''Mustacciuoli'', also known as ''mustaccioli'' or ''mostaccioli'', is a

pastry Pastry refers to a variety of Dough, doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury Baking, baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often descr ...

originating in the

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

region of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, usually served at

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

time.

Description

''Mustaccioli'' takes the form of a

parallelogram In Euclidean geometry, a parallelogram is a simple polygon, simple (non-list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting) quadrilateral with two pairs of Parallel (geometry), parallel sides. The opposite or facing sides of a parallelogram a ...

, and consist of a soft, spiced, cake-like interior, covered in

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

. In recent years, there are many variations of ''mostaccioli'' sold in Naples, where the chocolate glaze may be replaced by a

white chocolate White chocolate is a chocolate made from cocoa butter, sugar and milk solids. It is Ivory (color), ivory in color and lacks the dark appearance of most other types of chocolate as it does not contain the non-fat components of cocoa (cocoa sol ...

frosting or icing

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

and

candied fruit Candied fruit, also known as glacé fruit, is whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel (fruit), peel, placed in heated sugar syrup, which absorbs the moisture from within the fruit and eventually Food preservation, preserves it. ...

. ''Mustaccioli'' are often sold alongside other Neapolitan sweets including ''roccocò'', ''raffiuoli'', ''susamielli'', and ''

struffoli ''Struffoli'' (; , ), also known as Honey Balls, is a Neapolitan dish made of deep fried balls of sweet dough. The dough is used in many Italian sweet treats such as '' chiacchiere''. For ''struffoli'', the dough is formed in to balls about the ...

'' at Christmas time.

History

Neapolitan ''mostaccioli'' were mentioned by

Bartolomeo Scappi Bartolomeo Scappi ( – 13 April 1577) was a famous Italian Renaissance chef and food writer, best known for his high profile clients, including being the personal chef of Pope Pius IV. Biography Scappi came from Dumenza in Lombardy, Italy, ...

, personal cook of

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V, OP (; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (and from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 January 1566 to his death, in May 1572. He was an ...

as part of his ''pranzo alli XVIII di ottobre'' (October 18 lunch).

Etymology

The term ''mustacciuoli'' derives from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

'' mustaceus'' and is prey to various paretimologies. Some say it derives from the Latin '' mustum'', linked to the use of

must Must is freshly crushed Juice, fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of the total weight of the must. Making must ...

in some ancient recipes as a sweetener., others from '' mustax'', which is a type of

laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

. Originally, the ''mustaceum'' was a wedding cake, wrapped in bay leaves that gave aroma during cooking. Hence the proverb ''loreolam in mustace quaerere'', that is: to look uselessly in the

focaccia Focaccia is a Flatbread, flat leavening agent, leavened oven-baked Italian cuisine, Italian bread. In Rome, it is similar to a type of flatbread called (). Focaccia may be served as a side dish or as sandwich bread and it may be round, rectang ...

for burnt

bay leaves The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used as a herb in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. The flavour that a bay leaf ...

. Another origin could derive from the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

'' μάσταξ (mástax) '' which means morsels, similar to ''μαστάζω (mastázō)'' which means to chew or eat.

Related sweets in other regions

* '''Nzuddha'': version in

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

* ''Mustazzoli'': version in

Salento Salento (; Salentino dialect, Salentino: ''Salentu''; Griko language, Salento Griko: ) is a Cultural area, cultural, List of historical states of Italy, historical, and geographic region at the southern end of the administrative region of Apuli ...

References

Chocolate desserts Christmas food Christmas in Italy Neapolitan cuisine Italian cookies {{Italy-dessert-stub

Description

History

Etymology

Related sweets in other regions

See also

References