Corticchiozze are typical wine ring-shaped biscuits from the town of Acuto in Ciociaria, an ancient fiefdom of the bishop of Anagni, built on a hill about 750 metres above sea level, with a fantastic view on the Sacco Valley and the Lepini Mountains. Wine rings are typical biscuits, very common throughout the region, because they are the result of a poor cuisine made of simple and easily available ingredients, whose recipe, handed down orally from generation to generation, dates back to the times when the farmer allowed himself the luxury of keeping a bit of wine for himself to secure a glass during the meal and to have homemade sweets during festivities. In this town, a production area of Cesanese wine, these biscuits were prepared with flour, extra virgin olive oil, sugar, aniseed and Cesanese wine of course. The recipe involves mixing the flour with the wine and oil, taking care to add the sugar and aniseed to obtain a homogeneous final mixture. This is followed by the manual preparation of the biscuits (weighing about 25-50 grams and with a diameter of 6.5-7.5 centimetres) that must be sugared on the surface before being placed on a tray. The final cooking in a hot oven aims at making them fragrant and with a nice brown colour. Suitable for consumption during the day, in the morning dipped in milk or simply as a snack, corticchiozze are traditionally consumed at the end of a meal accompanied by a glass of wine.
The Corticchiozze, distinguished by their ring shape and glazing or sprinkling of granules of sugar on the top, is of a brown colour tending to hazelnut. The high olfactory intensity has pronounced notes of wine and aniseed, combined with hints of oil. The taste is harmoniously sweet with a light salty note. Good crispiness, chewiness and aromatic persistence.