Elderberry focaccia
Product included in the national list of traditional agri-food products (PAT)
Typology PAT : Products of Gastronomy
Production area:
Technical data sheet of the traditional agri-food product (PAT)
Territory interested in production: Troina.
Brief description of the product: It is a stuffed rustic focaccia, with a rounded or even rectangular shape, depending on the container in which it is leavened and has been baked, and weighs from 1 to 2-3 kg. It is the result of the combination of ingredients (flour , eggs, lard, pork cheek, traditional or ferlata salami and fresh tuma) present in every peasant "massaria" in the municipal area, with an ingredient that significantly characterizes its taste and aroma: the green or dried flower of elderberry (Sambucus Nigra).
Description of the processing, conservation and maturing methods: Wheat flour is mixed with lard, whole eggs, milk, salt and water to taste, finally adding yeast and elder flowers and the fried bacon. To mix all these ingredients, the dough is manually manipulated until a soft and malleable dough is obtained, which, in layers, is spread in an oven pan placing the sliced salami and tuma on top, topping everything with another layer of dough on which a handful of elderflower will be sprinkled. It is left to rise for a few hours, and bake at 250 ° for about 30 minutes.
Specific materials and equipment used for preparation and conditioning: For the dough:
1 Kg. Of flour, 250 gr. of lard, 9 whole eggs, a fried pork cheek with cubes, bread yeast, a little milk, water and salt to taste, a handful of elder flowers.
For the filling: 1 Kg. Of fresh tuma cut into thin slices, 350 gr. of sliced salami, elderflower. Description of the processing, storage and maturing rooms: Kitchen equipped with wood oven for cooking the dough. For some years now, local bakers and confectioners have been preparing the product in their laboratories, thus using an industrial-type oven. The product should be eaten fresh, or within a few days of production, and does not need to be seasoned.
Elements proving that the methodologies have been practiced in a homogeneous way and according to traditional rules for a period of not less than 25 years: This product is mentioned in manuscripts of 1869 and 1912, where the kitchen staff of the Benedictine cloistered nuns of Troina codify and transcribe a method that made it possible to obtain, during the late spring period, a sort of bread, or vastedda, enriched and stuffed with the best food products of the local peasant tradition, precisely the "vastedda cu sammucu" or "vastedda nfigghiulata". In these manuscripts the quantities of the ingredients were expressed in the weight measures still in use at that time, the roll, about 800 grams, and the ounce, about 26 grams.
In another manuscript on Troinese festivals and traditions by the historian Vincenzo Squillace, dating back to 1952, the product is mentioned as typical of Troinese cuisine. Furthermore, there are countless testimonies of elderly people who confirm the use of preparing the product on special occasions and in particular during the traditional festivals of late spring in honor of S. Silvestro, patron saint of the city. Since 1987, the local Tourist Association "Pro Loco Troina" organizes an annual festival of the Vastedda cu Sammucu. The product can be found in local bakeries and cafeterias.
Source Pat Cards: Sicily Region
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Information contributions: Web, Region of Sicily
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