For pastry dough "la pasta nfrolla" [pasta frolla]
Fine quality four
Dark sugar
Lard
Salt
6 egg yolks
lemon zest or orange zest

For filling
Ricotta mixture, however you like it*
or "de sceroppata de janco magna"

*Most Neapolitan ricotta pie fillings include eggs and sugar, as well as lemon or orange zest for flavoring

Pizza doce co la pasta nfrolla
Original text in Neapolitan dialect
miezo ruotolo de sciore fino
quarte de zuccaro scuro
quarto de nzogna
poco poco de sale
sei rossa d ova fresche
poco de limone o purtuallo grattato

de recotta com te piace o
de sceroppata de jancomagna

----------------

For Jancomagna [Milk pudding]
carafe of milk, good and fresh
1/3 [of carafe] fine dry sugar
6 egg yolks
6 ounces of starch ("posema")
carafe of fresh water
a touch of salt
lemon or orange rind
Cinnamon for topping

Original text using Neapolitan dialect
Jancomagna
carrafa de latte, buono e frisco
terze de zuccaro fino asciarato
seje rossa d'ova fresche
cinc onze de posema
carrafa d'acqu fresca
pocorillo de sale
crattatura de limone o purtuallo
cannella fina

To make "Pizza doce co la pasta nfrolla"

Take good quality flour, dark sugar, lard, a touch of salt, 6 egg yolks and a bit of lemon zest or orange zest and work into a soft malleable pastry dough.

Divide the dough into two parts.

Roll out the first part of pastry dough to an appropriate thickness.

Line a pie pan that has been greased with lard with the rolled out pastry dough.

Add ricotta filling.

Top with another pastry dough panel that has been rolled out to the appropriate thickness.

Seal the edges together.

Bake.

---



Original text in Neapolitan dialect

Pizza doce co la pasta nfrolla

Piglia miezo ruotolo de sciore fino ma chello de la speziale no quarte de zuccaro scuro e no quarto de nzogna no poco poco de sale sei rossa d ova fresche e no poco de limone o purtuallo grattato mpasta ogne ncosa ma senza mesarla tanto ca si no addeventa toasta ne farraje doje mmita de la pasta schianannola una co lo lamiaturo ; farraie la pettola soccia soccia nce miette sa sciurata de score e l arravuoglie chiano chiano attuorno a lo laniaturo piglia lo ruoto che t ahattuorno a lo laniaturo piglia lo ruoto che t ahbesogna nce faje n auntata de nzogna e po nce miettela pettola de la pasta tagliannone co lo cartiello tuto chella che spoerchia atturno; e la mbuttunarraje de sceroppata de janco magna o de recotta com te piace ncoppa nce miette l auta pettola de pasta e la farraje cocere o ou lu furno o co lo iesto.



-----------

To make Jancomagna [Milk Pudding]

Take a carafe of good fresh milk, put a third of [carafe] of fine dry sugar, 6 fresh egg yolks, fine ounces of "posema," a carafe of fresh water, a touch of salt, lemon or orange rind and then mix well together, drain it, and then put it on heat, but not too high, when it is thickened, put it on a plate and sprinkle some cinnamon on it.



Original text in Neapolitan dialect

Jancomagna

Piglia na carrafa de latte buono, e frisco, nce miette no terze de zuccaro fino asciarato, seje rossa d'ova fresche, cinc onze de posema, na carrafa d'acqu fresca, no pocorillo pocorillo de sale, e na crattatura de limone o purtuallo, mmesca buono ogne ncosa co la mano facenno tutto sfarena; po llo passe pe lo setaccio e lo miette dint a na cazzarola ncoppa a lo fuoco no tanto forte, e co na cocchiara de ligno, sempe nova, lo buoto sempe da no lato; quano s e astregnuto lo levarraje, e lo miette dint a no piatto, co la cannella fina pe coppa.

The recipe in this entry was taken from the book, "Cucina Teorico-pratica" by Ippolito Cavalcanti (Naples: Di G. Palma, 1839). For the complete copyright-free Italian cookbook visit www.archive.org.... P.S. This is probably the first recipe ever published for Naples' famous "pizza dolce." This recipe is historically significant. Cavalcanti deliberately uses Neapolitan dialect to give his instructions for this recipe. I say deliberately because half his book is written in the so-called "real" Italian and the other half is written in dialect. As Neapolitan dialect sounds similar to the Molisani dialect I myself grew up hearing in my parents' house, I like the challenge of trying to read through it. It is a challenge, and I don't succeed all that much at it. For example, the author suggests that for this pie one could use a ricotta filling or one "de sceroppata de janco magna." At first I had no idea what "sceroppata de janco magna" could be. I was really baffled. I asked a number of people whose Italian is better than mine, and they too had no idea either. For those who know Neapolitan dialect very well, they're the lucky ones. Thankfully, the cookbook author himself, Ipppolito Cavalcanti, provided the answer to my question what was "janco mangna?" -- it's a milk pudding. He actually has a recipe for it in his book. Basically, by making home-made "janco magna" one is making a milk pudding which is very similar in taste to a fresh cheese curd pudding. Actually the word "janco magna" literally means "white eatable." The word, "janco," means white (Figured that out because in Molisani dialect, "janco" vino is "white" wine.). And "magna" means "eat." The instructions on how to make the "janco mangna" milk pudding recipe is quite straightforward. Unfortunately, one has to add 5 ounces of "posema," an ingredient which, at first, I had no idea what it could be. I searched the Italian-English dictionaries and didn't find the word. I assumed it was a thickener (How else does one make a milk pudding?) but looking up the Italian words for wheat, potato or corn starch, didn't get me anywhere. I also looked for images on google, and didn't get anything useful. Finally, I had the bright idea of looking up the word directly on google, and there it was -- STARCH. The word was translated in Wikitionary, and it specifically noted that "posema" is the word "starch" as used in Neapolitan cuisine. Figuring out this recipe wasn't easy, but as I have a ferocious love for ricotta pies, however flavored (though I am partial to lemon zest flavoring) any recipe that offers instructions on how to make this dessert appeals to me. There are hundreds of better recipes on the internet for this Easter delicacy (Cavalcanti doesn't indicate it was made for Easter and maybe it wasn't for those who had lots of money, but in the countryside, among the poor, ricotta desserts were generally only made for the Easter holidays) that give exact proportions and detailed instructions on how to make the perfect "pizza dolce" and I'm all for them. The more, the better. Still, as I'm a history buff, and love all things old, the fact that this recipe was published over a century ago, gives me a small thrill. Photo and comments: Mary Melfi.

Back to main list