Salento's sweetness
We start today with a premise.
I'm from Bari but I madly love all of Puglia, or rather all of Italy .
That is why I am interested in introducing everyone to the traditions of the heel of the boot, from Gargano to Salento. In fact, today we are going to talk about the latter.
The best choices come about by coincidence
Surely a phrase you have heard many times before, but it is perfect to tell you about this legend that gives life to our Pasticciotto.
To this day, legend and historical documents are in conflict to claim the creation of Pasticciotto, so this dessert is still shrouded in mystery. However, we will dwell only on the legend born in the 1745 in a small village in the province of Lecce, namely Galatina.
In a modest bakery of the time we find the family Ascalone, who delighted the village with excellent desserts, including a custard-filled cake.
One day while he was dabbling in making one of his cakes, he realized that he had little shortcrust pastry and little cream to be able to create a normal-sized cake...
The king of the pasticciotto
So he was called Andrea Ascalone, who delighted the people of Galatina by handing down family dessert recipes.
To date, the reins have been taken over by his son Davide (10th in succession).
"The happy ending? It is written and told by those who come to the "Kingdom of Pasticciotto" and are so enchanted by it that they return, to taste its delicacies."
-post facebook Pasticceria Andrea Ascalone
...Not wanting to throw anything away, as he should, he still decided to take a copper mold and fill it with cream. The result was a "pasticcio" as he called it, so much so that he gave it as a gift to a passerby who not only appreciated the pastry chef's gesture, but liked the small, cream-filled treat so much that he ordered more to take home.
And since that day, the pasticciotto has continued its ascent that even today does not intend to stop!
The sweet street food
We can say that the pasticciotto leccese is a must-have sweet street food here in the south. Since it is small, it is also suitable to be eaten while taking a walk, or you can also decide to eat it as a dessert by carrying it in your purse.
Ideally, it should be eaten at ambient temperature, but many cannot resist the temptation to eat it even fresh out of the baker's oven!
In fact, we think of that beautiful post Sunday lunch moment.…
You decide to take a walk to work off all that you have eaten, and you arrive in front of a bakery with a beautifully stocked display case.
So tempting is it to convince you, so you go in and order three pasticciotti: the classic, cream and black cherry and finally chocolate. On your way out you cannot resist and so off you go to savor the classic Leccese pasticciotto without qualms! In fact you like it so much that you take one more to make breakfast 😁
What can I say, everyone really likes the pasticciotti, thanks in part to the many variations that can be made between chocolate, jam, and you name it!
Article by: Giorgia Loconsole
