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Easter: because the supremacy of Sicilian sweets is not in dispute
Easter: because the supremacy of Sicilian sweets is not in dispute

Video: Easter: because the supremacy of Sicilian sweets is not in dispute

Video: Easter: because the supremacy of Sicilian sweets is not in dispute
Video: He’s sweet 😈 Patrick Bateman | American Psycho #shorts #americanpsycho 2024, March
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The accounting of the Sicilian sweets we do it one more time, it would take all the time that the rest of us, in these days of preparation for Easter, frankly we don't.

By the way, even with the sweet rituals that Sicilians bring to the Easter table, a nice list would be filled, but this one can be faced and let's face it, rather hilarious.

It is hard to find a point of convergence, there are many shapes and textures, the combinations of flavors, the methods of preparation, the ingredients are actually different.

Perhaps the characteristic and common trait should be sought in the sumptuous and imaginative aspect, always, whether it is cassata or minor desserts, biscuits or sugar paste.

Let's start scrolling through the list.

CASSATELLE DI AGIRA

If at Easter you go to Agira, in the province of Enna, don't even dream of finding the Sicilian cassata. You will find instead the cassatelle, which are not small cassata, but elegant pasticciotti made with a thin pastry, cocoa filling and toasted almonds. No ricotta, no candied fruit, yet Agira's cassatelle had a fortune unknown to similar recipes from the surrounding villages, even provoking a little envy.

Even if today soft wheat flour is used to thicken the filling, the unmistakable flavor of the cassatelle di Agira is due to the "ciciri flour" to be used in the filling, not very light, it must be said, but more respectful of tradition.

RECIPE (FOR 120 CASSATELLE)

Cassatelle of Agira
Cassatelle of Agira

If you imagine the recipe for four people, you are out of the way. When it comes to Easter sweets, Sicilians like to abound.

They are prepared a few days before, they are shared among family members and neighbors who, having smelled the scent, claim their share.

At Easter, Easter Monday and in the following days it is forbidden to remain without, the ritual wants them to be offered to guests in the morning, after lunch, in the afternoon, in the evening and also in the following days.

Pasta

2,500 of flour

1 kg of lard

600 grams of sugar

4 eggs

water

Stuffed

1, 250 of chopped and roasted almonds

1 kg of sugar

two bags of unsweetened cocoa

two bags of sweet cocoa

grated zest of two lemons

1 and a half liters of water

two cinnamon sticks

chickpea flour about 400 grams

Bake the almonds at a high temperature, then chop them. Mix the flour, lard, sugar and eggs until you get a smooth and sustained dough by gradually adding the water the dough needs so as not to be too hard.

Prepare the filling in a large pot with bitter and sweet cocoa, sugar, grated lemon zest, ground cinnamon and ground almonds.

IMG 3233
IMG 3233

Add the water and cook until boiling to dissolve the ingredients well.

When it has boiled, thicken with the chickpea flour until you get a creamy mixture and taking care to mix so as not to stick the dough to the bottom of the pot.

Let it cool down.

Browse cassatelle di Agira
Browse cassatelle di Agira

Then roll out a very thin sheet, place a spoon and a half full of filling for each cassatella, calculating the right distances by eye.

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IMG 3273

Fold the dough and close it around the crescent-shaped filling, pressing gently with your fingers.

Cassatelle of Agira
Cassatelle of Agira

Cut the dough into a half moon with a knife or a washer. Place in the pan previously covered with parchment paper and bake at 180 degrees for about fifteen minutes.

Cassatelle of Agira
Cassatelle of Agira
Cassatelle of Agira
Cassatelle of Agira

The dough must remain white and semi-soft, do not overcook, the risk is that the dough becomes toasted.

Cassatelle of Agira
Cassatelle of Agira

Finally, sprinkle with extra-fine sugar mixed with icing sugar.

Cassatelle of Agira
Cassatelle of Agira

To preserve the cake and keep it soft and fresh, place it in a steel pot and cover with the lid.

In Agira, the dessert is sold in all bakeries and in some specialized shops.

The most renowned? The "Bottega delle cassatelle" with a store in the center of the small town and another, more recent, along the access road.

Here, in addition to the typical preparation, you will also find the dessert interpreted in different ways.

ACEDDI CU the OVA AND SHEEP

We are in the chapter "cuddura": sweet breads and biscuits that contain hard-boiled eggs cooked in ashes.

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IMG 20160322 180031
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IMG 20160322 145812
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IMG 20160322 181048

The tradition is very much alive. The dough of 00 flour, re-milled semolina, sugar and lard is molded into any shape: dolls, fish, circles, animals, doves, baskets, bags, braids, hearts.

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IMG 20160322 170906
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IMG 20160322 170936
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IMG 20160322 182508
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IMG 20160322 223923
IMG 20160322 214949
IMG 20160322 214949

There are also many names: aceddi cu l'ova, pupi cu l'ova, palummedda, cuddura, cudduredda, panaredda.

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IMG 20160323 000737
IMG 20160323 000842
IMG 20160323 000842
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IMG 20160323 000916

They are not pastry goods, they are mostly found in bakeries, or in some pasta factories.

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IMG 2998

The Easter sheep are sugar paste sweets once given to children instead of chocolate eggs, very conflicted whether to keep them intact or bite them relentlessly.

The result is the enchantment that adorns the windows of Sicilian pastry shops on Easter days.

Easter sheep
Easter sheep
Pastry Costa - Palermo
Pastry Costa - Palermo

SICILIAN CASSATA

You know everything about the Sicilian cassata, including the typically Easter origin. To those who hate it due to sickly sweetness, we recommend that you continue reading.

Costa Cassata pastry shop
Costa Cassata pastry shop

Preparing it at home is less difficult than you think, especially if you have a pinch of Sicily in your DNA, the skill, so specialists, consists in harmonizing all the ingredients.

In the best pastry shops in western Sicily you can find exquisite ones. Among these, in Palermo, there is certainly Costa.

Witness the comings and goings of Easter Sunday (and other Sundays) with the Palermitans willing to spend up to 35 euros for a one kilo cake.

Cassata with a few candied fruit
Cassata with a few candied fruit

There are many variations on the theme: without candied fruit, with tuma, typical of Ragusa, together with ricotta.

But believe me, it is worth dwelling on the cassata that the Sicilian chef Toni Lo Coco placed in the restaurant menu The Puppets of Bagheria, one Michelin star.

The puppets - Bagheria - Cassata revisited
The puppets - Bagheria - Cassata revisited

Combined tradition and originality going beyond the worn idea of the deconstructed cannolo.

We are talking about a miniaturized cassata made with ricotta ice cream, superimposed on hot coffee (served separately in a delicious mocha), decorated with small candied fruit and chocolate chips.

The puppets - Bagheria - Cassata revisited
The puppets - Bagheria - Cassata revisited

More serenely faced at the end of a meal even by non-gargantuan appetites, it is simple and fresh but maintains the link with the classic version.

A taste to do.

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