My mother comes from Serrone (Italy). You can imagine this little town as “the land of the free flight, of the silver olive groves, of the cesanese wine” a town of little mountain houses made of stone and wood. This is the town of warmth people and infinite kinships (such kind of kinships are narrower than many other). There are many old women black dressed, with kilometric braids gathered on the heads with bone hairpins. Serrone is the town of my beloved grandmother, the town of my childhood, there are breathtaking landscapes and  sunsets, it is the town of my walks in the forest… and is also the town of the serronese donut ‘ciammella serronese’!

Serrone

Ciambella serronese

It’s a donut, it’s right. But it is not sweet. Or rather, it is in half between sweet and salty.

It’s a typical product of the local cuisine, the taste is simple and old. This donut is a typical food of the Easter Sunday. Its being neither flesh nor fowl makes it perfect with cold meats and cheeses, but also with chocolate, honey or jam. In addition to being the cornerstone of the Easter breakfast, in the past such donut was also a symbol of social wealth: the story says that the wealthiest men went with a serronese donut as a gift when they “pete” (from the Latin word “ask”) for brides in the fathers’ houses.
The donut has represented, in fact, a symbol of social wealth. It was the emblem of the economic prestige, but also a perfect snack for any circumstance: the farmers of Serrone that worked in the fields, put on the donut as a bracelet, and nibbled it when the pangs of hunger made ​​them feel. It’s a Easter sweet and its goodness has helped to spread its consumption and marketing . You can find it at other times of the year and if you are in the area and want to try it, you just have to stop at the Bar Lazio, a pastry shop in the historic town, where Franco Terenzi (the owner) still kneads donuts as specified by the original and ancient recipe handed down from his great-grandmother.

Ingredients

    Recipe: Dessert Cooking: Italian

  • 1 kg of flour
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 1 packet of yeast with a pinch of salt dissolved in half a cup of warm water
  • 1 and a half glasses of oil
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • anise
  • lemon
  • water q.s 

Directions

Let it rise until the dough doubled in size. Divide the dough into equal portions to form the donuts. After that make the carvings on the donuts with a sharp knife or with scissors. Put in a pot with hot water (the water must not boil!), drain the donuts and then put them into the oven at 150-160° for 40 minutes. And that’s it!

Ciammella-serronese

serrone4

Terenzi-Franco

Bar-Lazio

Franco Terenzi

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