STORYTELLING

Places are infinite containers of stories that just ask to be told. Along the paths promoted by the “Sicilia Sacra Network” project, stories of places are told through the voice of exceptional testimonial, able to engage, keep an open mind and give emotions.

ERICE: Maria Grammatico and the Genovese recipe

“I started slowly. I opened the shop on June 1, 1964 and did not have the money to buy almonds. I only had three kilos, three kilos of almonds to open a store! I made some sweets and opened the shop!”, based on “Mandorle Amare”

Maria Grammatico is a woman from Erice who spent her life making sweets and her history is truly unique and singular. She lost her father when she was a child and, in order to help her mother feeding five children and expecting the sixth, she is sent to the cloistered convent of San Carlo, Erice, with her smaller sister. Here, the nuns who host them are specialized in producing sweets and Maria, little by little, learns the art and treasures it. But it is not easy to learn the most refined techniques, since the nuns are not inclined to hand down their art. Therefore, Maria tries to assimilate the knowledge on the subject by spying the nuns’ work. Once she left the convent, she starts preparing sweets at home and, after a while, she opens a small lab: the first step towards the actual success. If you are curious to know this fascinating story in detail, you can read the beautiful book written by Mary Taylor Simeti, “Mandorle Amare” – Palermo 2004. Helped by her grandchildren and some collaborators, Maria currently runs two stores and a bar and is always present and active in the lab.

The bakery in via Vittorio Emanuele, in Erice city centre, is now a reference point for tourists and residents. Among the different sweets displayed in the old wooden shop windows, there are the “Mostaccioli delle Monache”, almond sweets and Frutta di Martorana and, above all, the famous Genovese, small pies made of soft shortcrust pastry filled with a sort of custard cream, which have nothing to do with the city of Genoa and that must be eaten while hot – “burning your lips” as they say in Sicily. Maria herself admits to having remade them according to her memories, but they are not exactly the originals of the nuns!

For those who want to try cooking them, this is the recipe, but, no matter how good they taste, we recommend you to go to Erice and try the true ones of the Grammatico pastry shop!

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry (for about 10 Genovesi):
125g Bread flour
125g Cake flour
100g Sugar
100g Butter
2 Egg yolks
3/4 tsp cold water

For the custard:
1 Egg yolk
75g Sugar
250g Milk
20g Corn starch
Powdered sugar
Grated lemon zest

Method:
Start off by doing the shortcrust pastry: combine the two different flours, sugar and butter and work with the tip of your fingers until you get a sandy dough. Add the yolks, one at a time, and add cold water, just enough for kneading the dough and making it smooth and homogeneous. Knead the pastry quickly not to heat it up, then form a ball, cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the cream. Pour the starch in a cup of milk and melt it with a spoon. Pour into pan the milk with the starch and the remaining milk and heat to just below boiling point. Turn off the fire. Beat the yolk with the sugar, add them to the milk and put them back on the burner on a low flame; stir continuously with a whisk until you get a dough similar to a custard. Just before finishing the cooking add the lemon zest. Let it cool completely. Take the dough out of the fridge, take a piece of it and knead briefly with your hands to soften it, then spread it over a flat surface slightly covered with flour with a rolling pin and form a kind of oval. On one side of the oval, place a spoon of cream, fold the other piece of dough on it, press on the edges, much the same as you do for ravioli and cut with a “coppapasta”. Place the Genovesi on a plate covered with parchment paper and bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven to 210°. The dough should be lightly golden on the edges. Take the Genovesi out of the oven and sprinkle plentiful powdered sugar on them. Eat them right away, taking the risk of getting burned!