32. Cortichiozze di Acuto
History
Corticchiozze are wine doughnuts typical of the ciociaro village of Acuto, an ancient feud of the bishop of Anagni, built on a hill about 750 metres above sea level from which it is possible to enjoy a wide panorama of the Sacco Valley and the Lepini Mountains. Wine doughnuts are typical sweets that are widespread throughout the region, precisely because they are the result of a poor cuisine made of simple and easily available ingredients, whose recipe handed down orally from one generation to the next dates back to the times when the peasant allowed himself the luxury of keeping a little wine for himself to ensure a glass during the meal and to have during festive moments homemade sweets. In this town, the production area of Cesanese wine, these doughnuts were made with flour, extra virgin olive oil, sugar, aniseed seeds and Cesanese wine of course. The recipe calls for mixing the flour with the wine and oil, taking care to add the sugar and aniseed seeds, and obtaining a homogeneous final mixture. This is followed by the manual preparation of the doughnuts (weighing about 25-50 grams and 6.5-7.5 centimetres in diameter), which must be sugared on the surface before being placed on a baking tray. The final baking in a hot oven is intended to make them fragrant and with a nice brown colour. Suitable to be enjoyed at all hours of the day, in the morning with milk or simply as a snack, corticchiozze are traditionally eaten at the end of a meal accompanied by a good glass of wine.
The product
Corticchiozze, characterised by their ring shape and glaze or sugar grains sprinkled on the surface, have a brownish to hazelnut colour. The high olfactory intensity is characterised by notes of wine and aniseed combined with hints of oil. The taste is harmoniously sweet with a slight salty note. Good crunchiness, chewiness and aromatic persistence.
AUGUSTO AGOSTINI, MAYOR OF ACUTO
'Corticchiozze are the most characteristic product of the town of Acuto'. This is what Augusto Agostini, Mayor of the small village in Ciociaria, proudly affirms. He continues: 'And this is why we wanted to promote this traditional product, which despite being a poor, very simple confectionery preparation, is made with ingredients of absolute quality such as extra virgin olive oil and Cesanese wine, the pride of wine production in the area and the first wine in Lazio to obtain the Denominazione di Origine Certificata e Garantita (Denomination of Certified and Guaranteed Origin).
Corticchiozza has an ancient tradition that has been renewed in the kitchens of Acuto homes for over two hundred years. The recipe has been handed down from our great-grandmothers to our grandmothers and so on, so much so that all the housewives in the village still know the procedure and are used to preparing them on solemn holidays or simply to bring a bit of tasty tradition to the table. "Even my wife often prepares them," admits the mayor, "they are so fragrant that I realise she prepared them as soon as she entered the house, still on the doorstep. And that's when I stop, smile to myself and say "she's made them again!" Future goals are to enhance these doughnuts. But there are so many Acuto products that deserve to be known, says the mayor, such as the skinny and syrupy doughnuts, the Christmas gingerbread, the tortolo and the pupattole with the egg inside the biscuit in the shape of animals, the tradition of which has unfortunately been somewhat lost.
