L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2026 www.italoamericano.org 22 L'Italo-Americano O n c e u p o n a t i m e , i n Abruzzo, the m o s t i m p o r - tant object for making dessert was a heavy iron tool that looked closer to a piece of blacksmith work than anything you'd find in a kitchen: it opened and closed like a clamp, had long han- d l e s t o k e e p h a n d s a w a y from the fire, and inside, it usually had engraved pat- terns that would appear on the surface of the dough. S o m e i r o n s h a d f l o w e r s , s o m e d i a m o n d s o r g r i d s , some even initials and dates, and they often became family heirlooms. Those irons were essential to make ferratelle, one of the oldest and most recognizable sweets from Abruzzo and parts of neigh- boring Molise. Depending on where you a r e , y o u m a y h e a r t h e m called differently: somewhere they are ferratelle, elsewhere pizzelle, neole, cancellate, or ferratelle abruzzesi. That's not at all unusual though; in fact, it's pretty standard in I t a l i a n r e g i o n a l c o o k i n g , where the same recipe may change names – and some- times even some ingredients! – every few miles, if not from one household to another. Outside Italy, especially in the United States, pizzelle is probably the term people know best, as they have long been part of Italian-Ameri- can Christmas traditions, particularly in families with roots in central and southern Italy. B u t i f y o u g o b a c k t o A b r u z z o i t s e l f , t h e s t o r y becomes much larger than that of a simple holiday cook- i e , e n t e r i n g t h e w o r l d o f d o m e s t i c l i f e a n d f a m i l y identity, with a connection that begins with the ferro (iron) itself; in fact, the name "ferratelle" comes directly from it. And don't be fooled: the ferro has always been as important as the recipe itself. Historically, they were made by local artisans and black- smiths, sometimes commis- sioned specifically for a fami- ly, and, in certain cases, they e v e n f o r m e d p a r t o f a bride's dowry. Every house had its own ferro, which was recognizable from the design it stamped onto the dough, an important detail especially in older rural communities, where many objects in the home were functional and interchangeable, and people wanted to keep track of them. The batter, meanwhile, remained extremely simple across the region, think eggs, flour, sugar, oil or butter depending on the area, then lemon zest, vanilla, anise, sometimes cinnamon. As you c a n s e e , t h e r e i s n o t h i n g elaborate about ferratelle, a delicacy whose deliciousness c o m e s f r o m t r a d i t i o n a l pantry staples. You may think, based on their basic ingredients and, in fact, their looks, that they are not very different from waffles… but they are, and the difference is all in the tex- t u r e : t h e y a r e t h i n n e r , lighter, usually more deli- cate; some versions are crisp enough to break cleanly with a snap, while others stay soft- e r a n d s l i g h t l y c h e w y . I n parts of Abruzzo, they are rolled while still warm and filled with jam or custard; elsewhere, two are pressed t o g e t h e r w i t h g r a p e p r e - serves, chocolate, or honey in the middle. Of course, each family seems convinced its version is the correct one. Their traditional cooking process is also very interest- ing, and definitely far from what we are used to seeing in our kitchen today: before electric appliances became common, the iron had to be heated directly over a flame or inside a fireplace, but you h a d t o b e v e r y c a r e f u l , because calculating the right amount of time to get the perfect ferratella was a true balancing act: not so much that it burned instantly, not so little that you got a runny mess. It was all about proper timing and, of course, the opening and closing of the iron, and the smell of warm dough and lemon peel drift- ing through the kitchen. B e c a u s e t h e w o r k w a s repetitive and relatively slow, several people might gather in the kitchen at once, espe- cially before holidays, talking while trays gradually filled up beside them. In that sense, ferratelle belong to the same category as ravioli, tortellini, or passata di pomodoro: making them was a real col- lective endeavor, a cherished social ritual. Another interesting ques- tion relates to how old they really are, as ferratelle are f r e q u e n t l y d e s c r i b e d a s d e s c e n d a n t s o f a n c i e n t Roman sweets known as crustulum, which our great ancestors were quite fond of. Local traditions in Abruzzo often repeat the claim proud- ly, but the truth is there is lit- tle historical evidence to sup- port it. They may well be distantly connected to older cooking traditions, but the clearest historical evidence for decorated ferri appears m u c h l a t e r t h a n R o m a n times, particularly between the seventeenth and nine- teenth centuries. Still, whether the direct Roman connection can be f u l l y p r o v e n i s n ' t r e a l l y important; what seems more relevant is how little they changed through time, espe- cially when it comes to their quintessentially domestic nature: you won't find them in fancy restaurants; if you want them, you may need to get into someone's kitchen – a n d b a k e r i e s ! T h e y m a k e them in bakeries! This "home cooking" and "family" connection may also explain why they trav- eled so successfully with Ita- lian emigrants: recipes closely attached to memory tend to survive migration better because their simplici- ty means all ingredients are likely available everywhere, and because, perhaps even m o r e s i m p l y , t h e y t a s t e , smell, and feel like home. Many Abruzzesi who left for the United States in the late nineteenth and early twenti- eth centuries often brought their ferri with them, along with cookware, linens, reli- g i o u s o b j e c t s , a n d p h o - tographs, so ferratelle (or better, pizzelle, as most Ital- ian-Americans know them) became part of Italian-Amer- ican holiday traditions. Back in Abruzzo, ferratelle never disappeared into nos- talgia entirely. Bakeries still make them, and antique iron molds are still collected and used: unsurprisingly, the old irons often remain more reli- able than modern machines. And maybe this is why we l i k e f e r r a t e l l e s o m u c h : because they are simple, they are local, they taste like fami- ly, and somehow, like happi- ness, too. FRANCESCA BEZZONE Crispy pizzelle stacked after baking. In the US, we know them as pizzelle, but in Italy, they have many names (Photo: Bhofack2/Dreamstime) LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES Italy's original waffle cookie: the story of Abruzzo's ferratelle

• Cover