour, milk and sugar) are today basic and can be used to prepare this delicious recipe that takes many back to their childhood.
Poleá is, after all, a kind of sweet béchamel that will not leave anyone indifferent. Many people today claim this dessert which, despite its simplicity, deserves its place in the recipe book of any lover of traditional confectionery of our country.
Ingredients for the poleá recipe (4 people):
- 100 g of flour
- 120 g of sugar
- 1 litre of milk
- 1 lemon peel
- 75 g of mild olive oil
- 1 spoonful of anise, according to taste
- Powdered cinnamon and croutons for decoration
Directions:
- To prepare the poleá you must first aromatize the oil. To do this, pour the oil into a pan and bring it to a medium heat. Once the oil has heated up, add the lemon peel and the anise. Leave to fry for a minute and then strain the oil into another bowl to remove all the aromas. Some people leave the anise in the poleá, that already depends on the taste of each person.
- Add the oil back to the pot and add the flour and sugar. Let it fry lightly until the flour turns a soft golden colour.
- On the other hand, heat the milk in another pan and, once the flour is slightly toasted, add the hot milk little by little while stirring with a few sticks. Another possibility is to add all the milk to the flour and blend it all with a mixer. Any option is valid as long as there are no lumps left.
- And the poleá is ready. Just serve it in bowls and decorate the surface with powdered cinnamon and bread croutons that you can fry in a pan. You can also toast the desired bread in the toaster and then cut it into small cubes, this way the result is healthier.
