Ingredients of Torta di Pasqua
Luciano and I mixing up the competition |
My involvement with Luciano
Ceccarelli continually brings me back to Umbria, an understated landlocked
region of Italy. This visit we went to see a new property to host the
popular Nose to Tail Charcuterie workshops. A culinary
tale grabbed my curiosity, the rich and playful story of the Umbrian Torta di
Pasqua. Easter week sees the frenzied making of this regional cake
erupt over the hills and valleys of Umbria. Each family with their
particular recipe make between ten and twenty cakes; half savoury with cheese,
and half sweet with spices and citrus. This ritual mobilises
intergenerational and community participation. However don’t be deceived by the
convivial nature of this Eastertide bakeoff; for under the veneer lurks passionate
competition, defence of family pride, assertion of culinary expertise wrapped in
pleasantry and civility.
The scale of this operation may involve up to 100 eggs to make the giant yeasted dough. Surveying the proceedings, a seated matriarch presides over the scene, keenly administrating her wisdom. Approval is conferred upon the girls whose mixing dexterity and prowess implicates the feebleness of others. Masculine intervention contributes muscle power to mixing the dough.
The men chip in |
Marisa watches keenly |
Luciano tells me when he was young gathering 100 eggs in early spring would necessitate preserving the eggs in advance of Eastertide. He recalls how his mother would make a lime cement and cover the eggs, for up to 2 months.
Once the dough is made and ready for leavening it is transferred to a greased bowl. Serena recounts how as a child she loved the job of spreading the pig suet inside the bowl, as she dreamily recalls her younger self pressing the soft unctuous fat. She tells me competition was understated, yet fierce amongst families to produce the best cakes. Questions of "how much cheese did they use"? "how well have the cakes risen"? And, "how was the texture"? No detail was deemed too small.
The dose for eggs under lime - 5 litres of water and 2 kilo of lime. Mix & leave 2 days before putting the eggs in the mixture.
Once the dough is made and ready for leavening it is transferred to a greased bowl. Serena recounts how as a child she loved the job of spreading the pig suet inside the bowl, as she dreamily recalls her younger self pressing the soft unctuous fat. She tells me competition was understated, yet fierce amongst families to produce the best cakes. Questions of "how much cheese did they use"? "how well have the cakes risen"? And, "how was the texture"? No detail was deemed too small.
From Maundy Thursday the
cakes are displayed on family tables along with chocolate eggs. Children longed for the Torta, the elders curbed their temptation with talk of the snake “la biscia” who waited in the cake should it be broken
into. An effective deterrent.
The dough needs to
be baked and the scale of village participation necessitates a large oven. The village baker's oven is
called upon and duly booked for time and space slots. This stage of the
production sees another layer of competition cloaked in formality and social
niceties. Families gather at the bakers with their tins of leavened cake dough.
Engaging with their neighbours, familiar chat can be heard “oooh yours
looks so good, oh no! yours is amazing!…... Oh I don’t know, mine
didn’t rise enough”, and so the banter continues, reminiscing on years
gone by and what adjustments will be made next year.
Rafaella, the village baker
is inundated on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday with cake orders in addition to around 100 tins of dough to bake. Each tin is marked with
family initials on the thin aluminium bowls. She feeds the dough into her
ovens whilst monitoring the reputations of the entire hillside village.
Rafaella shuffles the cake's positions around in the oven and gives a running
commentary to her assistants, and anyone who is listening, on the likely
outcomes of the tortas. She sighs as someone’s cake clearly needs to use a
better yeast or that someone else’s hasn’t browned on top evenly. She
does her utmost for everyone, for in caring over this nursery of cakes,
she has her own reputation to nurture. Her stewardship is
respected and she has been entrusted in this vital stage
of production.
The cakes await their owners for collection |
As I was in the shop, a
couple of women from a nearby village rated Rafaella’s oven to be a cut above
their own village baker’s oven. She gives her frank opinion on the
yeast they are using and mixes up the dough to their absolute
specificity. She makes pleasantries and confers advice whilst managing a couple dozen cakes in the oven The degree of interaction is
surprising, this exchange involves far more than economic transaction; her
decades of expertise flow unconditionally into a transmission of knowledge
from the master to the seekers of Easter baking success.
Back at the Ceccarelli home, Luciano
is on the phone to his sister Lucia, recounting in detail his opinion of how her recipe for the sweet cake had too much yeast and water. A thorough and full debate
ensued of what could have been, and what he thinks needs to be changed. Meanwhile, he flicks through his Facebook feed, images of Torta di Pasqua's jostle
proudly amongst his Umbrian friends and relations who engage with vivacious commentary, advice and praise.
These cakes mediate a great
deal of family pride and assertion of culinary prowess. Of course one is
suitably magnanimous to their neighbours, whose cakes have not risen robustly
with reassurances that the flavour is what really counts after all.
But, the Ceccarelli's tell me when all goes well with Torta, a discreet
punching the air and standing just that much taller is not unheard of.
Long live the cakes that remake social cohesion disguised in soulful competition.
It makes the world a sweeter and more savoury place.
Courtesy
of the Ceccarelli family Perfected by his sister Lucia Ceccarelli
800g flour
100ml olive oil
140gm Pecorino grated
130gm sliced Parmesan
130gm grated Parmesan
15gm salt
3gm ground black pepper
4 eggs
Yeast according to 800g
flour (usually 1.5 tsp dried yeast)
10 whole cloves boiled in
300ml of water
1/2 nutmeg grated fine.
18cm round baking tin
Oil to grease the baking
tin
- Preheat oven to 180 C.
- Mix dry ingredients.
- Add wet ingredients and kneed well until elastic and smooth.
- Add to oiled baking tin.
- 2-3 hours rising.
- Bake one hour until golden and cooked in the middle.
Torta Di Pasqua Dolce Note! this needs 10-12 hours
1 kg flour
100ml olive oil
4 eggs
300 g sugar
250 ml milk
50 g yeast mixed with 250
ml water or dried yeast according to 1 kg flour
80-100 ml almond liquor
50g cinnamon essence
3 tsp vanilla essence
Pinch cinnamon powder
Zest of 1 1/2 lemons
Zest of 2 oranges
- Mix dry ingredients.
- Add wet ingredients and mix well. This is a wetter dough.
- Add to oiled baking tin.
- 10-12 hours rising.
- Preheat oven to 180 C.
- Bake one hour until golden and cooked in the middle