"A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down" Mary Poppins sang that he knew more of the devil! And while good Nino Manfredi "pe 'ffa life less bitter" had bought "na chitara," she suggested to us rather than the way of taste: If life is bitter, what's better a little 'sugar to make it sweeter? "Everything will shine again!" The abstract sense of the word "sweet" does not stem from perhaps its most pragmatic linked to the taste? So it's just sugar that helps us to overcome the small problems of life by making it more "sweet".
The Christmas period forces a reflection on what life is sweet these days! Of course I have not abandoned my foolish optimism for a cosmic pessimism holiday! The sweetness is due to the amount of sugar in food for parties.
do not know if there is scientific evidence that the gentle good humor us, but from experience while eating a cake forget for a moment all the problems of life and the world will seem brighter soon! Those who know me might argue that a chronic greedy like me these arguments are very unstable. And here we are then back to Mary Poppins and her - maybe not exactly scientific - thought that might be more broadly: the warmth and the color (and taste) of sweet make everyone a bit 'more carefree.
In this Christmas season and the desserts are wasted all Italy has committed itself to compete with goodies that are rooted in local history or national level. I modestly sweet I mean! And since I turned a bit 'of Italy, I decided to tell the sweet taste of the festivities: the essence that makes the holidays even more festive (or holidays)!
No, I will not dwell long on pandoro panettone of Milan and Verona, I'm sorry. They deserve, however, by tradition and spread a quote. These sweet, as typical, have invaded so much aisles of our supermarkets in many variations that there came to boredom! What is certain is that the artisan product, and pandoro panettone, has a completely different flavor than those made in the series that we find in supermarkets. But what does it taste? If we enter into these sweet pastries and try it hard to find! Today I read on Facebook the status of a desperate friend of mine who wondered "Where can I find the template for the Pandora?" The mold for the Pandora? Is there something? There are still people who would like to make a Pandora groped home? As here in Verona (where I currently live) is venerated in the windows of pastry shops these days is very difficult to see a Pandora - yes a capital P is desired - worthy of the name. But the original sweet
Verona was another, called Nadalin and is much more similar to those sweet traditional throughout Italy by storm. It looks a bit 'to the Easter dove, with almonds and icing sugar over, the shape of a star (perhaps by association with the comet?) And is less leavened pandoro, although more or less the same ingredients as is an ancestor. I admit not tasted it yet, but its ancient history curious: while the pandoro born to the 800, the Nadalin was created to celebrate the first Christmas (Christmas, Nadal, Nadalin) following the installation of the Della Scala in Verona, then in 1260. I promise to try it as soon as possible, as this is my first Christmas in Verona, the coincidence is that one can not go along with it!
I personally prefer the cake between the two, because - yes - I love candy! Ah! Finally I can say. And he hated all that candy remove those that remove from industrial panettone, replacing them with chocolate or cream to substitute for the substitute lemon ... those colored confetti so sweet I love them!
panettone and pandoro, but have their roots in northern Italy, are not exclusive areas of origin, but there are many variations across the peninsula to Sicily! A Sicilian pastry chef told me that the cake is traditionally eaten at Christmas, New Year and the Pandora, because the former has the typical shape of the cave while the second Christmas tree covered with snow. I do not know if this is historically realistic, but I like to think that folk tales have a grain of truth. Indeed
in Liguria has a sweet panettone looks a bit ', but which for me is much more good! The Pandolce Genoa, I found only a couple of years ago through a friend indeed Genoa. Pandolce is like a cake, but lower and more compact. And even more impressive: the dried and candied fruit. With the ever-present pine nuts! The texture is full and the taste is not overly sweet (no sugar in the dough), but multi-faceted with numerous ingredients that are found there. It is said to have been created at the request of the Doge Andrea Doria in the '500 for the sailors: it is a very rich sweet and nutritious, long-preservation. You do not eat alone at Christmas, and not born for this occasion, but thanks to the similarity of appearance and taste, with panettone, is often given for the occasion!
But I promised not to dwell Note too the pandoro and panettone. My own family tradition can be traced back to the border between Umbria and Tuscany, near the province of Siena. If I think of the carelessness, cakes and Christmas parties, I can not remember my dear grandmother. For years she and her huge house in the Umbrian countryside are a haven to the elements of life, a haven where they land to get some 'serenity. During the holidays the desserts were the masters, that they were homemade or bought. And we obviously do gioivamo children! There was a meal that would not end with a sweet snack and there was that it not be started during the sweet meals! The sophisticated taste of the Sienese sweets mingled with more rustic Umbrian sweets.
From Siena was the inevitable Gingerbread, sweet from ancient traditions, and intensely flavored with honey and spices. This cake was called Gingerbread, had a covering of black pepper, was prepared by the apothecaries with expensive products and it was reserved for nobles. The spicy taste so strongly probably disgusted Queen Margaret, which made him make a version similar to what we know. However, there is still a Siena Panpepato but is covered with cinnamon, so for me it inedible because of my distaste for this spice!
often on the table of the room was a box of Ricciarelli, donated by a friend or relative. Their flavor, so similar to pasta di mandorle, ma con una nota amara di fondo, era da me di gran lunga preferito a quello del panforte. Anche i ricciarelli hanno tradizioni nobili e antiche: furono introdotti nelle corti toscane da un senese che rientrava dalle crociate, perciò hanno origini orientali. Infatti il loro sapore zuccheroso e l'impasto di mandorle sono tipici del medio oriente, e ricordano vagamente le baklava greche e turche.
