Casatiello Casatiello (; ) is a
leavened savory bread
originating from Naples prepared during the Easter period. Its basic ingredients are flour, lard, cheese, salami,
cracklings, eggs and black pepper. The bread's name derives probably from the
Neapolitan word caso (Italian: , 'cheese', hence
casatiello), an ingredient that is part of its dough.
Colomba pasquale Colomba pasquale or colomba di Pasqua () is an
Italian traditional Easter bread, the Easter counterpart of the two well-known
Italian Christmas desserts,
panettone and
pandoro. The dough for the colomba pasquale is made in a similar manner to panettone, with
flour,
eggs,
sugar, natural yeast and
butter; unlike panettone, it usually contains
candied peel and no
raisins. The dough is then fashioned into a
dove (
colomba in Italian) shape and finally is topped with
pearl sugar and
almonds before being baked. Some manufacturers produce other versions including a popular bread topped with chocolate. The colomba pasquale was commercialised by the Milanese baker and businessman
Angelo Motta as an Easter version of the Christmas speciality panettone that Motta foods were producing.
Pastiera Pastiera is a type of
Neapolitan tart made with cooked
wheat, eggs,
ricotta, and flavored with
orange flower water. It is usually eaten at Easter. Various writers repeat legends about the origin of pastiera. One story connects it to the siren
Parthenope, whom the Neapolitans thanked for her sweet singing by giving her ricotta, flour, eggs, milk, spices, and sugar; Parthenope gave these ingredients to the gods, who made pastiera out of it. Another story connects it to a spring celebration of the goddess
Ceres.
Penia Penia is a sweet bread that originated in rural Italy and is made during the Easter holiday. Ingredients include sugar, butter, eggs,
anise seeds and
lemons.
Pizza di Pasqua The
pizza di Pasqua () is a
leavened savory cake typical of some areas
central Italy, based on
wheat flour, eggs,
pecorino and
parmesan, traditionally served at breakfast on
Easter morning, or as an appetizer during Easter lunch, accompanied by blessed
boiled eggs,
ciauscolo and red wine or, again, served at the
Easter Monday picnic. Having the same shape as
panettone, the pizza di pasqua with cheese is a typical product of the
Marche region, but also
Umbrian (where, as a traditional food product, it obtained the
PAT recognition). There is also a sweet variant, with
candied fruits or without, sugar and a
fiocca, that is a
meringue glaze with sugar beads. According to
religious tradition, the pizza di pasqua should be prepared on
Maundy Thursday or
Good Friday to be eaten only at Easter, that is, at the end of the period of fasting and abstinence dictated by
lent. Once ready, then, it was customary to bring the pizza di pasqua to the church, so that it would be blessed together with the other foods to be consumed on Easter day.
Sardinia In
Sardinia, Italy, bread is a part of a wide social context. It is the most important food in Sardinia, as well as all over Italy and the
Mediterranean. "Bread is a nexus of economic, political, aesthetic, social, symbolic, and health concerns". Bread is symbolic for life. A peasant proverb mentions, "Chie hat pane mai non morit — one who has bread never dies". The Easter holiday is one where bread brings itself into the symbolic realm. Bread is significant for religious purposes. Luisa Fois described bread in her life after she was married and for the Easter holiday. The bread was made into a cross to represent the crucifixion of
Jesus Christ. Since they were married, they needed to eat it together. They would share their lives now, and they must share their "cross" together (their life's burden) as well. "Bread was a product of their union, and its
shared consumption reaffirmed their interdependence". From this we gather that bread also displays a message, rather than being an item purely for consumption and nutritional purposes. Two kinds of Easter bread are described in Counihans article. One contained two points, and an egg covered with a cross. "The egg and the points that recall birds in flight speak of fertility, sexuality, and procreation — basic themes in Easter and its pagan precursors". The second bread was designed to have no overall shape, but was rather baked to encircle an egg, with the initials
BP put on it. The initials
BP stand for
buona Pasqua or "happy Easter". "Letters rather than forms express meaning. Letters are symbolic of civilization and ... meaning". ==Types==