This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations .(October 2024) |
Type | sweet |
---|---|
Place of origin | Italy |
Region or state | Agira, Sicily |
Main ingredients | chickpea or durum wheat flour, almonds, cocoa, eggs and sugar |
The cassatella di Agira T (communal designation) are traditional sweets from the Enna gastronomy, originating in the town of Agira and widely found not only in the province of Enna but throughout much of eastern Sicily. As a typical Sicilian product, they have been officially recognized and included in the list of traditional Italian agri-food products (P.A.T) by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (Mipaaf).
These pastries, characteristic of the Enna pastry tradition, are crescent-shaped and made from a tender shortcrust pastry that is golden yellow and dusted with powdered sugar. The filling consists of a mixture of cocoa, ground almonds, chickpea flour, sugar, and dried lemon zest, with optional cinnamon added.
A festival dedicated to the Cassatelle di Agira takes place in the hometown of Diodorus Siculus, Agira. These sweets are available year-round in restaurants, bars, and pastry shops throughout the Enna province and in numerous restaurants in Catania. Some renowned pastry chefs have reinterpreted the traditional recipe, creating an excellent pistachio variant.
Given that the production process is labor-intensive and involves several carefully guarded steps passed down through generations, variations in the manufacturing of this sweet can be significant. Recently, there has been a notable increase in imitations that bear little resemblance to the original product.
The authenticity and typicality of Cassatelle di Agira can be verified by their dimensions, which are typically 10 × 6 cm. Additionally, the dough should be soft and not dry or crumbly; neither chocolate nor cocoa should dominate the flavor—both almond taste should also be perceptible. Finally, the shortcrust pastry should not be overcooked or soggy.
Sicilian cuisine is the style of cooking on the island of Sicily. It shows traces of all cultures that have existed on the island of Sicily over the last two millennia. Although its cuisine has much in common with Italian cuisine, Sicilian food also has Greek, Spanish, French, Jewish, Maghrebi, and Arab influences.
Pastry refers to a variety of doughs, as well as the sweet and savoury baked goods made from them. These goods are often called pastries as a synecdoche, and the dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often described as bakers' confectionery. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts, quiches, croissants, and pasties.
Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter and three to four parts plain wheat flour. Shortbread does not contain any leavening, such as baking powder or baking soda. Shortbread is widely associated with Christmas and Hogmanay festivities in Scotland, and some Scottish brands are exported around the world.
Advocaat or advocatenborrel is a traditional Dutch alcoholic beverage made from eggs, sugar, and brandy. The rich and creamy drink has a smooth, custard-like consistency. The typical alcohol content is generally between 14% and 20% ABV. Its contents may be a blend of egg yolks, aromatic spirits, sugar or honey, brandy, vanilla, and sometimes cream. Notable makers of advocaat include Warninks, Bols, Darna Ovo Liker, DeKuyper, and Verpoorten.
Cassata or cassata siciliana is an Italian cake originating in the Sicily region. It is typically composed of a round sponge cake moistened with fruit juices or liqueur and layered with ricotta cheese and candied fruit. It has a shell of marzipan, pink and green colored icing, and decorative designs. Cassata may also refer to a Neapolitan ice cream containing candied or dried fruit and nuts.
Ciarduna is a type of Italian pastry.
A Konditorei is a business that typically offers a wide variety of pastries and typically also serves as a café. Konditoreien (plural) are found in many countries including but not limited to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Denmark, Sweden, and the Czech Republic. In French-speaking countries, similar businesses are referred to as pâtisseries.
Dobos torte, also known as Dobosh, is a Hungarian sponge cake layered with chocolate buttercream and topped with caramel. The layered pastry is named after its inventor, Hungarian chef József C. Dobos, a delicatessen owner in Budapest. In the late 1800s, he decided to create a cake that would last longer than other pastries in an age when cooling techniques were limited. The round sides of the cake are coated with ground hazelnuts, chestnuts, walnuts, or almonds, and the hardened caramel top helps to prevent drying out, for a longer shelf life.
Ka'ak or kahqa is the common Arabic word for cake or biscuit, in its various senses, and can refer to several different types of baked goods produced throughout the Arab world and the Near East. The bread, in Middle Eastern countries, is similar to a dry and hardened biscuit and mostly ring-shaped. Similar pastry, called "kue kaak", is also popular in Indonesia.
The cuisine of Sardinia is the traditional cuisine of the island of Sardinia, and the expression of its culinary art. It is characterised by its own variety and by the fact of having been enriched through a number of interactions with the other Mediterranean cultures while retaining its own identity. Sardinia's food culture is strictly divided into food from the land and food from the sea, reflecting the island's historical vicissitudes and especially its geographic landscapes, spacing from the coastline to the ragged mountains of the interior. The Sardinian cuisine is considered part of the Mediterranean diet, a nutritional model that was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage.
Mazurek is a variety of cake baked in Poland for Easter. It has a flat shape and is very sweet.
Aboukir almond is a variety of candy or sweet made of almond-filled and sugar-coated marzipan. These almonds are produced in the region of Aboukir in Egypt. The sweet is made with whole almonds that are blanched, then roasted and set aside. More almonds are then made into a paste and coloured green or pink. It is pressed into a ball or an oval. It is kirsch flavored and shaped in the form of a green almond and stuffed with a blanched roasted almond. The product is then dipped in hot sugar syrup and placed on parchment paper to dry.
A pasticciotto is a type of filled Italian pastry. Depending on the region, they are traditionally filled with either ricotta cheese or egg custard.
The cuisine of Basilicata, or Lucanian cuisine, is the cuisine of the Basilicata region of Italy. It is mainly based on the use of pork and sheep meat, legumes, cereals and vegetables, with the addition of aromas such as hot peppers, powdered raw peppers and horseradish. The local gastronomy is, for historical-cultural reasons, typically peasant, based on simple recipes and on the culture of reuse, in particular of meat and bread.
Salvatore Farina is an Italian essayist, cultural researcher, teacher and photographer.
The rollò, or rollò nisseno, or ricotta roll from Caltanissetta, is a typical dessert from the Nisseno area, produced by local pastry chefs. It is consumed year-round, as it is not tied to any specific event or occasion. This dessert, along with the ricotta raviola, originated in Caltanissetta.
The Raviola di ricotta nissena or Nissena ricotta ravioli is a fried dessert made with puff pastry and ricotta filling typical of the city of Caltanissetta; not to be confused with the fried raviola from Catania which is similar in shape but not in dough.
The guasteddra dolce nissena or guastedda is a typical dessert of the city of Caltanissetta tradition. The word guastedda being a cacuminal or retroflex phoneme is written guastedda and pronounced guasteddra, it is represented with the symbol [ɖ] in the international phonetic alphabet (IPA); this phoneme is not present in the Italian language.
The ossa di morto or Dead men's bones are traditional Sicilian biscuits, included in the list of traditional Italian agri-food products (P.A.T) of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (Mipaaf).
Biscotto di San Martino are traditional Sicilian biscuits, which are prepared for the feast of San Martino di Tours on November 11.