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Traditional Bronte desserts

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THE ANNUNCIATED FEAST - THE SEPULCHERS - THE HOLY FRIDAY - TYPICAL DISHES - TYPICAL SWEETS

Bronte Pistachio is traditionally the Main ingredient of Bronte desserts

Tipical sweets of Bronte

Paste di pistacchio verde di Bronte The processing of desserts naturally uses the «Bronte's gold» (the pistachio) which, especially in the preparation of pastries, cakes, ice creams, panettone, nougats, nougats, is enhanced by its exceptional organoleptic and gustatory qualities, unique in the world. Other traditional ingredients are ricotta, dried fruit (walnuts, almonds, figs, hazelnuts), raisins, mustard, honey, cooked wine (obtained from prickly pears).

The Bronte pastry chefs, following the family tradition, continue to use genuine and local ingredients and have become famous for the numerous awards received at exhibitions.

With the precious fruit that nature has made available, they are enhanced in the two classic Bronte delicacies, ice cream and pistachio cake, but also in the numerous other refined sweets: liqueurs or milk and pistachio cream, pesto, classic ancient fillets, nougat, pastries (simple, with icing sugar, or covered in chocolate), pistachio or almond granita, even special almond milk when made using menduri a ccori, .. . and numerous other delicacies with a unique taste.

The preparation of some desserts, according to peasant tradition, is sometimes marked by the passing of the calendar (the Easter holidays, the Commemoration of the Dead, Christmas, Carnival) or the seasons.

In addition to those based on green pistachios from Bronte (the ice cream or cake with pistachio cream are simply fabulous), traditional desserts include

- almond pastries, fried ravioli with seasoned fresh ricotta,

- the fillet ('a Filletta),

- clouds ('a nuvuretta is a soft, slightly oval-shaped cake made with flour, starch and eggs),

- cosza ruci (heart-shaped sweets made with almond paste and covered with white icing),

- crozz'i mottu (traditional sweets of November 2nd, very hard, whitish in color which reproduce skulls and long bones in miniature, to remember deceased relatives),

- the sphinxes, the panitti (typical Christmas dessert with an internal mixture of almonds, pistachio, dried figs, honey),

- the sfingi (a deep fried mix of boiled flour, sugar and eggs),

- cooked wine, obtained by prolonging the boiling process of prickly pear juice, "mastazzori" and Mustard also obtained from the tasty prickly pears of Sciare Bronte.


Pastries, fillets, (fabulous) ice cream, colombe, panettone, nougat, biscuits, cakes, olives: the Bronte pistachio is traditionally the main ingredient in the recipes of the characteristic Bronte desserts. Refined flavors and aromas summarized in the "magical" pistachio cakes, prepared and packaged differently depending on the imagination and inventiveness of the pastry chefs (with pistachio custard and without cream, using pistachio powder in the dough). Pistachio ice cream is widespread throughout the world, but in the vast majority of cases its preparation occurs with the use of a minimal dose of pistachio essence, often of Middle Eastern origin. In some cases - paradoxically - there is only the beautiful green color of pistachio). In all the bars of Bronte and in other refined pastry shops all over the world, the ice cream prepared with green pistachios from Bronte has a unique taste and aroma that has little, or rather nothing, to do with the ice cream which only has "pistachio" name or color. As in many Sicilian towns, even in Bronte the typical Carnival sweets are sphinxes (Sfingi). Of Arabic origin and name, they are round and spongy pancakes, which can be covered in sugar or honey. A dough is prepared with water and suet, boiling and adding flour and a little cinnamon. The mixture thus obtained is cooled and softened with eggs. Then using a specific tool, a 'sphinxer' («'a sfingera», a sort of large syringe for sweets), it is cut into pieces of about 10 cm. and cooked in boiling oil; then they are immersed in warm honey, adding sugar and cinnamon. At Easter, in addition to Collura, Cassatina is fashionable in Bronte. A circular-shaped dessert made of dough, prepared with sugar, flour and suet, and filled with almonds, hazelnuts and chopped pistachios, with the addition of a little liqueur (vermuth or brandy) or white wine. After cooking in the oven the cassatina is covered with white icing.

Mostarda, Vino cotto e Mastazzori

Mostarda We stop to talk a bit about prickly pear mustard, cooked wine and "mastazzori", which are now almost impossible to find and whose unique and ancient flavour is unknown to the new generations.

