 Acasatiello inRome in 2017 | |
| Type | Easter bread |
|---|---|
| Course | Main dish |
| Place of origin | Italy |
| Region or state | Campania |
| Serving temperature | Room temperature |
| Main ingredients | Wheat flour,salami, cheese, eggs,cracklings,lard andnatural yeast |
| Variations | Baker's yeast |
Casatiello (Neapolitan:casatiéllo;[1]Italian:casatello[2]) is aleavened savory breadoriginating from Naples prepared during theEaster period.
Its basic ingredients are flour, lard, cheese, salami,cracklings, eggs and black pepper.[3]
The bread's name derives probably from theNeapolitan wordcaso (Italian:cacio, 'cheese', hencecasatiello), an ingredient that is part of its dough.[4]
The existence ofcasatiello, like that ofpastiera, another NeapolitanEaster product, has been attested at least since the seventeenth century: the proof comes from thefolk taleLa gatta Cenerentola (Cinderella the Cat) published in 1634–1636 in the short story collectionPentamerone, ovvero Lo Cunto de li cunti byGiambattista Basile, a Neapolitan writer (writing in the Neapolitan language) who lived between the 16th and 17th centuries.[5][6][4][7]
The bread is mentioned in the passage where he describes the king's celebrations to find the girl who had lost herslipper:[6]
E, venuto lo juorno destenato, oh bene mio: che mazzecatorio e che bazzara che se facette! Da dove vennero tante pastiere e casatielle? Dove li sottestate e le porpette? Dove li maccarune e graviuole? Tanto che 'nce poteva magnare n'asserceto formato.
And when the established day came, oh my goodness: what a chew and what a feast! Where did so many pastiere andcasatielli come from? Where did the stews and meatballs come from? Where did the macaroni and ravioli come from? So much stuff that an entire army could eat.
In the 19th century,casatiello is also mentioned in the bookCostumi e tradizioni di Napoli e dintorni (Customs and traditions of Naples and the surrounding area), published in 1858 and edited by Francesco De Bourcard, a Neapolitan scholar of Swiss origin, who describes the bread and its preparation, stating that the casatello (sic) was baked at home for theEaster lunch and offered as a gift to neighbors and "to the servants and thelaundress".[8][2]
Casatiello is based on a bread dough enriched with cheese (usually smokedscamorza, but alsopecorino and someParmesan can be used),[3][9] lard,ciccioli and other cured meats.[10][11]
The dough is worked into the shape of a doughnut, placed in a mould and left to rise for a long time, at least 12 hours; if made with quick leaven, about two hours are enough.[3] The bread is then baked, traditionally in awood-fired oven.[11]
Casatiello is usually prepared onGood Friday, left to rise overnight, baked the following day, and eaten on Holy Saturday andEaster Monday.[10]
Thecasatiello, unlike similar products such as tortano, is prepared around Easter, from which it borrows the symbolism: the strips of bread arranged to cage the eggs half-submerged in the dough[12] represent the cross on which Jesus died[13] while the ring shape is a reminder of the cyclical nature of theEaster resurrection[13] and ofChrist'scrown of thorns.[4]
During the preparation, the eggs are placed whole and baked in the oven together with the dough.[13] While some bakers put them raw, others prefer to use already hard-boiled eggs.[9] The cooking takes place at 170 °C (338 °F) for about 60 minutes.[14]
The bread can also be used as apacked lunch during the traditional trips out of town (Italian:Gite fuori porta) on Easter Monday.[15]
Casatiello can be kept for a maximum of two or three days, then it becomes harder and harder.[9] In Naples, a stalecasatiello is named "ammazzaruto"[9] (lit. 'not enough leavened'),[16] and then by extension "hard".
Tortano is a very similar product: the two main differences are the use of eggs, which incasatiello are also placed in the upper part and not only hard-boiled and in small pieces in the dough as in tortano, and that ofcharcuterie, which is part of the dough filling incasatiello, whereas it is omitted in tortano.[17]
The sweet version ofcasatiello has as main ingredients eggs, sugar, lard andicing, and is decorated on the surface withdiavulilli ('little devils', Neapolitan for 'coloureddragées').[18][19] This variant is widespread inCaserta,[20] in theisland of Procida and in theBenevento andVesuvian area.[8][19] Other sweet versions are found inMonte di Procida and in theNolano area.[21][22]
In reference to the heaviness of the dish, in Naples it is customary to say "Sí proprio 'nu casatiéllo" (Italian:sei proprio un casatiello;lit. 'You are really acasatiello'), to mean 'You are a person of quality but also an indigestible boring person'.[9]
Media related toCasatiello at Wikimedia Commons
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)