Infine immancabili i Cavallucci, il cui nome deriva forse dal fatto che venivano serviti nelle osterie cossiddette "dei cavallari", cioè di coloro che si occupavano di cavalli... si sa a Siena c'è una lunga tradizione di cavalli e cavallari! Me l'hanno insegnato i miei amici senesi e poi, avendo vissuto a Siena più di un anno non potevo not learn! The horses have a wonderful flavor, multi-faceted: anise and nuts are the main ingredients, in addition to the candied fruit and honey. The texture is dry, made to last long, but you must pay attention to your teeth! As children, it was indigestion, so the grandmother brought them to us with great restraint, even though we like a lot.
Umbrian sweets, certainly less known than Tuscany, the most popular flavors and origins have simpler, less refined. We kids went crazy for Pinocchio (or Pinocchio) Perugia. These cakes take their name from the pine nuts funny (Pinocchio in Perugia, but also in Tuscany: remember the puppet Pinocchio?) That are their essential component Marbled with the sugar. I am a sweet almost disgusting, but I eat because I have a passion for one hundred pine nuts! It is said (or rather, it is written on the maps that wrap the cakes one by one) that their diamond shape and their packaging makes them perfect for the candy to throw during the jousting. There are two variants: with lemon and chocolate. Even this dichotomy of colors (black and white) takes us back to medieval traditions and even Oriental. In fact, Perugia is a medieval fortified town, so it is not unusual that even the culinary traditions go back at that time. The sweet
most remember is the serpent, that her grandmother prepared every Christmas, often with my help. The latter was in fact mainly consists of the decoration of the cake! The snake has its origins in Lazio and Christmas, in fact its name derives from the object of martyrdom (snakes) of Sant'Anatolia that is celebrated on July 10. The grandmother, however, was accustomed to do for the holidays and the excellent flavor of toasted almonds (main and almost the only ingredient of the cake) we made him very bitter. The shape we particularly liked: a snake, or almost dinosaur with almonds planted with straight tail and red eyes consist of two candies.
Going to the south are the Struffoli Neapolitans, but my grandmother did for Carnival! They are very compact pancake covered with honey. Extremely greedy! They are prepared in Sicily (where they are called Strufoli, as we call them anyway) for Christmas. Ah Sicily, home of the sweet! Despite this the typical Sicilian sweets are not strictly Christmas. The chest for example is an Easter cake, even if there is a variant of Palermo that is prepared for Christmas. Cannoli are rather more Christmas, even though they have lost these features having become very common all year round! Desserts, however, more typical and less well known are the Buccellato, donut pastry filled with the usual things, ie almonds, hazelnuts, dried figs, jams, etc.., And Mustazzoli, sort of biscuits ... guess what '? Honey! Yes, because in reality All these cakes were originally prepared to be stored for long periods, so abundant sugar (preservative for excellence) and dry or dried.
Last but not least (it was never more apt expression!) I want to talk a bit 'of Christmas cakes "my" Bologna. Two sweet above all: the Carthusian and Pano. We could almost be described as two variants of the same dessert: the first, and then more sophisticated city, the second most simple and therefore farmer. It is said that the Chartreux was prepared in Bologna city, while in the country was preparing for the Pano, drier and less rich. The Carthusian (also called panspzièl, panspeziale or special pan!) Has medieval origins: was also prepared by the apothecaries and therefore its taste is very similar to that of gingerbread but more starchy. Later the monks of the Carthusian monastery of San Girolamo di Casara (destroyed by Napoleon and whose remains were then built the present cemetery in Bologna) became dependent of its production and therefore became a Carthusian. It 'a very rich sweet where you can find some' all that was traditional at the time: honey, candied fruit, almonds, dark chocolate, raisins, pine nuts, butter, anise seeds and cinnamon. In short, a bit 'all we have seen in other desserts! Plus you add the mustard Bolognese, or a quince jam that makes the flavor of this cake unmistakable! The Pano is different because it is unleavened bread similar to a note, and once contained almost exclusively figs. It now contains mainly raisins, candied fruit and almonds, and honey, mustard and chocolate. The modern variant is full with pieces of chocolate, but I always prefer the traditional one. Between the two I like the Pano more for simplicity and consistency.
This overview obviously does not pretend to be exhaustive, many regions have not been touched because they are not part of my cultural background and I simply give you an idea of \u200b\u200bthe flavors that I know and am fond of.
At this point I hope I have made you a little 'throat slingshot you into the store and more typical of your city to buy a Christmas cake, filled with history and tradition. I will do it for sure, I have a hunger!
(Note: this article was published in the monthly online Mediterranean culture http://www.mediterraneaonline.eu/it/ )
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