|
|
|
Products Our
search to rediscover specialities typical to our Bisenzio Valley and Prato area
resulted in our ability to offer our guests biscuits which were usually prepared
in the Valley homes. These were made for weddings when the brides dress,
usually made by the mother and aunts, could not be seen by the groom before the
actual ceremony. When all the women were together on the house mother,
grandmothers, aunts, sisters, cousins and friends making the various courses
which made up the wedding feast, they laughed and joked amongst themselves in a
long and slow ritual of food preparation. Weddings
were always a great spectacle which involved not only the family, but also
practically all the neighbours almost the whole village. It was a day of
food, sounds, singing and dancing. All
the courses had to be tasty and welcoming.
Special biscuits were prepared especially these were called
Zuccherini and these really did contain tasty and welcoming ingredients:
good white flour (from Hungary they used to say, to show just how precious it
was!), the freshest eggs from young hens, the freshest cream-coloured butter,
alittle salt, caster sugar, yeast, and the rare and expensive aniseed ( in both
seed and liquer form). All the ingredients were blended with care and love,
before being left to rise while the oven heated up. These
expert hands made the dough into a thin long roll which was then cut into small
lengths and made into a ring shape and cooked in the oven. The glaze was
prepared the next day. Aniseed liquer, water and caster sugar were brought to
the boil until thickened, when the cooked rings were added a few at a time
and then, once glazed, left to cool on the marble worksurface. Small sweet
rings, white on the outside while soft and tasty inside. Just like a strong and
sweet marriage. Two much larger rings were made for the newly-weds almost
crown-like finished off with a red satin bow. In
k |