Happy Ferragosto! The August 15th Italian national holiday represents the height (or end?) of summer and has us reflecting on our favorite Italian treats. This summer we spent a good amount of time in the Northwestern Italian region of Piemonte (Piedmont in English), where we have family roots, and have been loving the process of delving into the traditional foods of the region, both savory and sweet. This Italian region is seriously into wine, chocolate, and hazelnuts (it is the home of Nutella), and has a wide and varied baking tradition. One of the cookies that is a major symbol of Piedmont is the Torcetti (or in the Piemontese language, the torcèt), a sweet, yeasted dough cookie. In some ways, Torcetti are sweet versions of the skinny and crunchy grissini breadsticks often gracing the tables of Piedmont. Like grissini, torcetti are crisp and crunchy with a slightly caramelized exterior resulting from being dipped in sugar or honey. Torcetti means “twisted” in Italian, and speak to the twisted shape of the cookie, which is often a teardrop. The torcetti are only lightly sweet and are the perfect accompaniment for tea or coffee. You can get torcetti at bakeries throughout Piedmont, and one of our favorites are the Sangiorgesi torcetti at Pasticceria Roletti in the small town of San Giorgio Canavese (torcetti pictured below), which has been operating since 1896. If you would like to make your own, Sugar Loves Spices has a recipe.
Eating The World 