Flaons

Flaó

Flaons de Morella with a filling of cottage cheese
Type	Pastry
Region or state	Catalan-speaking regions, Spain
Main ingredients	Cheese, sugar or honey

Flaó (plural flaons (Catalan pronunciation: [fɫəˈons]) is a type of pastry made in different locations of the Catalan-speaking regions of Spain, like Morella, Ibiza, Formentera, Menorca and Olot. Traditionally flaons were part of Easter family celebrations in Menorca, but now they are available all-year-round.

The flaons have different shapes, semicircular or circular, and fillings usually based on some type of cheese, varying according to the location. Sweet flaons are usually sweetened with sugar, but traditionally honey was used more often. Historically the first recorded mention of these cakes is from 1252 and they are mentioned as well in Ramon Llull's book Blanquerna, written in 1283. There is a similar pastry in Cyprus known as flaounes.

In the Alt Maestrat and Ports areas the cake has a semicircular shape and it is filled with a mixture of local cottage cheese (brull) and ground almonds flavored with aiguardent and mistela. The flaons of Morella are the gastronomic icon of the ancient city. An average-sized Morella flaó is about 12 cm long.

The flaó d'Eivissa has a circular shape and has a filling of sheep or goat cottage cheese, eggs and sugar, slightly aromatized with peppermint leaves and aniseed. Flaons are usually eaten along with a glass of sweet wine or the local Liqueur frígola, a thyme-based digestive beverage.