In short. Almonds are thought of as Sicilian, but Puglia grows them too, and has two varieties of its own — one of them under the protection of Slow Food. Almond paste is the base of most of the region’s confectionery, and this is the simplest thing made from it: blanched and toasted almonds minced with sugar, bound with egg white and scented with lemon.
Blanch, toast, mince, bind: the same four movements that produce most of the almond confectionery of this region.
The almond in Puglia
Ask anyone where the Italian almond comes from and the answer is Sicily. It is not wrong, but it is not the whole picture: the almond grows well in Puglia too, where it goes into a great many local specialities — and not only sweet ones. A good number of Apulian savoury dishes use it, and so does almond milk.
Two Apulian varieties in particular are recognised. The almond of Ceglie Messapica, and the almond of Toritto — which, as a measure of how good it is, also carries the Slow Food mark.
What is inside an almond
Like every nut, the almond is not a light food. Per 100 grams:
What it is rich in, in order: vitamin E and magnesium first, then iron and calcium.
Almond paste, which is the base of nearly everything
Puglia is known for its almond sweets, and the best known of them are the little ones made of almond paste: intense in flavour, soft in texture. Apulian almond paste is what most of the traditional recipes start from, and every household has its own way of getting it right.
The traditional version asks for three things — good almonds, sugar and egg white — though plenty of families add something of their own to change the flavour or the texture. From there the paste goes in several directions: decorated with candied fruit or chocolate, or used as a filling for biscuits, where a crisp shortcrust holds a soft centre.
Ingredients
- 1 kg of Apulian almonds
- 1 kg of sugar
- 5 eggs
- 1 lemon
- coffee beans and candied fruit, to decorate
Method
1. Blanching. Drop the almonds into boiling water. After five minutes drain them, slip off the skins and dry them.
2. Toasting. Toast in the oven for 20 minutes. When cold, mince them together with the sugar.
3. Binding. Mix the almond and sugar with the egg whites until you have a soft dough.
4. The lemon. Add the zest of the lemon — only the yellow part, the white is bitter — cut very small, and mix through.
5. Shaping. Fit a ridged nozzle to a piping bag and pipe rosettes onto a baking tray. Decorate with the coffee beans and the candied fruit, and bake at a moderate heat until golden.
They are good on their own, and better with a glass of sweet wine.
At Christmas, and as a present
Almond sweets belong to the feast days here. At Christmas in particular they are made in quantity, to be shared with friends and family, and they are a welcome present for a practical reason as well as a good one: almond paste sweets keep for a long time.
A symbol as well as a sweet. In Apulian tradition the almond stands for prosperity and good luck — which is part of why it turns up at weddings, at Christmas and at every other moment worth marking.
More on the desserts page.