These last three sweets derive from particular processing of the prickly pear, a cactus that in the Bronte area grows, without any particular care, luxuriant, almost invasive, and gives abundant and tasty fruits of various types and colors. From these (yellow and/or red variety), by boiling, a delicate mustard is obtained.

Traditionally it is prepared in the countryside, boiling the prickly pears in a large container (‘u lavizzu or 'u menzarangiu), placed on a high flame.

After about an hour of boiling, the fruits are placed in hemp sacks or cloth (cannavazzu) and filtered.

The mustard, the cooked wine and the mastazzori derive from particular processing of the prickly pear, a cactus that grows in the Bronte area, without any particular care, luxuriant, almost infesting, and gives abundant and tasty fruits of various types and colours. From these (yellow and/or red varieties), a delicate mustard is obtained by boiling.

Traditionally it is prepared in the countryside by boiling prickly pears in a large container ('u Lavizzu or 'u Menzarangiu), placed over a high heat.

After about an hour of boiling, the fruits are placed in hemp bags or cloth (Cannavazzu) and filtered.

After taking a small quantity, setting it aside to obtain the lacciata by mixing it with the flour, the liquid obtained is boiled again, over a low heat, for at least another two-three hours, after which the lacciata is slowly added, stirring continuously to avoid lumps.

After another two hours, when the mustard acquires the consistency of a cream and a brown colour, it is ready to be consumed: poured onto plates and garnished on the surface with chopped baked almonds and chopped pistachios, it can be enjoyed while still hot or slightly cold.

Placed inside characteristic clay tiles hollowed out with decorations that make the cake take on the most varied shapes (heart, flower, dove, fish, basket), it is subsequently dried with prolonged periods of exposure to sunlight and takes on a greater consistency and the characteristic inflorescence sugary.

By further prolonging the boiling process of prickly pear juice, cooked wine is obtained, an indispensable component for the preparation of various types of traditional desserts and very rich in calories: it was used to prepare a particular granita, obtained by mixing it with snow, to flavor the snack of children by spreading it on toasted bread but, above all, for the preparation of some very particular desserts, today, unfortunately almost "unavailable", panitti and mastazzora (typical Christmas desserts).

The first, 'panitti', have the shape of a small donut with dough prepared with sugar, flour and suet ('a Saimmi), with an elongated or rolled shape. They are prepared with a filling of almonds, pistachios, chopped hazelnuts and walnuts, dried figs, raisins, cooked wine and grated orange peel.

Mastazzora are instead obtained by mixing the flour directly with cooked wine.

The dough, cut into 10-15 cm strips, is then cooked in the oven. A variant of this very particular dessert is called a luffia: the mastazzora, once baked, are dipped in cooked wine, which acts as a glue for a tasty addition of chopped pistachios, almonds and hazelnuts.

The "Cosza ruci"

i coszarùci The "mammurati", or rather the "cori" (hearts) or, as they are more commonly called, the "coszaruci" (sweet things), are composed of a mixture of almonds and/or pistachios, egg white and sugar , heart-shaped, covered with a white icing dotted with "javuricchi" and baked.

'A Mustadda

The mostarda, a traditional Christmas cake obtained (like "cooked wine" or "mastazzori") from the tasty prickly pear of Bronte's skiing, which recently had the "dop" recognition of the European Union.

To recognize it from imitations, just check that the shape of the volcano is on the label.

The production area of the "Prickly Pear of Etna" (Ficodindia dell'Etna) is part of the province of Catania, affected by the effects of the eruption of the volcano, and is included in a range of altitudes ranging from 150 to 750 meters.

The "Cullura"

The "cullura" more than a sweet, constituted the principal food for the Easter Monday picnic. Pregnant and bulging represents the feast of life that comes back after the mourning. Consists in a mixture of flour, lard and sometime sugar.

The dough, worked in a particular way, is shaped in various forms (a flower, a dove, a fish, a basket, a lamb etc.).

In the paste are incorporated two or three raw eggs with shell, other strips of pastry are placed on top to cover the eggs and the all thing sprinkled with "iavuricchi" (small multicolored confetti).

Then everything is baked in a stone oven.

