Cantucci, Amaretti, Pizzelle, Vin
Santo or Masala, you choose.
We talk about tea being too dry without
a biscuit; the Italians are just a little more sophisticated when
they choose to dunk a biscotti. Suddenly your senses are transported,
tasting a prickling crunchiness collapsing onto your tongue aided by
the tangy sweetness of Vin Santo or Marsala. What you end up with is
a deliciously sloppy mess of alcohol, almonds, honey and egg which is
far more of a pick-me-up than cucumber sandwiches and tea with the
vicar I find.
Merenda which is taken in the afternoon
is one of the Italian portions of the day reserved for biscuit
eating, breakfast being the other. That doesn’t mean you are forced
to drink alcohol for breakfast, goodness me! A caffe latte will
suffice in this instance but I do have a vision of biscotti and
Masala in bed with the warm sun peeking through the blinds at 7 in
the morning – how decadent!
Biscotti derive from the age old
conundrum of food preservation and the Italians discovered if you
baked a simple mixture of flour and eggs twice, you would be left
with a dry product which might well defy moulds and bacteria just
itching to invade. These dry Biscotti were favoured by travellers
and apparently, Roman legions, who we know marched on their stomachs
after all. Pliny is quoted as having said they would last for
centuries and in essence he was correct.
Today, preservation is not paramount
and you can discover confections which are filled with chocolate,
sugar and other exotica alongside the traditional almond flavour;
surely these are not temptations emanating from heaven? Original
biscotti came from Tuscany and were infused with almonds from Prato,
locals know them as Cantucci and Cantucci di Pratto and they are
typically found in any Tuscan pasticceria. As many Flavours guests
have discovered they become an obsession.
As the Italians are famed for their
artistic improvisation it would not be long before a staple
travelling biscuit would be infused with passion by Italian bakers
and each area began to develop its own signature Cantucci. Certainly
they understood the unhurried pleasure emanating from dipping this
confection slowly into a syrupy Vin Santo and savouring the taste,
while lazily watching the world go by.
Pizzelle is another biscuit with a long
history having been made for over 1000 years in Abruzzo which is
situated towards the south of Italy. The word itself describes
something which is diminutive, round and flat and made with batter
poured into flat iron plates and heated. Nowadays two small towns vie
with each other as being the originators of Pizzelle and those living
in Salle (in Pescara) walk through the town each July complete with
branches smothered with Pizzelle in celebration of Beato Roberto.
Whereas in Cocullo (L’’Aquila), Pizzelle are consumed in honour
of Domenico which is Cocullo’s patron saint. Nowadays these
biscuits are also served at weddings as they have come to symbolise
family and it is not unusual to have them baked using irons that
depict a family coat of arms.
One could not write about biscotti
without mentioning Amaretti biscuits; I can feel a part II developing
of this survey gestating in my mind as I write. An amaretto is
basically a macaroon-style biscuit and originates in Saronno
(Lombardy). Amaretto means ‘little bitter things’, which also
partner sweet wine so sumptuously. They are associated with a
charming legend which comes from the 1700s.
Apparently a church dignitary made an
unannounced call on the town of Saronno and two young residents were
the ones to welcome him. As his arrival was a surprise they rustled
up what they had available and presented a plate of special biscuits
in his honour. In their hurry they had mixed up egg white, sugar and
crushed almonds. It is not difficult to imagine how
pleased the visitor was with this happy example of necessity being
the mother of invention. As a consequence he blessed this young
couple with a fruitful and enduring marriage. Therefore the recipe
for this airy confection remained a close kept secret for years.
In Italy, as in the UK, biscuits are
extremely big business and the choice is almost overwhelming, wrap
your tongue around this list: Baci di Dama, Amaretti, Torcetti, Brut
E Buon, Spumini, Croccantucci Alle Mandorle, Cantucci Al Miele,
Savoiardi, Masserini, Torcetti Al Cioccolato.
If you manage a trip to Tuscany, Sicily, Umbria or Puglia on a Flavours holiday this year you will be able to
indulge in the very wicked act of dipping biscotti in wine; I envy
you.
Vivienne Neale is a member of the UKFood Bloggers Association
No comments:
Post a Comment