Hot Cookie On the Road in Italy

If I'd reported I turned down a trip to Italy because I just had to work on my cookie blog, everyone would know that was an April Fools joke. Instead, I'm planning to make cookies in Italy. Really.

Civita di Bagnoregio, north of Rome, and near Orvieto.

Another passion - gardening - has qualified me for a position as volunteer gardener in residence at a small architecture institute in Civita di Bagnoregio. The call for "volunteers" said, "Duties include but are not limited to planting seeds and starts, mulching, weeding, managing compost and irrigation, some pruning and harvesting. Also, will need to keep hand tools in good working order. Knowledge of sustainable practices is helpful, as is the ability to speak some Italian."

I figured a dozen horticulture students with no job prospects, but an interest in Italy, would apply. They may still, but I beat them to the punch. My 28 years of digging in the soil, with emphasis on organic gardening, qualified me. And having conducted some genealogy research in Italy, I am not afraid to speak my what-gets-by-as-Italian. I will be the first giardiniera in residenza, and I will plant their veggie garden for the season.

To date, I've made a few more cookies than I've written about. I'll post these during my trip, but I have saved two recipes to make in Italy. Some Italian cookies found their way into the Gourmet Cookie Book. I will make Biscotti di Regina (Queen's Biscuits) and Pine Nut Macaroons (Pignoli), and maybe one wild card to be chosen later.

Comments

#33 Almond Bolas (Portuguese Almond Cookies) 1975

Three almond balls ( bolas ) in a row. "This one is good," my sister-in-law Jill told me. She tried not to express too much surprise, but I have regaled her with too many tales of failed cookies. And forced her to eat a few duds. I was glad this one made the grade. I liked it, too. You might think I am a hopeless romantic to fall for another almond cookie. (Italy, almond cookies. Almond cookies, Italy.) The fact is every country that can grow almonds has its special recipes for almond cookies. Portugal is no exception. The ground blanched almonds combine with dry bread crumbs, then the usual sugar, egg whites and almond extract. The dry bread crumbs are key. When the cookies are fresh from the oven, the bread crumbs add a perfect crunch to their rustic, nutty texture. Holes in the center ready for filling. These cookies don't "drop." You roll them in a ball ( bola ) and press a hole in the center, as for jelly-filled thumbprint cookies. Egg yolk ...

#21 Cornetti 1989

First, the texture. These crescent-shaped darlings came closest to the crisp-outside, soft-inside of the almond cookies I've been craving. The difference with these is their distinct orange flavor, from chopped, candied orange peel, and the cup of white cornmeal that adds a gritty crunch to each bite. Cornetti, dusted with powdered sugar. These firm, hearty cookies, with a ground almond base, are my first real almond cookie success. They are not the same as any cookie I tasted in Italy; I have yet to duplicate those bakery cookies. These stand on their own, apart from the rest, and they are every bit as good. After one minute in boiling water, almonds are ready to have skins removed. Blanching almonds. Orange peels simmering in sugar syrup. The bad news is the labor required, especially if you begin with almonds that have their skins. Although an easy process of blanching in hot water allows the skins to be removed for an all-white dough, by the time I was done, ...

#12 Navettes Sucreés (Sugar Shuttles) 1950

Cookies topped with sparkling sugar on left, granulated sugar on right. This cookie is almost as satisfying as the vanilla scent that fills the kitchen while baking. Similar to the Christmas Butter Cookies, egg yolks contribute to their light, crumbly texture. The name is a reference to the long thin device that guides yarn back and forth across the warp in weaving (or a device on a sewing machine). But these cookies look nothing like their name. Frankly, I would not expect anyone to take one look at these cookies and say, "I know - a weaving shuttle." Not happening. Butter, eggs and vanilla await kneading into dry flour, sugar and salt mixture. I wonder if the recipe or cookie shape goes back to an era of early weavers, or if this was a 1950's invention for the magazine. The Cookie Book calls them "cigar-shaped," not an image I'd evoke to sell a cookie. The making is easy. After rolling bits of dough into, shall we say, a small slug shape (I ...

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