Various writers repeat legends about the origin of pastiera. One story connects it to the siren Parthenope, whom the Neapolitans thanked for her sweet singing by giving her ricotta, flour, eggs, milk, spices, and sugar; Parthenope gave these ingredients to the gods, who made pastiera out of it.[2][3][4] Another story connects it to a spring celebration of the goddess Ceres.[3]
Origins and traditionedit
A slice of pastieraPastiere prepared for Easter
The modern pastiera was probably invented in a Neapolitan convent. The tale goes that unknown nun wanted that cake, symbol of the resurrection, to have the perfume of the flowers of the orange trees which grew in the convent's gardens. She mixed a handful of wheat to the white ricotta cheese, then she added some eggs, symbol of the new life, some water which had the fragrance of the flowers of the spring time, candied citron and aromatic Asian spices.
Lore has it that the nuns of the ancient convent of San Gregorio Armeno used to prepare a great quantity of the piefor the rich families during Easter time.[citation needed]
There are two different ways of preparing pastiera: in the older, the ricotta is mixed with the eggs or with the grain;[1] in the newer, thick pastry cream is added, making the pastiera softer.[5] This innovation was introduced by Starace, a Neapolitan confectioner with a shop in a corner in Piazza Municipio (Town Hall Square).
The pastiera has to be cooked some days in advance, no later than Maundy Thursday or Good Friday, in order to allow the fragrances to mix properly and result in that unique flavor. The pastiera is not only cooked but also sold and served in appropriate pans called "ruoti" because it is very fragile, so it would easily crumble up if removed from the ruoto.
The savoury variantedit
The savoury Neapolitan pastiera is a variant of the sweet one. The recipe differs from that of the sweet pastiera for the dough based on pre-cooked wheat and the filling obtained from the union of sausages and cheeses (the most typical are Neapolitan salami and caciocavallo). In some variants the use of brisé dough and puff pastry is preferred.[6]
^"Pastiera salata: la ricetta della pastiera napoletana rustica". Cookist (in Italian).
Bibliographyedit
Francesconi, Carola Jeanne (1995). La vera cucina di Napoli (in Italian). Roma: Newton. pp. 258–60. ISBN8881830213.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pastiera.
Traditional Italian Easter pie recipes, with video
January 01, 1970
pastiera, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, january, 2014, le. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Pastiera news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2014 Learn how and when to remove this message Pastiera napoletana Italian paˈstjɛːra Neapolitan paˈstjeːre is a type of Neapolitan tart made with cooked wheat eggs ricotta cheese and flavoured with orange flower water It is usually eaten at Easter 1 Pastiera napoletanaTypeTartPlace of originItalyRegion or stateNaplesMain ingredientsFlour sugar lard eggs ricotta boiled wheat in milk water of orange flowers 1 Media Pastiera napoletana Contents 1 Legends 2 Origins and tradition 3 The savoury variant 4 See also 5 References 6 Bibliography 7 External linksLegends editVarious writers repeat legends about the origin of pastiera One story connects it to the siren Parthenope whom the Neapolitans thanked for her sweet singing by giving her ricotta flour eggs milk spices and sugar Parthenope gave these ingredients to the gods who made pastiera out of it 2 3 4 Another story connects it to a spring celebration of the goddess Ceres 3 Origins and tradition edit nbsp A slice of pastiera nbsp Pastiere prepared for Easter The modern pastiera was probably invented in a Neapolitan convent The tale goes that unknown nun wanted that cake symbol of the resurrection to have the perfume of the flowers of the orange trees which grew in the convent s gardens She mixed a handful of wheat to the white ricotta cheese then she added some eggs symbol of the new life some water which had the fragrance of the flowers of the spring time candied citron and aromatic Asian spices Lore has it that the nuns of the ancient convent of San Gregorio Armeno used to prepare a great quantity of the piefor the rich families during Easter time citation needed There are two different ways of preparing pastiera in the older the ricotta is mixed with the eggs or with the grain 1 in the newer thick pastry cream is added making the pastiera softer 5 This innovation was introduced by Starace a Neapolitan confectioner with a shop in a corner in Piazza Municipio Town Hall Square The pastiera has to be cooked some days in advance no later than Maundy Thursday or Good Friday in order to allow the fragrances to mix properly and result in that unique flavor The pastiera is not only cooked but also sold and served in appropriate pans called ruoti because it is very fragile so it would easily crumble up if removed from the ruoto The savoury variant editThe savoury Neapolitan pastiera is a variant of the sweet one The recipe differs from that of the sweet pastiera for the dough based on pre cooked wheat and the filling obtained from the union of sausages and cheeses the most typical are Neapolitan salami and caciocavallo In some variants the use of brise dough and puff pastry is preferred 6 See also edit nbsp Italy portal nbsp Food portalReferences edit a b c Francesconi 1995 p 258 Marlena Spieler Neapolitan Culture Cuisine and Cooking 2018 ISBN 9781442251250 p 19 20 a b Eli Rogosa Restoring Heritage Grains ISBN 1603586717 p 206 207 Pasquale Guaglianone Il naufragio previsto Principessa Mafalda l ultimo tragico viaggio 2012 ISBN 888901346X p 59 Francesconi 1995 p 260 Pastiera salata la ricetta della pastiera napoletana rustica Cookist in Italian Bibliography editFrancesconi Carola Jeanne 1995 La vera cucina di Napoli in Italian Roma Newton pp 258 60 ISBN 8881830213 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pastiera Traditional Italian Easter pie recipes with video Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Pastiera amp oldid 1216681149, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
