White dish king kong

The King Kong is a typical sweet of Peruvian gastronomy, native to the north, specifically the regions of La Libertad and Lambayeque. It consists of a large alfajor made with cookies made from flour, butter, egg yolks and milk mixed with manjar blanco, pineapple jam and peanut jam, or various types of jam. It is sold in half and one kilo presentations, and also in small individual portions.

History

Trujillo Alfajor, origin of the North Manjarblanco king kong

The 'king kong' It has its origin in the round-shaped alfajor of Trujillo. This alfajor and other traditional sweets, was initially made in the 1920s by Victoria Mejía de García from Lambayeque. Later, during the 1930s, it was exhibited at the city of Lambayeque the famous movie King Kong, popular mischief compared the mold and size of this forceful sweet with the figure of the great gorilla, baptizing it since then as "King Kong".

In 1943 the San Roque company, owned by the García Mejía family, patented the original recipe for King Kong de manjar blanco. This sweet is usually rectangular in shape, although it is possible to find circular presentations in the market.

Currently, many factories are dedicated to the production of this sweet, the oldest and most well-known being the San Roque (Lambayeque) factories, which inaugurated its first production plant in 1970, and Lambayeque. There are also the Mochica factories, and Royal Tombs.

Sociocultural impact

Bar filled with white delicacy

The King Kong is recognized as heritage of the Lambayeque Region and the largest producers are grouped in the Asociación de Productores del King Kong y Dulces Típicos de la Ciudad de Lambayeque i> (APROKLAM), made up of 11 formal factories dedicated to the production of this delicacy. APROKLAM has started the process to obtain the designation of origin.

King Kong is one of the export products in the Lambayeque region, with the United States being the main buyer; the product is also exported to Japan, Canada, Costa Rica, Italy and Spain.

A popular activity in the city of Lambayeque is the preparation of large samples of "King Kong", whose weight is close to one ton, which are tasted en masse to promote the product during the "Traditional King Kong Fair" which is celebrated every year during National Holidays.