A breeze riffled Sorella Agata’s veil, causing her to look up. Just when her eyes landed on the birds, they flew off, but not before she caught the flash of iridescent colors on the breast of one of the birds. Closing her eyes, she sent out a silent prayer, thanking God for granting her another miracle. Tears streamed down her face once again, but this time they were tears of joy.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Rosalia’s Bittersweet Pastry Shop would not have been possible without the following books, which I used for research:
* * *
Bitter Almonds: Recollections and Recipes from a Sicilian Girlhood, Mary Taylor Simeti and Maria Grammatico (Bantam Books, 2002).
The Encyclopedia of Saints, Rosemary Ellen Guiley (Checkmark Books, 2001).
Sicilian Feasts, Giovanna Bellia La Marca (Hippocrene Books, Inc., 2003).
Sophia Loren’s Recipes and Memories, Sophia Loren (GT Publishing Corporation, 1998).
Sweet Sicily: The Story of an Island and Her Pastries, Victoria Granof (William Morrow Cookbooks, 2001).
Please turn the page for a very special
Q&A with Rosanna Chiofalo, as well as
some special recipes from her kitchen!
Why did you decide to focus your novel on a convent of nuns who make pastries?
I came across a book called Sweet Sicily by Victoria Granof. I had no idea that in addition to listing the recipes for many of Sicily’s famous desserts, the book would also have a history of pastries on the island. When I read the book, I was fascinated to find out that Sicilian convents in the nineteenth century made and sold sweets, mainly to remain afloat, since after the Italian unification in 1860 much of the Church property was confiscated, forcing convents to close. The nuns treated the pastry making as their second vocation. I also learned that many of these convents were safe havens for women who had fallen on hard times, and in the pastry kitchens of these convents, these women found a new lease on life. I then began forming the idea of a young woman who suffers a horrible tragedy, but is rescued by a group of nuns who make and sell pastries from their convent. The pastries help the young woman to heal, and they become her passion. Shortly after I conceived the premise for Rosalia’s Bittersweet Pastry Shop, I also discovered the book Bitter Almonds, by Mary Taylor Simeti and Maria Grammatico, which recounts the true story of Maria Grammatico, who was sent to a convent when she was a young girl in the 1950s. Bitter Almonds proved invaluable in giving me a glimpse of how the nuns baked their pastries.
In your last novel, Stella Mia, you tackled the difficult subjects of domestic abuse and a mother who leaves her child. And in Rosalia’s Bittersweet Pastry Shop, your heroine is raped. What was your motivation for touching on this sensitive subject?
As we know, rape is still very much a problem in today’s society, but at least there is more public awareness about it now. In the 1950s, when Rosalia was raped, it was a much different time, especially in Italy. I remember my mother’s telling me stories of young women in her neighborhood who had been kidnapped and raped. These women were often then expected to wed their assailants because they had been “ruined,” and no other man would want them. This was in the forties and fifties. I was shocked when my mother first told me about this horrible custom and could not imagine these poor women having to marry the men who had violated them. What saddened me even more was that often these women’s own families encouraged them to wed the men who had attacked them. The shame and the scandal that would ensue if the young woman didn’t marry the perpetrator would have been too much for the families of the victims to bear. I couldn’t help feeling that little regard had been given to the women when they were forced to marry their rapists; it was as if they were being blamed for the crime’s having happened to them—an attitude that is still often carried with rape victims today, unfortunately. I wanted to show how my character not only survived her ordeal, but didn’t let it define her or dictate her life. I also wanted to show how one horrible act could have devastating consequences not only for the victim but for all the people in her life—her family and then the man she meets and falls in love with.
In all of your novels, families figure prominently, just as families are at the heart of Italian and Italian-American culture. In Rosalia’s Bittersweet Pastry Shop, what you did was quite different from your other novels, in that Rosalia’s family for the most part isn’t present, yet you still manage to convey how much she loves them and how much she has been affected by their absence in her life. Rosalia’s heartache over the loss of her family and her yearning to be reunited with them really comes through. Was there any personal connection for you with this angle of the story?
I was inspired by my mother and how she left her family in Sicily behind when she and my father immigrated to the U.S. My mother was one of eight children, and she was very close to her family, especially her sisters. She missed them terribly, and while she eventually adapted to life in America, I think her heart is still in her homeland. I experienced a little of what my mother went through when my husband and I relocated to Austin, Texas, for a year, seven years ago. I wasn’t on another continent, and I was only a three-hour plane ride away, but I still missed my family so much and was so sad we weren’t living in the same state any longer. So I can’t even imagine fully how my mother felt being so far from her family and only seeing them sporadically over the years. My experience made me appreciate even more what my mother sacrificed to give my siblings and me the life we’ve had.
