Crostata

''Crostata'' () is an Italian baked tart or pie. The earliest known use of ''crostata'' in its modern sense can be traced to the cookbooks ''Libro de Arte Coquinaria'' (''Book of the Art of Cooking'') by Martino da Como, published , and ''Cuoco napolitano'' (''Neapolitan Cook''), published in the late 15th century, containing a recipe (number 94) titled ''Crostata de Caso, Pane, etc.''.

''Crostata'' is a "rustic free-form version of an open fruit tart" that may also be baked in a pie plate.

Historically, it also referred to an "open-faced sandwich or canapé" because of its crusted appearance, or a ''chewet'', a type of meat pie.

Etymology

The name derives from the Latin word ''crustāta'', the feminine past participle of ''crustāre'' ('to encrust'), and ultimately from the noun ''crusta'' ('crust'). The French term '' croustade'' derives from it, from which the English term ''custard'' derives. The word ''crostata'' appeared in the earliest Italian dictionaries, included in the 1612 dictionary '' Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca'' (compiled from 1591 to 1608) by the Accademia della Crusca and the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, and the 1617 dictionary ''Il memoriale della lingua italiana: ridotto in ordine d'alfabeto per commodità del lettore'' by Giacomo Pergamino, in which it was defined as a type of torta.

Description

Traditionally, ''crostata'' consisted of a base, usually three layers, of friable dough "flavoured with clarified fat and butter". Today, shortcrust pastry is used instead. It is differentiated from a torta by its filling: ''crostata'' has an inconsistent chunky filling, whereas a torta has a consistent filling made of blended ingredients.

''Crostata'' can be blind-baked, filled with pastry cream ('' crema pasticciera''), and then topped with pieces of fresh fruit; this is called ''crostata di frutta''. In his 1570 cookbook ''Opera dell'arte del cucinare'', Bartolomeo Scappi included a recipe for a ''crostata'' of plums and sour cherries, and others for quince and pears. A modern version is ''crostata alla nutella'', which has Nutella as the filling.

Ingredients for a savoury ''crostata'' may include meat, fish or vegetables, which are pre-cooked. ''Opera dell'arte del cucinare'' included a recipe for a "''crostata'' of crabmeat and shrimp", and also stated that to instead make a torta, the shrimp and crab should be crushed. A popular sweet variant, especially in central and south Italy, is ''crostata di ricotta'', made with ricotta cheese mixed with sugar and lemon zest, and which may additionally include cocoa or raisins.

Scappi included many recipes for ''crostata'' in ''Opera dell'arte del cucinare''. For meat and seafood based ''crostata'', there were recipes using pork jowls or prosciutto, crayfish, anchovies or oysters. Other savoury ''crostata'' recipes included a ''crostata'' with creamy cheese referred to as a ''butirata'', those with truffles or field mushrooms, one with artichoke or cardoon hearts, and one with "the viscera of any sort of turtle".

See also

* List of Italian desserts and pastries
* '' Pastafrola'' – a version found in Greece, Egypt, and South America
* Linzer torte – an Austrian version

References

Further reading

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* Accademia della Crusca and Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
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Italian desserts
Tarts
Pies
Renaissance cuisine