CALABRIAN PRODUCTS (2nd part)

Top tipical calabrian products

Calabrian licorice

The best licorice was born in Calabria. Licorice defined as the crus, with the best quality in the world. Licorice is a perennial shrub with a woody base up to a meter belonging to the family Leguminosae, it has roots and branches that grow taproots crawling on the ground or bury giving rise to new roots, from which is obtained by boiling the plant extract . The pure licorice from Calabria is particularly well-balanced in the bitter-sweet taste that can be used without any additives or other sweeteners, while the licorice produced in other countries is very bitter. This qualitative primacy did develop in Calabria industry licorice.

Mostaccioli

The mostaccioli cakes are typical from Soriano Calabro but today they are spread all over the world. They are made with natural ingredients, flour, honey and Calabrian hot wort. The cookies are hard, compact, heavy, of various forms, decorated with foil , consumed at fairs, festivals, Christmas and Easter.

Chiacchere

Sweets typical of the period of the Carnival celebrations, in the shape of a strip, sometimes molded into various shapes, made ​​with a mixture of flour that is baked or fried and then dusted with powdered sugar. They can also be covered with honey, chocolate and /or sugar, washed down with alchermes or served with black pudding with mascarpone or sweetened and mounted cream.

Petrali

Cookies typical of Reggio Calabria made ​​of crescent-shaped pastry stuffed with figs, walnuts, almonds, orange peel and tangerine. The exterior is usually garnished with a brushed with beaten egg yolk and small balls of colored sugar, or alternatively can be trimmed with icing sugar, dark chocolate or white chocolate. These cakes are usually prepared and eaten during Crhistmas time.

Pignolata

ypical sweet reggino cone-shaped and covered with warmed honey and is used mainly during the festivities of Carnival. The cake is made from deep-fried dough pellets (called just "pine cones") and covered in honey or white icing on half lemon (or bergamot) and for the remaining half of chocolate vanilla icing.

By Danilo Spinella & Robert Bogdan