To the Christmas table
We bring to your attention a brief map of Italy in the perspective of Christmas treats:
Let’s start from the north: Trentino Alto Adige makes sweet pastries for Christmas, such as Zelten Dzelten with candied fruit and Buchteln jam with jam filling, sprinkled with vanilla icing sugar, Spitzbuben and Lebkuchen cookies and jam. In the mountainous region of Val d’Aosta / Val D’Aosta, the “ancestor” of the famous panettone – Mecoulin “meculin” is put on the festive table: a sweet loaf with raisins.
A little south we meet sweets that have long won love and recognition throughout the peninsula: in Veneto / Veneto – Pandoro “Pandoro” from Verona, in Italian “golden bread” and only resembling our cupcake, but not at all like it! But Lombardy / Lombardia, more precisely, Milan, is the birthplace of Panettone “panettone”, in Italian “big bread”. On the shelves of Russian stores on the label they write “Easter cake”, but this is more confusing than helping those who still do not know what kind of yummy it is!
In Piedmont / Piemonte Crescenzin “Crescine” is served on the festive table – brown bread with butter, sprinkled with powdered sugar, with raisins, honey and nuts, sometimes with figs.
A little further south, in the Liguria / Liguria region, the Genoese Pandolce “pandolce” is being prepared, which has many options, for example, in the town of Campomoron it is called Panmorone “panmorone” and is baked from chestnut flour. In Bologna / Bologna, special Certosino chertosino or Panspeziale panspecial gingerbread treats are tasty, but also healthy: in the old days they were made by pharmacists and Carthusian monks.
In Emilia Romagna, the typical Ferrara Pampepato pampepato is also eaten for Christmas, where bitter chocolate, hazelnuts, almonds, cinnamon and pepper are abundantly added to the dough and icing according to the recipe; and in the town of Terni, in Umbria, there are also pine nuts.
The Toscana Region is the birthplace of Panforte Panforte sweet cake gingerbread, which was originally baked in Siena from candied fruit, honey, sugar and spices; but on Christmas ay in Tuscany, not a single treat is as popular as the oval soft Ricciarelli “richarelli” cookies, abundantly sprinkled with powdered sugar.
And what do they enjoy in central Italy? In Umbria / Umbria is a honey Rocciata “roccata” from Assisi, a real Italian strudel. In Abruzzo / Abruzzo, and more precisely, in Pescara, they cook Parrozzo “parrozzo”, so tasty, so tasty that the famous Italian poet Gabriele d. Annunzio sang it in his poems. Here, in Abruzzo, they love fried pastry stuffed with Caggiunitti: “cajunitti.” In the nearby Marche / Marche area, a sweet Frustingo Frustingo cake is eaten for Christmas.
Further south, in Lacio / Lazio, a traditional Christmas dish – Roman Pangiallo “panjallo”, Italian “yellow bread”, the recipe of which has come down to us from the time of the Roman Empire! Then this delicacy of golden color was plentifully treated during the winter solstice to help the sun and so that the day began to arrive again. Until now, the Panjallo has the finest shiny golden crust.
Latsia residents also bake Subiachini “subyakini” cookies for Christmas, which they used to hang on a Christmas tree, and in the south of the region – Zeppole “zeppole”: pancakes that are dipped in melted honey before serving.
Region Campania / Campania – the birthplace of honey cookies Susamielli “Suzamelli”, having the form of the Latin ‘S’, which can only be tasted during the Christmas Lent. Even more popular are Mostaccioli “bridgeaccioli” and Struffoli “struffoli”. And also a pink biscuit Divinamorea “divinamorea”, the name of which comes from the name of the order of the nuns of the hermits of Divine love (Italian: “Divino Amore”) and the pre-roasted Roccoco “rococo”, named after the French “rocaille”, because they resemble a rounded shape the sink.
