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Ingredients For pastry crust
Directions For pastry crust
Notes This version of "fiadone Abruzzese" is similar to "torta rustica" or "pizza rustica" and as such it's a real challenge. The filling is easy enough, but making the pastry dough is difficult. A number of American sites have recipes for this style of fiadone, and luckily not all include yeast. Those without yeast are probably easier to get right. The majority of recipes on the world-wide web for "fiadone Abruzzese" are from Italy and are in Italian. According to what I read on the internet the word "fiadone" comes from the Germanic word "fladen" meaning "swollen." Some food writers describe the fiadone as a kind of flan, though it is obviously not a "traditional" flan at all, but something quite unique to the region of Abruzzo and Molise. Both regions are famous for their fiadoni. As I may have noted in other entries most people prefer the "fiadone dolce" rather than the sharp cheese fiadoni that is represented in this entry.... In any case, a wide number of articles on the world-wide web, indicate that this type of sharp cheese pie dates back to the Renaissance. Almost all the articles on the world-wide web state word for word the following (The text is possibly a translation of an article that first appeared in an Italian 'Atlas'): "The origins of the fiadone date back to the times of Messisburgo, a contemporary of Ariosto, and the court of Ferrara's 'Renaissance steward.' It gained a footing in Abruzzo mainly because the traditional recipe included saffron from L'Aquila. Today the whole region is involved in either making this cake or supplying its various ingredients. It takes the form of a savory sweet flan with a pastry base containing a filling of cheese, ricotta and egg. Its use is linked to the celebration of Easter and it is exchanged as a gift between the families during the holidays...." Photo: Mary Melfi. |