This was the first novel in which you have elements of magic realism. Is this a new direction we’ll be seeing more of in your future novels?
I’m not sure if I will have elements of magic realism in my future novels, but this novel felt like the perfect story to include it. I kind of surprised myself when my editor discussed with me the possibility of using magic realism, and I agreed to do it. But I am glad I did, and I had so much fun with it. If it feels right for future storylines, I would include magic realism again, but it’s not like I said to myself, “I want this novel to have magic realism.” I want it to feel right, and it definitely felt right for this book.
Do you have a sweet tooth? And what are your favorite desserts? Which are your favorite desserts in Rosalia’s Bittersweet Pastry Shop?
I think you can’t be a Sicilian American and not have a sweet tooth! Everyone in my family has a sweet tooth, and when I learned of Sicily’s long, rich history with desserts, I understood why every member of my family, going as far back as my great-grandparents, had a sweet tooth. When I was a little girl, I dreamed of my first job being in one of the Italian bakeries that were in Astoria, Queens, where I grew up. And sure enough, when I was fifteen, my first job was at LaGuli Bakery, one of the few reputable Italian bakeries that have survived. Unfortunately, more and more of these Italian bakeries are closing in Astoria, which makes me sad because they were so much a part of my childhood, and I feel like a crucial part of the neighborhood will be lost someday if and when all of these bakeries shut their doors for good. When I graduated from college, I worked at the bakery in The Cellar at Macy’s, at the flagship store at Herald Square, until I was able to secure a job related to my college studies. It was wonderful sampling all the different sweets at both bakeries where I worked, and I loved bringing a cake or some other dessert home to my family every weekend. I have so many favorite desserts. I love the old-fashioned, German style custard-filled doughnuts. There used to be a wonderful German bakery in Astoria when I was a child that had the best doughnuts. These German bakeries are harder to find now in New York City as well. I love traditional American desserts such as apple pie, pumpkin pie, and brownies. My favorite desserts in Rosalia’s Bittersweet Pastry Shop are the Chiacchiere (Fried Pastry Ribbons), the zeppole, the Biscottini da Tè (Little Tea Cookies), the cannolis, and of course, the cassata.
RECIPES FROM ROSALIA’S BITTERSWEET PASTRY SHOP
Biscotti all’Anice (Anise Cookies)
Yield: approximately 4 dozen cookies
In
my second novel, Carissima, I also included a recipe for Biscotti all’Anice. They are such a popular Sicilian biscotti that I decided to have another recipe for them in this book. The recipe below is slightly different from the one in Carissima, and it gives the option of baking the cookies for a softer texture or for a firmer biscotti texture. Either way, they’re absolutely delicious!
3½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon anise oil or 1 tablespoon anise extract
4 eggs, beaten
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease three large baking sheets with butter.
Mix the flour, baking powder, and sugar in a bowl. Add the olive oil, anise flavor, and eggs. Mix into a soft dough.
Turn onto a lightly floured work surface, and divide in four parts. Roll each part into a 12-inch rope, and cut into twelve pieces. Roll each piece between your hands and shape into a crescent. Place cookies an inch apart on greased cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
For crunchier cookies and for more of a biscotti texture, follow instructions below:
Shape the dough into two 14-inch logs. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Cut baked logs into half-inch slices. Place the slices cut side down on baking sheet and put back in the oven to toast for 10 minutes.
Adapted from Sicilian Feasts, by Giovanna Bellia La Marca (Hippocrene Books)
Chiacchiere (Fried Pastry Ribbons)
Yield: approximately 6 to 8 servings
My mother also makes a version of this recipe (she chooses to make it without the Marsala) and would make it every year for Carnevale, which is when Sicilians usually make Chiacchiere. They’re quite addictive!
1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled (see Note)
1 egg
3 tablespoons sweet wine, such as Marsala (optional)
Vegetable oil for frying
1 cup powdered sugar
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a medium-size mixing bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
In a small bowl, beat together the egg and wine to blend. Pour into the flour mixture and mix until the dough comes together in a ball.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes, or until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before rolling out.
