Festive sweets

You can't resist parrozzo, but neither can 'caggionetti' and 'bocconotti'. And what can we say about the soft chocolate nougat, an ingenious idea by Ulisse Nurzia, whom we will never cease to thank. These are the typical Abruzzi sweets of the festive season and a must during the Christmas season. They exude irresistible aromas and taste like real goodness. Almonds are never lacking and from time to time they are accompanied by ingredients and aromas that blend sublimely.

There is no need to spend too many words on chocolate nougat because it is a dessert that is now well known and appreciated in Italy and abroad. Sorelle Nurzia's nougat from L'Aquila is still produced today with ingredients of the highest quality and based on a recipe that has remained secret since that distant 1835, when production began.

Parrozzo was invented by Luigi D'Amico, a confectioner from Pescara, around 1926 and Gabriele D'Annunzio extolled its merits, calling it 'the sweetest of all sweet things'. The idea sprang from the spherical 'pane rozzo' (coarse bread), which had always been prepared by peasants in Abruzzo with maize flour. D'Amico made a sweet version of it, keeping the shape but with a dough made from almonds, semolina and sugar. Aurum, which is a liqueur from Pescara; all perfumed with citrus peel and covered with a dark chocolate glaze to reproduce the dark colour of bread baked in a wood-fired oven.

Another typical sweet are the 'bocconotti', short pastry cakes filled with chopped almonds, chocolate and cinnamon. The story goes that at the end of the 18th century in Castel Frentano, a maid prepared a cake for her master who was greedy for novelties from overseas. She made it with short pastry in the shape of a small cup and with a chocolate filling. When the master asked the name of that delicacy, the maid taken aback said 'bocconotto' because it was eaten in one bite. Today there are other variants, but the 'bocconotto' of Castel Frentano is a typicality recognised by the Abruzzo Region.

Unmissable on the Christmas table are the 'caggionetti', a sort of fried ravioli with a filling that varies greatly but never lacks almonds and chocolate, to which are added, depending on the locality or the confectioner's flair, chickpeas, grape jam, orange peel, citron, cinnamon, must, apples, and rum. In short, an elaborately prepared cake with a rich, mouth-watering flavour.