27. Ciambella of Fontana Liri
History
In the province of Frosinone, on a hill overlooking the Liri river, rises this small medieval town, with its ancient walls and alleys, which three hundred steps connect to the more modern town, on the plain, built around the Royal Powder Mill in the late 19th century. One of the products of excellence of this beautiful town, birthplace of the great actor Marcello Mastroianni, is the Ciambella di Fontana Liri. The 'ciammèlla', as it is called in dialect, originates from an ancient recipe handed down orally from generation to generation, and to meet the need for a cheap and long-keeping product. It is a baked product characterised by the simplicity of the ingredients used and the long processing time. The preparation process involves the use of wheat flour, brewer's yeast, salt, water and aniseed. The dough obtained from mixing the ingredients is left to rise, then worked by hand to obtain, by skilfully twisting the dough, the doughnuts. Double baking involves first blanching in boiling water and only then baking in the oven to make the doughnuts crispy.
The product
The Ciambella di Fontana Liri, characterised by its round twisted shape, has a uniform colour ranging from light brown to dark hazelnut. Its aroma is characterised by pronounced notes of flour, oil and spicy aniseed, combined with hints of toast. The taste is harmoniously sweet and salty, with a slight sour note. The texture is quite crisp with a medium aromatic persistence.
MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AND FONTANA LIRI
On 28 September 1924, in Fontana Liri, Marcello Mastroianni was born to Ottorino and Ida Irolle, the great actor who, between the 1960s and 1970s, staged and disseminated the brand of Italianism to the world. The family was originally from nearby Arpino but moved to Fontana Liri because Vincenzo, Marcello's grandfather and father of ten children, started working at the Military Powder Mill built in the last decade of the 19th century for the purpose of producing explosives, and which changed the face of the town, launching it towards industrial development and providing work for many families in the surrounding area. When he was only four years old, Marcello moved with his family to Turin and later to Rome, where he began to develop a passion for filmmaking. His dream of being an actor soon led him to attend Cinecittà Studios and, through some friends who ran a restaurant inside the facility, to make his first extras in 1938. From then on, after a long apprenticeship, he established himself as a film and theatre actor, without ever forgetting his origins, as shown in an interview with Matilde Hochkofler, after the filming of the 1954 film "Giorni d'amore" (Days of Love), in which he played a young peasant from Ciociaria: "I was happy to play this nice little peasant in De Santis' film, and then there was the return to certain origins because it took place in Ciociaria and I am from Ciociaria. It was a little sentimental journey in this land, and it's a film I keep a nice memory of'.
