''Parrozzo'' () or ''panrozzo'' () is a
cake
Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...
from the
Abruzzo
Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...
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 ...
. It is traditionally served as a
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 ...
dessert, but may also be enjoyed year round.
''Parrozzo'' is officially designated as a (PAT) of Abruzzo.
Origins
''Parrozzo'' was invented in 1920 by Luigi D'Amico, a bakery owner in Pescara. D'Amico wanted to create a cake that resembled the traditional rough bread made by local farmers with corn flour. ''Parrozzo'' has the same round shape as the bread, contains eggs to mimic the yellow of the corn, and is covered with a layer of dark chocolate reminiscent of the burnt surface of the bread.
The first person to try ''parrozzo'' was the poet
Gabriele D'Annunzio. Afterwards, he composed a
madrigal
A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th centuries) and early Baroque (1580–1650) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the ...
called "La Canzone del Parrozzo" (), written in
Abruzzese dialect:
''"È tante 'bbone stu parrozze nove che pare na pazzie de San Ciattè, c'avesse messe a su gran forne tè la terre lavorata da lu bbove, la terre grasse e lustre che se coce… e che dovente a poche a poche chiù doce de qualunque cosa doce…"''
Ingredients and preparation
The dough of ''parrozzo'' is made of
semolina
Semolina is the name given to roughly milled durum wheat mainly used in making pasta and sweet puddings. The term ''semolina'' is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or ma ...
(alternatively yellow or white flour with
corn starch
Cornflour, cornstarch, maize starch, or corn starch (American English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the seed, kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thick ...
), sugar, eggs, ground
almond
The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...
s, almond extract, and orange or lemon
zest. All ingredients are mixed and baked in a round aluminum tray. When the cake has cooled, it is removed from the tray and covered with molten
dark chocolate
Dark chocolate is a form of chocolate made from cocoa solids, cocoa butter and sugar. It has a higher cocoa percentage than white chocolate, milk chocolate, and semisweet chocolate. Dark chocolate is valued for claimed—though unsupported— ...
.
See also
*
List of Italian desserts and pastries
This is a list of Italian cuisine, Italian desserts and Pastry, pastries. Italian cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BCE. Italian desserts have been heavily influenced ...
References
Bibliography
* Enrico Di Carlo, Gabriele d'Annunzio e la gastronomia abruzzese, Castelli, Verdone, 2010.
{{Cakes
Cuisine of Abruzzo
Italian cakes
Abruzzo