In the sign of raviolo. Cappelletti parmigiani and cassatelle trapanesi

by Cristina Conversano

 

Both belong to the family of ravioli, but not really made of the same pasta.

Being from the south, being sicula, is not easy especially when you have to leave arancine, cannoli and pane ca meusa for a culinary culture that you do not know and, never, will be comparable to that of the house.

Country that you go, custom - and cuisine - that you find, says an Italian proverb. Nothing could have been more true, after all.

And if there is something that makes a nation in Italy is food, in addition to football it is understood, and if there is something that does not know racism and discrimination are the typical products of each region.

A bizarre homonymy between two dishes that could not be more different. And if the cappelletto parmense, that of egg pasta stuffed with meat, vegetables or cheese, needs no introduction, the cassatella, cassatedda, or raviola in Mazara Del Vallo, a bit for patriotism, a bit for the record, deserves to be introduced.

Belonging to the family of sweet ravioli - from here the semantic comparison with the pasta of Emilia - is a dessert, with a crumbly paste and the heart of ricotta, typical of Sicily, born in 1700 in the area of Trapani, probably around Calatafimi Segesta, and then extended to the entire western area of the island.

Originally made during Carnival and Easter, today it is easy to find them in pastry shops all year round, giving tourists and non tourists the opportunity to enjoy them at any time.

His majesty the cassatella, from the history, and from the tastes, arabesque, has to the back a recipe not too complex, in which the manual ability has the main role. Flour 00, egg, sugar, cinnamon, and, of course, Marsala wine for the pasta, while sheep's milk cheese, lard, egg whites, lemon rind, chocolate drops, sugar and cinnamon for the filling, which with a bite, rest assured, you will have dirtyed the mouth of ricotta and the nose of icing sugar, but believe me if I tell you that it will be absolutely worth it.

Difficult to reproduce at home? Not too much, actually, but why not enjoy them hot while walking through the streets of the Sicilian provinces.

A resemblance, therefore, that seems to be based on the name and, partially, on the form of two profoundly different dishes, but that can bring, even if from the linguistic point of view, two Italian regions almost at the antipodes

So, that of cappelletti or cassatelle, eaten, because the food has always made happy.

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