In the early 1900s, Ines Rosales discovered an old family recipe for tortas de aceite (or olive oil biscuits). Soon after, she made her first batches and carried them in wicker baskets to the train station in Castilleja de la Cuestain, a small town near Seville. These on-the-go snacks sold out immediately, and Rosales was quickly overwhelmed with the demand.
After this great success, Rosales hired local women to help her bake the tortas and sell them in the village. As the tortas market continued to grow, they began making their way beyond city borders of Seville, and Rosales’s traditional recipe—made with just flour, extra virgin olive oil, sugar, yeast, salt, anise, sesame seeds, and other spices—became a national favorite.
While Spaniards tend to favor the traditional torta recipe, Ines Rosales has begun experimenting with new flavor combinations, like Rosemary & Thyme or Seville Orange. Other products, like their cookies and cortadillos, have become just as beloved as the original tortas recipe.
After more than a hundred years of making tortas, cookies, and other flaky snacks, Ines Rosales has certainly disproven the Spanish proverb, “a falta de pan, buenas son tortas,” or “where there is no bread, tortas are alright.” In fact, we’re convinced that the entire line of Ines Rosales treats is quite a bit better than just alright.
