THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021
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28
L'Italo-Americano
I
feel fo rtunate to
have experienced a
completely different
way of life in Italy. I
was a child in the
l a t e 1 9 6 0 s , w h e n m a n y
U m b r i a n v i l l a g e r s s t i l l
didn't have home ovens and
took their bread to the bak-
ery for cooking. E a s t e r
w a s a n e s p e c i a l l y b u s y
time, with women prepar-
ing Torta di Pasqua, a
l e a v e n e d c h e e s e b r e a d
shaped like a squat panet-
t o n e a n d t r a d i t i o n a l l y
served for Easter break-
fast.
My own dough-making
g r a n d m o t h e r M a r i a ,
r e q u i r e d t w o o r t h r e e
strong people to knead the
d o u g h s h e ' d a s s e m b l e d
over two days. Rich in eggs,
cheese and butter (or lard),
the breads rose slowly in
their terracotta molds. I
loved baking day. We had
t o p a c k t h e b r e a d s o n a
wooden board and cover
them with thick towels to
make sure they didn't cool
a n d d e f l a t e . T h e n w e
walked to the bakery, where
we'd booked a time slot for
the cooking.
By Saturday, everything
was finished (to everyone's
relief). We'd pack a Torta
d i P a s q u a , a s a l a m i , a
thick slab of chocolate, a
bottle of sweet wine and a
few hard-boiled eggs and
take them all to the local
church for a blessing so
that we could have a proper
Easter breakfast the next
day. The Easter break-
fast tradition is still hon-
o r e d i n m a n y U m b r i a n
h o m e s e v e n t h o u g h n o t
everyone makes the torta,
which is now available in
the supermarkets all year's
long. The commercial ver-
sion however is a pale imi-
tation of the real thing.
T h i s w o n d e r f u l , r i c h
cheese bread must be start-
e d t h e n i g h t b e f o r e i t i s
baked. Please note that it
tastes best a few hours after
b a k i n g . Y o u n g p e c o r i n o
might be difficult to find, in
w h i c h c a s e s u b s t i t u t e
Emmentaler, young pro-
v o l o n e o r a n o t h e r m i l d
cheese. Also note that pre-
grated cheeses have addi-
LETIZIA MATTIACCI
As beautiful as it is good: a fantastic torta di Pasqua (Photo: Letizia Mattiacci)
Continued to page 30
An Umbrian breakfast tradition: torta di Pasqua
LA BUONA TAVOLA
RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES
