egg yolk sweets, confections made from egg yolks and sugar, are synonymous with Portuguese cuisine. These rich concoctions, which many non-Portuguese find excessively sweet and cloying, are a hybrid between dessert and confectionery that originated in convent kitchens in medieval Iberia. See convent sweets. Although egg sweets are also made in Spain, particularly in the Castilian region that shares much of its culinary heritage with Portugal, it is the Portuguese who elevated the egg sweet to iconic status, developing an extraordinarily extensive repertoire of recipes.
