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The "canestrelletto" of Torriglia history |
One has to think about the wretched life
led on this mountains in the past centuries to better understand
the importance and the evolution of the “canestrello”,.
About fifty years ago people could afford only some oranges
and tangerines they would hang on Christmas tree and so you
can guess how much attention and parsimony our grandmothers
used to mix precious ingredients with.
Moreover a few centuries ago the most cultivated cereals
were rye, vetch, “scandella”. Wheat and, therefore,
white flour were very rare.
We know the yellow “canestrelletto” or
melic flour existed.
By this premise we can certainly say that this sweetmeat
is an old presence on our mountains.
We have found trace of small wheels, or "ruette" (as “canestrelli” are
called in the “fliscani” villages) even on Genoese
Republic coins (called Genovino) from the 13th century, representing
prosperity.
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The
golden Genovino was first minted by the Genoese Republic
in 1252 in connection with the merchant activity of
Tedisio and Nicolò Fieschi from Torriglia
and Opizzo Fieschi from Savignone (brothers and nephew
of Pope Innocenzo IV) who managed a company operating
in the western Mediterranean sea .
This profitable company got to be located close to
the gold-bearing Palola area (insula palola ubi aurum
colligitur) which allowed them to acquire big quantities
of gold to be later introduced on the Genoese market.
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So, after “dark” centuries, minting a golden coin
was again possible, the Genovino, also being the first one
in Italy. Just out of curiosity, seven six-pointed “canestrelli” ,
are minted on the Genovino as a symbol of prosperity.
Also we know that in Crevacuore, a village near Biella, a typical
sweetmeat very appreciated and well commercialized exists:
the “canestrello”.
The most likely relationship between the two communities is
due to feudal communes, The Fieschi from the Torriglia Branch
, masters of Masserano and Crevacuore.
The
first document regarding the “canestrello” goes
back to 1576 when a muleteer got stabbed and robbed
of his goods on the "public road" in the
Trebbia Valley near Donderi’s residence. "A
basket of damasks and “canestrelli” was
in his goods list.
The ancient Canestrelletti recipe from Torriglia is
:
Flour..... pounds,
sugar..... ounce,
butter..... ounce,
4 yolk of eggs, liqueur and grated lemon .
We know that ounces and pounds were the unit of measure
in use in the Republic of Genoa untill the first decade
of the 19th century when the metric system was adotped.
Also we know that at the end of the Eighteenth Century
the members to the S.Vincenzo Fraternal Order
of Torriglia used to pay every year a “mutta” (kind
of Piedmontese coin) to receive back a “canestrello”. |
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The first marketing attempts go back to
1820 when Mrs.
Maria Avanzino said Pollicina, married to Joseph Dondero, opened
a bar called “Coffee of Torriglia” on Rome
Street, selling “canestrellos”. The bar was provided
with a piano, attended by notable people and authorities
of the village. The customers baptized it "Aragno" which
was an illustrious cafe in Rome then.
The “canestrello” of Torriglia production is currently
protected by registered trademark and it is carried on
by eight producers (A laboratory, two confectioneries, two
confectionery ovens and three food shop).
Mauro Casale Vice Mayor of Torriglia - E-mail: maurocasale@yahoo.it
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