Products

Riccio biscuits

The ingredients for these biscuits are: chestnut flour, white flour, eggs, sugar and salt. These biscuits have simple, genuine organic ingredients. They are nutritious, and pleasantly tasty with a latte, tea or a young red wine.

The origin and shape of this biscuit is tied to an old legend, from the wintery November nights , telling of fairies and shepherdesses.

‘Once upon a time’ there was a cave on a mountainside where the fairies lived. It was known as the ‘Fairy cave’ and was invisible to humans. They could, however, hear the fairies laughing, gossiping, their children playing, singing, and the aroma of their food. One November day, a shepherdess was caught in a storm and returned home with her flock. The rain was so heavy that she sought refuge with her flock in the Fairy cave. She realised where she was and, therefore, tried to make no noise in order not to draw attention to herself. A small lamb, separated from its mother, cried out for her. The shepherdess thought that noises coming from inside the cave would eventually realise her presence and hear the bleating of her flock. The fairies however were celebrating the first chestnut flour of the year – the harvest had been particularly good that year. A smallest daughter of one of the fairies heard the lamb bleating and went towards the cave entrance to see what was happening. The fairy and the shepherdess met. As well as being frightened, the shepherdess was also very hungry. The fairy was holding some biscuits which looked delicious and smelt wonderful. The young fairy wanted to make friends with the shepherdess, so thought of offering her a biscuit. She remembered that fairy food could not be offered to humans, so she placed it in a chestnut husk so that the other fairies would not know what she was doing. The young fairy made the shepherdess promise to eat the biscuit before leaving the cave. The shepherdess greatly appreciated the gift and when she returned home she mixed up the ingredients and…. cooked the biscuit: she had saved a small amount in her pocket, just so that she could make some more. The shepherdess tried to ensure that the fairies did not know that it was their biscuit by giving it a chestnut husk shape – just like the one given to her by the young fairy.