L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 32 L'Italo-Americano LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 2018 T he crunch from Tu- rin Napoleon was crazy about! We all know it: in Italy, we love bread! These very crunchy "bread sticks" were inven- ted in Turin in 1679, by the Sa- voias' personal baker, who created them appositely for king Vittorio Amedeo II, who couldn't digest re- gular bread very well. Their dough is the same as bread's but, as they are very thin, they dry while baking and remain crunchy. Grissini were an imme- diate success because they were not only good to eat and easy to digest, but also lasted longer than regular bread; so famous that they became "les petits bâtons de Tu- rin," as Napoleon would call them, turned into a local speciality. Those first grissini - called "ro- batà," between 40 and 80 cm in length, irregular in shape and rolled by hand - are today a prodotto agroalimentare Italiano protetto (Italian agri-food protected pro- duct). Later, the grissini stirati were invented, the mechanical produc- tion of which started as early as the 18th century. Today, we can enjoy herbs gris- sini, spice grissini, olive oil grissini, all of which should be enjoyed with local cold cuts, prosciutto and soft cheeses, such as goat's. Chinotto: a fully Italian vin- tage soda Chinotto is a citrus fruit origi- nally from China, exclusively grown on the Ligurian coast, in the Savona area since the end of the 19th century. These small, uniquely fragrant fruits, used to be sold candied and preserved in maraschino, after ha- ving been kept under a sea water brine for some time. At the begin- ning of the 1930s, the first chinotto soda appeared: it was produced by San Pellegrino, but its real inventor remains a mystery. Chinotto enjoyed great popula- rity until the 1960s, only to be al- most forgotten until the dawn of the new Millenium, when he had a new lease of life and found its way into many a popular cocktail. Chi- notto's bottles are usually pleasan- tly retro in style, and we all pretty much remember them behind the counter of our dairy shops and local café, more than behind that of some fancy bar. Thirst-quenching and mildly sparkling, delicately bitter and, above all, impossible to copy, in 2012 chinotto risked to be taxed by the Italian Government, which wanted to classify it as a "sparkling soda with sugar." Luckily common sense, or even better, good flavor, won in this occasion! Since 2004, chinotto fruits are protected by a Presidio Slow Food. The only company producing chi- notto sodas with the real citrus fruits protected by the Presidio is Piedmontese Lurisia, which makes its chinotto with thermal waters. Biscotti or Cantucci di Prato? The difference is tiny, yet it cannot be overlooked… "A sliced cookie, made with fine flour, sugar and egg whites:" this is the definition given by the Accademia della Crusca in 1691. Cantuccio, whose name comes from the word "canto," which means corner, or from the Latin "cantellus," a slice of bread, is si- milar to Prato's own cookie, but enriched with baking soda and na- tural flavors. Its original recipe is guarded in the Archivio di Stato di Prato (Prato's State Archives), even though it was first produced in the city of Pisa. Some versions of it, just like Caterina de Medici's biscottelli, had almonds in it, which became popular also for cantucci starting from the 1800s. They are dense and rustic, pro- bably best enjoyed dipped in Vin Santo, unless you have particu- larly strong jaws. In 2011, the Assocantuccini as- sociation was born with the aim of getting cantucci among Italy's IGP products. Grissini: the traditional Piedmontese bread sticks created for a king and loved by Napoleon VARINIA CAPPELLETTI Italian Food Culture A Culinary Journey by L'Italo-Americano Cantucci are called tozzetti in Lazio and Umbria, were hazelnuts are used instead of almonds; however, as they do not have a deposited recipe, they cannot be shortlisted to become an IGP pro- duct. Beside their classical produc- tion, carried out with pride by Pra- to's Biscottificio Mattei, there are other tasty variation on the origi- nal, which became popular since the end of the 19th century. Among them, those with choco- late, with pistachios and also with Alchermes, an ancient, bright red traditional liqueur produced by Florentine friars. Chinotto fruits: those grown in the Savona area have a Presidio Slow Food Cantucci in Tuscany, tozzetti il Lazio and Umbria: the first made with almonds, the latter with hazelnuts

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