Rosetta Costantino - Southern Italian Desserts: Rediscovering the Sweet Traditions of Calabria, Campania, Basilicata, Puglia, and Sicily

I would never have written this book if not for my agent, Carole Bidnick, who asked me to write it. Many thanks to Celia Sack, owner of Omnivore Books on Food in San Francisco, California, who planted the idea for this cookbook in Caroles head. Special thanks to my editor at Ten Speed, Jenny Wapner, who believed in this book from the moment she first tasted my cannolo gelato, and to Andrea Chesman for her careful copyediting, and Betsy Stromberg for her enticing design.

Many thanks to Jennie Schacht for helping me with all the writing and for sharing her valuable knowledge of baking. Thanks to Randy Hicks, my cooking class assistant, for helping with editing the recipes and assisting with some challenging desserts. Thanks to photographer Sara Remington, who spent days driving with me all over Southern Italy to capture its beauty. She worked so hard with her food stylist, Katie Christ, and prop stylist, Dani Fisher, to make the food look gorgeous. Thanks to Holly Bern, Lisa Hanson, Rita Croda, Cyndi Wong, and Christina Kaelberer for testing my recipes and providing their constructive feedback.

I could not have written this book without the encouragement of my husband, Lino, and my children, Danielle and Adrian. My husband drove us thousands of miles all around Southern Italy during our summer vacation to whatever little town I requested in search of unknown sweets, keeping his sense of humor all the while. My son Adrian helped with testing all the recipes, tasting the desserts and providing his honest and constructive feedback, then bringing them to share with the wonderful teachers at his high school. I also thank my sister-in-law, Giuseppina Costantino, a physician in Palermo whose favorite hobby is baking desserts. Giuseppina shared many of the recipes that have added so much to this book.

I offer special thanks to the many Southern Italian people who offered their time, warm hospitality, and recipes: Pasquale Marigliano of San Gennariello di Ottaviano (Campania) allowed us to photograph him in his shop and demonstrated how to shape a sfogliatella. Manuela Piancastelli of Terre del Principe Agriturismo in Castel Campagnano (Campania) shared her recipe and introduced me to Pasquale. Antonio Cafiero of Gelateria Primavera in Sorrento (Campania) and his pastry chef, Silvana Parlato, showed me how to make the delizie di limone of Sorrento. Angie Cafiero introduced me to Antonio and shared her knowledge of the history of Neapolitan desserts. Massimiliano Avagliano, the pastry chef at Pasticceria Pantaleone in Salerno (Campania), shared his famous cake, the scazzetta del cardinale. Antonio Belcastro of Caf Nin in Diamante (Calabria) shared his tartufo recipe. Gaspare Abbate of La Cubana pastry shop in Palermo (Sicily) permitted us to photograph pastry chef Salvo La Porta making cannoli and cassatelle. Pasticceria Paradise in Palermo allowed us to take pictures of all their pastries. Maria Grammatico of her eponymous pastry shop in Erice (Sicily) spent time with us in her tiny shop and let us photograph her making her special almond pastries. Pietro Lecce of San Lorenzo Si Alberga and La Tavernetta restaurant in Camigliatello Silano (Calabria) shared his fig syrup recipe. Mary Taylor Simeti took time out of her busy schedule to share her vast knowledge of the history of Sicilian desserts. Patrick OBoyle shared his family pastiera recipe. Many thanks to Rita Callipo of Agriturismo Casa Janca in Pizzo (Calabria), Margherita Amasino of Dattilo Ristorante in Strongoli (Calabria), Francesco Abbondanza of LAbbondanza Lucana in Matera (Basilicata), Vincenzo Altieri of La Dolce Vita B&B in Matera, and to Laura Giordano, Antonello Losito, Roberto Bonanno, Giusi Di Benedetto, Silvana Bruno, Salvatore Germano and Anna Papa, and Italian food importer Rolando Beramendi. Many thanks to my cousins in Calabria: Vincenzo and Umberto Celia, Maria and Rosetta Torrano, and their families.

Finally, I thank my parents for giving me the greatest gift: teaching me everything they know about cooking.

Southern Italy has a longstanding and well-deserved reputation for its lavish desserts, starting as early as 827 AD, when the Arabs first brought sugar to the area. Desserts here draw on a diversity of ingredients that reflect the areas long history of invasion and occupation by the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Lombards, Normans, Spanish, and French. Its location along the spice trading routes that crossed through the Mediterranean was fortuitous, bringing the exotic flavorings of faraway places to the region, including chocolate, cinnamon, and cloves. The Arabs and Spanish also brought almonds and pistachios, the latter originating in Syria, as well as pasta reale (marzipan)used to fashion lifelike figurines of religious symbols, as well as miniature fruits and vegetablesand pasta di mandorla (almond paste, similar to but less sweet than marzipan), used in a variety of cookies.

Despite the riches brought by invading empires, until modern times elaborate sweets were found only in convents or by following the path of aristocratsthe only people who could afford the exorbitant price of sugar. Only at Christmastime might peasants have exchanged their goods for precious spices to flavor their simple cookies. Most often, desserts were made to honor a saints day or a family occasion, such as a wedding or the birth of a child. To exalt those occasions, the desserts were made extra sweet, a characteristic still found in many Southern Italian desserts today.