Xuixo (ˈʃuʃu, ˈʃujʃo; also known as xuxo; ) is a viennoiserie

Viennoiserie

Viennoiseries are baked goods made from a yeast-leavened dough in a manner similar to bread, or from puff pastry, but with added ingredients giving them a richer, sweeter character, approaching that of pastry. The dough is often laminated...

 pastry from the city Girona

Girona

Girona is a city in the northeast of Catalonia, Spain at the confluence of the rivers Ter, Onyar, Galligants and Güell, with an official population of 96,236 in January 2009. It is the capital of the province of the same name and of the comarca of the Gironès...

 in Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. Its a cylindrical pastry filled with crema catalana that is deep fried

Deep frying

Deep frying is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot oil or fat. This is normally performed with a deep fryer or chip pan; industrially, a pressure fryer or vacuum fryer may be used....

 and covered with cristallized sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

.

Commonly eaten for breakfast

Breakfast

Breakfast is the first meal taken after rising from a night's sleep, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the day's work...

 or tea

Tea (meal)

Tea can refer to any of several different meals or mealtimes, depending on a country's customs and its history of drinking tea. However, in those countries where the term's use is common, the influences are generally those of the former British Empire...

 it is honored as Producte de la Terra (English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

: Product of the home country) by the Department of Agriculture, Farming and Fishing of the Government of Catalonia

Generalitat de Catalunya

The Generalitat of Catalonia is the institution under which the autonomous community of Catalonia is politically organised. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Government of Catalonia....

.
It is assumeed that this pastry originated in Girona in the 1920s in a pastry shop owned by Emili Puig in the Street Corte Real. A French pastry shop showed him the preparation of cream filled pastry and this served him as an inspiration for the Xuixo.

This pastry is very popular not only in Girona but has been also accepted in the surrounding areas and can also be found in Tarragona

Tarragona

Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...

, Castellón de la Plana

Castellón de la Plana

Castellón de la Plana or Castelló de la Plana is the capital city of the province of Castelló, in the Valencian Community, Spain, in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Costa del Azahar by the Mediterranean Sea...

 and Valencia.

In the second half of the 20th century is was one of the most demanded product in the Xurreries (pastry shops) and nowadays it is commercialized by a candy brand that sells them not plain but with a chocolate icing.

The legend

According to a legend in Girona the invention of the Xuixo has to be credited to el Tarlà, a very sympathical person that is very present in the legends of this area. This acrobat that entertained the citizens in a quarantine during an epidemic, fell in love with the daughter of a pastry chef. Once when he visited his beloved girl her father appeared and he hid in a bag of flour. Unfortunately he sneezed (which sounds like xui-xui) and was discovered. Before the pastry chef could get angry he promised to marry his daughter and give him the recipe of a special pastry: the Xuixo. He named it after the sneeze that betrayed him.
Nowadays a figure of el Tarlà can be seen every year during the spring festivities when its copy is erected at the place where he had entertained the people of Girona.

The popular Xuixo procession

The foundation "Fundació Oncolliga Girona" and the government of Girona organize the popular procession Marxa del Xuxo. It's a procession in which the whole family participates and strolls through the streets of Girona to discover the city's beauties. After the walk the participants are entertained with Xuixos that have been prepared by the board of pastry chefs of Gerona.