Baking from northern italy, by richard sax - 3

1 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient

Directions

SERVINGS

SOURCE: GOURMET MAGAZINE, 02

FROM: SALLIE KREBS

Presniz is the third and remaining cousin in the gubana-putiza-presniz family, and it is frequently confused with the other two. This spectacular version is from Simone Supanz. Unlike its two relatives, a presniz is made with puff pastry, and, once the dough is filled and wrapped in a loose coil, it is baked on a baking sheet rather than in a cake pan. Presniz probably evolved from Viennese origins; it is slightly more refined than its relations. The filling, based on a marzipan-like mixture of ground nuts and sugar, is similar to that used for gubana, but it is made with hazelnuts, walnuts, and rum.

This specialty can be found in Trieste and its surroundings. If you use an excellent brand of commercial all-butter puff pastry, you can put a fine presniz together in minutes. Homemade puff pastry requires considerably more fuss, but some prefer it. This rich pastry is served on festive occasions, so the amounts are for a large dessert.

Leftovers can be reheated in a low oven, in order to crisp the pastry. Serve the presniz with coffee or tea, or offer a glass of grappa or brandy alongside. "Bona pasqua, bone pinze," an old saying goes. Serving pinza, a golden round of egg-glazed yeast bread marked with a cross or swirl pattern, augurs well for the Easter season. In the old days housewives would start the first of several rises of the dough at four in the morning. Then, on Good Friday, they would bring their pinza dough to the village bread baker, covering it with a towel for the last rise. Though the practice has largely disappeared, to this day it is still considered a point of honor to bake a pinza at home. The name pinza probably shares its origins with "pizza." Pinza friulana or triestina is also sometimes called "focaccia" or "foccacia dolce" and is enjoyed for dessert along with such local sweet white wines as Verduzzo and Picolit, the latter considered comparable to Sauternes. Pinza dough, rich in eggs, butter, and sugar, can also be made with honey. Some versions of this recipe require four rises, with a little of the flour and other ingredients added for each successive rising. Such a method results in more developed flavor and a finer texture; professional American bakers term the method "re-mix." The following recipe calls for only two rises. (Pinza recipe here) The small, crisp almond cookies known as favette ("little beans") or Jave triestina are found in every pasticceria window in the region from October through the end of November. They commemorate the All Saints days of November 1, 2, and 3, when souls are released from purgatory. The cookies are colored beige, pink, and tan and arc gathered in small cellophane bags and neatly tied with ribbon. Favette are sometimes called fave dei morti ("beans of the dead"), as fava beans figure in the All Saints celebration, as well as in several old superstitions and myths. The Greeks associated favas with funerary rites; Mary Simeti notes that, according to Pythagoras, the hollow stalk of the fava plant provided a pathway to Hades for the spirits of the dead. Over the years, possibly in the eighteenth century, sweet facsimiles, like these little cookies, came to be substituted for the real beans. Regardless of their macabre connotations, these small macaroons are delicious, easy to make, and successfully stored in an airtight container.

(Favette recipe here)

Submitted By SALLIE KREBS On 12-07-94

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