THE TRUFFLE OF PIZZO
A SWEET EXCELLENCE WITH A CREAMY HEART
Ice cream has existed since the nineteenth century, when it was still prepared with ice sticks brought down from the mountain. Over time, in Italy it was Sicily that emerged and distinguished itself in the production of ice cream in steel molds, until it was soon reached by Calabria, in particular by the pastry chefs of Pizzo Calabro, such as the Belvedere family. Pizzo Calabro, in the province of Vibo Valentia, has always been a country with a strongly commercial character, partly by nature, partly by geographical position; certainly, its strong point is the square, where historically pastry chefs from the rest of Calabria met, as well as from Naples or Sicily.
(Vibo Valentia is a city and commune in the Calabria region of southern Italy, near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital of the province of Vibo Valentia, and is an agricultural, commercial and tourist center. There are also several large manufacturing industries, including the tuna district of Maierato.)
In short, it was a place of sweet exchanges and sharing of knowledge, and even today no other Calabrian square equals it in terms of shape, beauty and liveliness. Therefore, Pizzo was already known for the production of sweets and ice creams (the Truffle has only crowned this tradition), which was done only a couple of times a year, because in those days when there were no refrigerators it was a really a long and laborious process; it was prepared, for example, for the patronal feast of April 23 or on the occasion of some noble wedding. Until one day things changed...
In 1952, on the occasion of the important visit of a prince, a greater request for sweets and ice creams was made to the skilled pastry chefs of Pizzo; everyone did their utmost in view of such a meeting, but some more than others. The ice cream maker Giuseppe De Maria, who suddenly had been left without granita or molds, invented a new product (perhaps inspired by the homonymous Piedmontes' chocolate?): with his hands he modeled balls of homemade ice cream, half hazelnut and half chocolate, with liquid dark chocolate, caramel and Strega liqueur inside, then closing them with a method similar to that used for arancino (the master in fact had Sicilian origins); Finally, he covered these balls with a sprinkling of bitter cocoa powder (and sugar), put them on parchment paper inside an ice stick to ensure that they consolidated (refrigerators did not yet exist). Thus, was born the Truffle of Pizzo, different from the Sicilian one that instead also contains almonds. Its name derives from the shape that reminds a bit of that of the mushroom, and in the past even more, since they were much more irregular than they are today. The artisanal method has not changed, and the truffle is still made in the same way: two balls of ice cream, hazelnut and chocolate, are shaped in the palm of the hand in the shape of a hemisphere; then it is necessary to exert a slight pressure inside to create a "hole" in which to add a flow of melted dark chocolate, without preservatives, additives or thickeners. At this point the truffle should be put immediately in the chiller for about three hours. But the secret is all in a very quick gesture to close it, an art that only the most skilled can do perfectly, often without even knowing how to explain it. And then, to make the Truffle of Pizzo unique and inimitable, are the quality of the ingredients and the use of machinery still very ancient, especially in a pastry.
Among the various companies (about thirty) producing truffles and the many pastry shops in the square, the Belvedere stands out, which for years has dominated the pastry scene of Pizzo, with a family tradition that really starts from afar. The Belvederes, in fact, have been pastry chefs practically forever; in the fifties they were the first to bring to Pizzo the industrial machine to make ice cream: many still remember the day when Domenico Belvedere offered ice cream to everyone in the square, sensing the potential to make this product in larger quantities, at lower costs. Today about 2000 truffles come out of the Pasticceria Belvedere a day, which reach as far as Lazio, Emilia-Romagna and Sicily, also in other versions, such as the pistachio; just as their creativity in history has not stopped and the Belvedere have taken up an old dessert, even older than the truffle: the Belvedere Cake, with Avola almonds and hazelnuts, drowned in coffee. Because let's not forget that in Pizzo they were pastry chefs before ice cream makers. Have you ever tasted this delicacy? If you have not done so, the advice is to remedy it as soon as possible. Beware: the truffle of Pizzo has more than1000 calories!
