Crescentina

Crescentina served with cured meat and cheese

Crescentina [kreʃ'ʃɛntina] is a bread in Italian cuisine from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.[1][2] It is prepared using flour, water and lard as primary ingredients.[1] Cracklings are sometimes used in its preparation.[1] In Emilia-Romagna, it is typically sliced into diamond shapes and then fried, and may be accompanied with cheese and salumi.[1] When it is fried, the bread puffs up. Versions prepared with milk are softer than those prepared with water, and it may include yeast or baking soda to leaven it.[2] It may be served as an appetizer or as a main dish.[2] In Italy, crescentina is sometimes referred to as a kind of gnocchi, although it is not technically gnocchi.[2] In Emilia-Romagna, crescentina is referred to as gnocco fritto.[2]

Etymology

When crescentina is cooked, it puffs up, and the name "crescentina" is derived in part from the Italian word crescere, which means "to grow".[3]

Varieties

A version of crescentina in the city of Bologna, Italy, which is within the Emilia-Romagna region, is prepared with the bread sliced into round shapes, which are then fried.[1] Pieces of prosciutto (thinly sliced, dry-cured ham) may be incorporated into the dough.[1]

In Pavullo nel Frignano, a town and commune in the Province of Modena, crescentina is prepared with lard and yeast and cooked over a piastrata, rather than fried.[3]

In the Tuscany region of Italy, crescentina is dusted with salt or sugar after being fried.[1] It is sometimes prepared with Tuscan salami incorporated into the dough.[1]

Crescia is a version in the town and commune of Gubbio in the Province of Perugia that is prepared with oil and salt and baked in an oven. Its name is associated with pieces of dough that were given to children for them to play with, which were then cooked at the edge of an oven, referred to as chichiripieno.[3]

In the historical Romagna region of Italy, it is referred to as piadina.[1]

Spianata is a variation prepared using eggs and ricotta cheese in the dough mixture.[3] The term spianata originally referred to pieces of flat dough that were used to test an oven's heat prior to cooking.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Conte, A.D. (2013). Gastronomy of Italy: Revised Edition. Pavilion Books. p. 250. ISBN 978-1-909815-19-3.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Louis, J. (2015). Pasta by Hand: A Collection of Italy's Regional Hand-Shaped Pasta. Chronicle Books LLC. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-4521-3057-6.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Riley, G. (2007). The Oxford Companion to Italian Food. Oxford Companion To... Series. Oxford University Press, USA. pp. 212–213. ISBN 978-0-19-860617-8.

Further reading

External links

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