Even during the holidays, Italian gastronomic tradition features the occasional mysterious recipe - mysterious because we often don’t know its origins. For example, just how is it that French and Belgian waffle wafers known as gaufres have taken root in Abruzzo as ferratelle for so many centuries? We’re not saying that the Abruzzese ferratelle are exactly the same as the French sweet —or the German wafel or the Piemontese gofri, for that matter. The parrozzo, a Christmastime staple, is a whole different story.
The recipe for Ferratelle
In Abruzzo, ferratelle wafers are widespread even today. The dough comprises ¾ cup all-purpose flour, 2 large eggs, 3 Tbsp. sugar, 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, grated lemon zest, and 1 tsp. baking powder. Once mixed, the dough is cooked in a double-plated iron with a stenciled relief. For crispier ferratelle, just increase the measurements of olive oil and flour. Once the dough is prepared, add a little at a time to the iron, but cook them briefly. Tradition, states you should recite one Hail Mary when cooking the first side and an Our Father when cooking the other side.
And just in case you’re traveling through Abruzzo, it’s important to know that the name for this kind of wafer changes. Depending on the town, it may go by pizzelle, catarrette, and neole. In Molise — a region on the Adriatic bordering Abruzzo, Puglia, Campania, and Lazio — locals refer to them as cancelle or cancellate.
Embellish your ferratelle with chocolate, jam, or even Nutella
Ferratelle are perfect when paired with high-quality chocolate, even if tradition calls for ragnata, a local grape jam, or honey. You can also top with Nutella and custard.
The mysterious origins of ferratelle
So, back to the mystery. Ferratelle are said to have originated in Abruzzo at the dawn of the Roman age from where they were then exported to France and Belgium by Caesar’s legionaries — but this is false.
In reality, they date back to the 1700s. Noble families would have them made on double-plated waffle irons featuring the year of production on one side and the noble family’s house crest on the other – most likely from a “Northern” tradition during the so-called Age of Enlightenment, a movement led by none other than the gaufre-making French. This development was also quite similar to Modena’s crescentine, including the likeness of the irons used to make them, called tigelle, a customary gift for new brides. In fact, the bride's family would make ferratelle for the wedding so that guests could enjoy a snack when they came to see the dowry. And even if the ferratelle are always cooked according to the same method, the varying dough recipes are endless. For example, neole call for cooked wine must, lemon, star anise, and cinnamon powder. In Molise, on the other hand, they use star anise and white wine in the dough. Then there’s the coperchiola version, with two overlapping wafers and a honey, almond, and walnut filling.
The Parrozzo
As you can see, more than just a "Christmas dessert," ferratelle can be a treat for any occasion. But in Abruzzo, the parrozzo is the most important Christmastime sweet. A simple dough – made with eggs, sugar, almonds, semolina, lemon peel, oil, and liqueur - is placed in a dome-shaped mold and then baked in the oven. The final touch? A dark chocolate ganache.
An ode to the Parrozzo and its origins
The parrozzo's humble origins derive particularly from the ancient bread of peasant farms once made by shepherds. Back then, it was made from the less-valuable corn flour and then baked in a wood-burning oven. Its use as a Christmas cake is a more recent development that began in the 1920s. Luigi D’Amico, the owner of a coffee shop in the center of the seaside town of Pescara, decided to make it. The dome shape would serve as a tribute to the shape of the shepherds’ corn loaves. Even the chocolate-based ganache had meaning, inspired by the burnt appearance of bread from the wood-burning oven. In fact, the term pan rozzo refers to the “burnt” aspect of the bread, which was later simplified into parrozzo. The first version of the Christmastime parrozzo was created by D'Amico in 1919, and he wanted his friend and fellow countryman, poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, to be the first to taste it.
"I offer to you His Illustrious Maestro the Parrozzo – il Pan rozzo d’Abruzzo – with a little name tied to both your youth and mine,” wrote D’Amico upon sending the sweet treat to D’Annunzio in Gardone. The poet’s response was enthusiastic. He wrote (in Italian dialect), “With so much goodness, this new parrozzo seem a delight from the heavens, as if you baked it in God’s own oven, with ingredients from His illustrious garden that might make anything sweet once cooked, wanting little else. Benedette D’Amiche e San Ciatte.” (The last part was a play on words in Italian by the poet, with the phrase ‘Benedette D’Amiche’ meaning ‘Blessed friends’ in the plural, representing a play on Luigi D’Amico’s last name.) D’Annunzio also went on to refer to parrozzo in several of his works, and the tradition of parrozzo lives on to this day.
The recipe for parrozzo
Ingredients
4½ cups sugar
⅓ cup almond flour
1 cup of durum wheat semolina, plus extra
¾ stick butter
7 oz. dark chocolate
¼ cup yellow cornstarch
5 large eggs
4 Tbsp. Amaretto liqueur
lemon
orange
1 tsp. baking powder
Method
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Separate the egg yolks and whites, then beat the yolks with the sugar until very foamy. Add 3 Tbsp. amaretto liqueur, the grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange. Mix, then add the melted butter and finally the flour, baking powder, and another Tbsp. liqueur. Beat the egg whites until they're stiff then fold them gently into the mixture. Butter a large hemisphere mold (1½-quart), dust it with semolina, then pour in the batter. Place in the oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
In the meantime, melt the dark chocolate over a double-boiler with 1 Tbsp. butter. Remove the dessert from the oven, flip it out onto a wire rack, and drizzle the melted chocolate on top. Let it cool before serving.