Ice cream has existed since the nineteenth century, when it was still prepared with ice sticks brought down from the mountain. Over time, in Italy it was Sicily that emerged and distinguished itself in the production of ice cream in steel molds, until it was soon reached by Calabria, in particular by the pastry chefs of Pizzo Calabro, such as the Belvedere family. Pizzo Calabro, in the province of Vibo Valentia, has always been a country with a strongly commercial character, partly by nature, partly by geographical position; certainly, its strong point is the square, where historically pastry chefs from the rest of Calabria met, as well as from Naples or Sicily.
(Vibo Valentia is a city and commune in the Calabria region of southern Italy, near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital of the province of Vibo Valentia, and is an agricultural, commercial and tourist center.
There are also several large manufacturing industries, including the tuna district of Maierato.)
In short, it was a place of sweet exchanges and sharing of knowledge, and even today no other Calabrian square equals it in terms of shape, beauty and liveliness. Therefore, Pizzo was already known for the production of sweets and ice creams (the Truffle has only crowned this tradition), which was done only a couple of times a year, because in those days when there were no refrigerators it was a really a long and laborious process; it was prepared, for example, for the patronal feast of April 23 or on the occasion of some noble wedding. Until one day things changed...
In 1952, on the occasion of the important visit of a prince, a greater request for sweets and ice creams was made to the skilled pastry chefs of Pizzo; everyone did their utmost in view of such a meeting, but some more than others. The ice cream maker Giuseppe De Maria, who suddenly had been left without granita or molds, invented a new product (perhaps inspired by the homonymous Piedmontes' chocolate?): with his hands he modeled balls of homemade ice cream, half hazelnut and half chocolate, with liquid dark chocolate, caramel and Strega liqueur inside, then closing them with a method similar to that used for arancino (the master in fact had Sicilian origins); Finally, he covered these balls with a sprinkling of bitter cocoa powder (and sugar), put them on parchment paper inside an ice stick to ensure that they consolidated (refrigerators did not yet exist). Thus, was born the Truffle of Pizzo, different from the Sicilian one that instead also contains almonds. Its name derives from the shape that reminds a bit of that of the mushroom, and in the past even more, since they were much more irregular than they are today. The artisanal method has not changed, and the truffle is still made in the same way: two balls of ice cream, hazelnut and chocolate, are shaped in the palm of the hand in the shape of a hemisphere; then it is necessary to exert a slight pressure inside to create a "hole" in which to add a flow of melted dark chocolate, without preservatives, additives or thickeners. At this point the truffle should be put immediately in the chiller for about three hours. But the secret is all in a very quick gesture to close it, an art that only the most skilled can do perfectly, often without even knowing how to explain it. And then, to make the Truffle of Pizzo unique and inimitable, are the quality of the ingredients and the use of machinery still very ancient, especially in a pastry.
Among the various companies (about thirty) producing truffles and the many pastry shops in the square, the Belvedere stands out, which for years has dominated the pastry scene of Pizzo, with a family tradition that really starts from afar. The Belvederes, in fact, have been pastry chefs practically forever; in the fifties they were the first to bring to Pizzo the industrial machine to make ice cream: many still remember the day when Domenico Belvedere offered ice cream to everyone in the square, sensing the potential to make this product in larger quantities, at lower costs. Today about 2000 truffles come out of the Pasticceria Belvedere a day, which reach as far as Lazio, Emilia-Romagna and Sicily, also in other versions, such as the pistachio; just as their creativity in history has not stopped and the Belvedere have taken up an old dessert, even older than the truffle: the Belvedere Cake, with Avola almonds and hazelnuts, drowned in coffee. Because let's not forget that in Pizzo they were pastry chefs before ice cream makers.
Have you ever tasted this delicacy?
If you have not done so, the advice is to remedy it as soon as possible.
Beware: the truffle of Pizzo has more than1000 calories!
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