The Easter lamb

The Easter lamb is a sweet product with sizes and weights that vary only during the Easter holidays.

It is made by the pastry chefs of Bronte in the shape of a white lamb lying down, decorated with flags and flowers, among variously colored martorana fruit.

The dessert, composed of a soft "royal pastry", is made with soft almond paste, a delicious Arab invention, worthy, for its sweetness and refinement, of the most noble palates.

It once represented the traditional Easter gift that every lover ('u zzitu) gave to his girlfriend: the bigger the lamb, the more martorana fruit surrounding it, the more it weighed and the sweeter the demonstration of affection was meant to be (and, of course... . the wallet is more stocked!).

Soft and sweet, it has done and does miracles

'A Filletta

The "Filletta", typically Brontese, is an ancient dessert, with a characteristic perfectly round shape, extremely soft and with a delicate taste.

Passed down from generation to generation, it is the exaltation of the imagination, love and above all the patience of Bronte women.

It is made up of simple ingredients: flour, sugar and eggs (and also pistachios, but only if you want to enrich and embellish the dessert).

The proportions are strictly secret.

Judging by the preparation, it brings to mind the way in which the Jews (certainly coming from Spain) prepared alternative bread to unleavened bread.
And in Bronte there once lived a large Jewish colony in the area between Via Grisley and Via Imbriani.

Some maintain, however, that it was the Arabs who left this soft dessert to the people of Bronte; some others who left with the Benedictine nuns from the Monastery of Santa Scolastica when it was suppressed following the laws of 1866 which sanctioned the alienation of ecclesiastical property.

However the original recipe remains a family secret: it is made of flour, sugar and eggs but the doses and methods still remain shrouded in mystery, jealously guarded and handed down from one generation to the next by the few families who manage to make them.

Only the name, Filletta, reveals itself, telling us that it most likely derives from the Brontese fella (fetta), (small slice, fillitta).

Cooking requires a lot of skill and no distractions as each Filletta is cooked individually in a small copper pan greased with butter, placed at a distance of about 10 cm. on a brazier filled with hot ash and covered by a lid on which other burning embers are placed (focu sutta and focu supra, but with little heat below and much above).

The perfectly rounded shape is given by the type and shape of the pan used.

This technique, perfected in families over many years, probably by women devoted to patient female work and prayer, still allows the preparation of a dessert, very simple in its few natural ingredients, soft, tasty, warm in color and perfect in its exact shape. circular.

Traditional Filletta today is made, generally upon prior order, only by a few fillittarians with an ancient process, perfected over many years and handed down from generation to generation.


The final stages: the characteristic cooking of the sweet filletta, "focu sutta e focu supra" (this time it is pistachio flavored). (Some photos are taken from the website novepistacchio.it)

One of the few "fillittare" is Mrs. Rosa Spitaleri (pictured on the right and below) who, together with her husband, has been preparing exquisite fillettes in her artisan shop on Via S. Pietro for almost 40 years.

She was still very young when one of her aunts decided to reveal the secret recipe to her. From that moment, custodian of a culinary tradition, but above all of a piece of cultural memory, she dedicated herself with patience and love but above all with reliability and seriousness to this activity, improving it and also adding a pinch of novelty: pistachio fillet.

Mrs. Spitaleri is a figure present and sought after by gourmets in the annual Pistachio Festival. She launched - as she writes - «with enthusiasm and passion in the creation of this work of art, aware that tradition cannot simply be inherited but must be achieved daily with great effort». And her children also decided to continue the work started by their mother, keeping the family tradition alive with the same dedication and passion.

The destiny of the fillet, now consolidated by centuries of use, is to be given as a gift on the occasion of happy or painful events but above all, or rather, to obtain a little help, a little nudge, the... classic recommendation.

Soft and sweet as she is, she has done and can easily get even... miracles!. And over the years... "loads" of soft fillette gloves have been given away!

And, given the results, we never stopped.


Some images, from different periods, of the ten-year-old, traditional preparation of the soft, sweet Filletta cooked by Mrs. Rosa Spitaleri in special pans placed between two braziers. The Filletta (in the plural strangely becomes masculine: i filletti) is sold by private individuals (the fillittari) and in the bars of Bronte, wrapped in a special sheet of transparent plastic to preserve the aroma and the typical softness for a long time.

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