L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 32 L'Italo-Americano Faldacchea is a true deli- cacy to be enjoyed in all sea- sons. It is strictly associated with weddings, often given to relatives and friends as a precious favor, as a "thank you" and to wish good for- tune. I have received a precious testimony about faldacchea f r o m S i m e o n e Maggiolini, born in 1931, who still remembers how his own mother, Crescenza Busco, would recall the t i m e s w h e n , d u r i n g h e r y o u t h , s h e w o u l d h e l p Martinelli doing the house- works and preparing bread and cakes. Crescenza could observe Antonia while cooking, in particular, she could observe all the secrets and tricks the monecacèdde tried. Simeone remembers his mother used to tell him about the times A n t o n i a w o u l d c r u s h almonds in a large stone mortar, after she had boiled and peeled them. The pre- cious fruit, which her hus- band Giovanni would pro- vide, was rigorously grown in the Turi area, long known for its production of good almonds. The monecacèdde's disciples and the secrets of patisserie Grazia Cipriani, born in 1902, was one of the first l o c a l g i r l s t o l e a r n f r o m Martinelli. Since her teens, G r a z i a w o u l d f o l l o w Antonia's lessons, learning all the secrets to prepare tra- ditional desserts and Turi's own faldacchea. In 1920, she m a r r i e d V i n c e n z o Miccolis and set up a small home bakery in her house. I n t h e 1 9 6 0 s , s h e a n d Vincenzo were to open the S a l a M o d e r n a i n Conversano, one of the first reception halls in the south east of the Bari province. Angela Zita, known as Angelina and born in 1911, was the maternal grand- m o t h e r o f b a k e r M a r i s a M a s t r o n a r d i , o f t h e B a r Ragno. Angelina was the cousin of Martinelli and, from her, she received the recipe for faldacchea. As you'd expect from any good baker, she created her own version of faldacchea, made by adding a thin layer of cocoa before rolling marzi- pan in gileppe (a traditional sugar glaze from the South of Italy) or royal icing. A n t o n i a A d e l e D r a g o n e ( 1 9 2 0 - 2 0 1 9 ) , known as Ninetta, was -- faldacchea. In fact, alcher- mes is an ingredient typical of Turi's faldacchea. W h e n s h e f e l t s h e h a d enough experience, Ninetta decided to open her own bakery, first in a small store in Via Lezzi, not far from her home; later, she was to buy t h e B a r S a v o i a a n d a n annexed apartment, where she moved. In the 1970s, after selling the café, she moved to a new home that once belonged to pharmacist Vito D'Aprile a n d t o b e l o v e d O r o n z o Daddabbo. Here, at Villa Dragone, she opened her bakery again. . L u c i a M a s s a r o w a s born in 1948. She learned the art of patisserie from Ninetta Dragone, with whom she worked when she was very young, for 6 or 7 years. Then, she moved on to Sala Moderna in Conversano, managed by Grazia Cipriani. In the early 1970s, Lucia returned to Turi to start her own business. Her bakery is still going strong today, and L u c i a i s k n o w n f o r h e r attention to tradition, her ability in making faldacchea and other traditional cakes. M a r g h e r i t a C o s t a - ntini (known as Rita), born in 1932, she is the daughter of ice cream maker and café owner Trifone Costantini. In the early days of his career, Trifone used to make a deli- cious almond nougat, which he would then sell on trains. In the 1940s, he also had a s t a l l i n B a r i , i n C o r s o Cavour, where he would sell nougat, almonds, hazelnuts and candies bought from d o n B e n i a m i n o u m a r i - narìdd. In the 1940s, young Rita, already keen on following her dad's steps in the world of patisserie, would go to B a r i e v e r y d a y , t o t h e N o v e c e n t o C a f é - B a k e r y , with the aim of learning the trade. After a few years of apprenticeship, she returned to Turi and started produc- ing traditional sweets and cakes for receptions and cel- ebrations, weddings in par- ticular. She was especially famous for her faldacchea a n d , s o o n e n o u g h , s h e became herself a mentor and t e a c h e r t o m a n y y o u n g women from Turi and the whole Bari province. V i n c e n z a C a r e n z a (1921-2010) was an excellent patissiere who, with passion along with Grazia Cipriani -- one of the first girls from T u r i t o l e a r n i n A n n a Antonia Martinelli's bakery. In the 1930s, she frequented Martinelli's home with her sisters, Amalia and Assunta. Ninetta can be considered a true pioneer of Turi's faldac- chea. When she was very y o u n g , s h e w o r k e d f o r M a r q u i s e F i o r e n z a Husted, in Palazzo Venusio, where she would help in the kitchen and baked a variety of cakes. Moreover, she was in high demand to organize wedding receptions. Often, she was brought to the farm where the wedding reception would take place by buggy and there, she would pre- pare many a delicacy to offer the guests: small parcels of oven baked pasta, calzoni, m e a t p i e s , s a n d w i c h e s , cakes, traditional desserts and, of course, Turi's faldac- chea, which she would finely decorate, white on white, with scherzetti, a term she invented herself to define the delicate motifs she'd make on the faldacchea using royal i c i n g . A n d i t i s N i n e t t a Dragone herself who intro- duced pan di Spagna soaked in alchermes in the filling of and dedication, produced for decades almond based cakes and a most refined fal- dacchea. Aurelia Lieggi, born in 1940, is a determined and work-oriented woman. At the end of the 1970s, she s t a r t e d h e r c a r e e r a s a patissiere by preparing fal- dacchea and other tradition- al almond desserts directly at her customers' homes. In 1980, she opened her own bakery at home, in Via Forno Comunale. Today, her art is kept alive by her daughters Stella and Anna Maria Verna, owners of the bakery Aurelia. The monecacèdde's legacy and that of her many stu- dents has been kept alive by a new generation of young Turi bakers, among whom w e s h o u l d r e m e m b e r M a r i l e n a C a t u c c i , o f C r i s t a l l i d i Z u c c h e r o , L u c i a n a C i s t u l l i , o f Luciana Dolci and Angela Iacovazzi of Bar Iacovazzi. With their dedication and w o r k , t h e y a l l k e e p o u r a n c i e n t t r a d i t i o n s a l i v e , a l o n g w i t h t h e r e c i p e o f Turi's faldacchea, an authen- tic delicacy and an excel- lence of Puglia's culinary heritage. Recently, we created a c u l t u r a l a s s o c i a t i o n , L a F a l d a c c h e a d i T u r i : S t o r i a , T r a d i z i o n i , Territorio. Our aim is to pass on our tradition to the next generations, to bring value and promote faldac- chea, an extraordinary tradi- tional dessert and an icon of our culinary history. The association wants to pro- mote and value our territory a n d , i n p a r t i c u l a r , o u r incredible agri-food prod- ucts. A mission and a social and cultural duty to ensure our identity and traditions are passed on. Etymology The term faldacchea likely derives from the Spanish faldiquera or faltriquera, an accessory usually worn by women under their apron or skirt. It's a sort of fabric pocket, often finely embroi- dered. It was used to keep small objects useful on a day to day basis, but also to keep a type of sweet called huevos de faldiquera, which are still p r o d u c e d t o d a y i n m a n y Spanish monasteries. This specific etymology is rein- forced not only by the lin- guistic assonance, but also by the fact our faldacchea looks like a pocket, as the marzipan is filled with black cherries and pan di Spagna imbued in alchermes. Grinding almonds in an old fashioned mortar Continued from page 30 LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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