Divide the chilled dough into four pieces. Keep the unused portion covered while you work. Roll a piece of the dough very, very thin, dusting the work surface with a tiny bit of flour if it sticks. You should be able to read a newspaper through the dough. Do the best you can while bearing in mind that the thinner the dough, the crispier and more delicate the Chiacchiere will be.
Cut the dough into 2-by-4-inch strips using a fluted pastry wheel or a pizza-cutting wheel.
In a large, deep, heavy saucepan, heat 3 inches of oil to 350 degrees using a deep-fry or candy thermometer. Fry the Chiacchiere, a few at a time, turning once, until nicely browned, about 45 seconds per side. Drain the cookies on paper towels. Dust with powdered sugar.
Note: The recipe from Sweet Sicily calls for lard or vegetable shortening, but I chose to list butter in the ingredients above since many people in the U.S. prefer baking with butter to using lard or vegetable shortening. However, if you wish to use lard or vegetable shortening, you can use the same measurement as is listed above for the butter.
Adapted from Sweet Sicily: The Story of an Island and Her Pastries, by Victoria Granof (William Morrow Cookbooks)
Zeppole (Saint Joseph’s Day Doughnuts)
Yield: approximately 2 dozen
My father’s name was Giuseppe (Joseph), and my mother always made zeppole every year for his namesake day, which is on March 19. Zeppole are my weakness, and every time I attend a street fair, I buy half a dozen zeppole and eat all of them before I leave!
1½ cups milk
One ¼-ounce package active dry yeast
¼ cup granulated sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
4½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon (see Note)
Vegetable oil for frying
1 cup powdered or granulated sugar
In a small saucepan, heat the milk to body temperature (it should feel neither hot nor cold when tested with a clean finger). Remove from the heat, add the yeast and sugar, and let sit for 5 minutes, or until the yeast begins to foam. Add the lemon zest.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast mixture and stir vigorously until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it with gusto for about 10 minutes, or until it is smooth and satiny. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1½ hours.
When the dough has risen, heat 2 inches of oil in a large, heavy saucepan to 350 degrees on a deep-fry or candy thermometer. Grab a handful of dough and squeeze it gently so some of it pops out the side of your fist between your thumb and forefinger. When you have a piece the size of a walnut, squeeze your thumb and forefinger together to release the ball of dough into the hot oil.
Fry the zeppole, a few at a time, for about 1½ minutes on each side, or until browned on both sides, then transfer them with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Dust with powdered sugar or sprinkle with granulated sugar.
Note: I choose to make these without the cinnamon since my husband prefers them this way.
Adapted from Sweet Sicily: The Story of an Island and Her Pastries, by Victoria Granof (William Morrow Cookbooks)
Biscottini da Tè (Little Tea Cookies)
Yield: approximately 3 dozen cookies
What I love about these cookies is that they’re quite easy to bake and only require ingredients that most of us have in our pantries, proving that you don’t always need an elaborate recipe to have a very delicious sweet.
5 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, softened
1½ cups granulated sugar
6 eggs
¼ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Zest of one lemon
¼ teaspoon salt
5⅔ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter or margarine and sugar until blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Then add the milk, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt and continue to mix until smooth. Stir in the flour, a little at a time, until the dough comes together in a ball. If the dough is too dry, add more milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together. If the dough is too wet, add more flour, a couple of tablespoons at a time, until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for a minute or two.
Pinch off a tablespoonful of dough at a time and roll out, under your palms, on a floured work surface to form a 4-inch-long rope. Bring the ends around to form a circle and cross them over each other, pressing ever so lightly, just to seal.
Place the cookies two inches apart on ungreased baking sheets and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until barely golden. Do not overbake or they will become crunchy, which is good for some cookies, but not these. Cool on a rack.
Adapted from Sweet Sicily: The Story of an Island and Her Pastries, by Victoria Granof (William Morrow Cookbooks)
Torta al Limone di Mamma (Mamma’s Lemon Cake)
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
One of my favorite “simple” desserts, as I like to call them, that my mother makes is her lemon or orange cake. She can whip it up in no time by hand, and the cake always comes out scrumptious with its intense citrus flavors.
CAKE
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, softe
ned
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
2½ teaspoons baking powder
Grated zest of 3 lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon whole milk
SYRUP
2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice, with 3 tablespoons sugar dissolved in it
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a tube pan with a removable bottom.
Cream butter and sugar in electric mixer until pale yellow. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until well blended. Add flour, baking powder, lemon zest, vanilla, and milk. Beat until well blended.
Pour cake batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cake is a deep golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
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