Pizza dolce di Beridde
{{Short description|Italian unleavened sweet bread}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Pizza dolce di Beridde
| image = Pizza dolce di Beridde (cropped).jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| alternate_name = Pizza ebraica, diamanti romani
| country = Italy
| region = Rome
| creator =
| course =
| type = Sweet bread
| served =
| main_ingredient = Flour, sugar, almonds, candied fruits, raisins, pine nuts, olive oil, white wine
| variations =
}}
The pizza dolce di Beridde ({{literally|sweet pizza of Beridde}}), also known as the pizza ebraica ({{literally|Hebrew pizza}}){{Cite book|author=Elisabetta Putini|title=101 cose da fare a Roma con il tuo bambino|date=April 2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FA41GQqVzBMC&dq=pizza+dolce+di+beridde&pg=PT54|language=IT|publisher=Newton Compton|location=Rome|isbn=9788854127425}} or diamanti romani ({{literally|Roman diamonds}}),{{Sfn|Giuliano Malizia|1995|p=59}} is an unleavened sweet bread associated with the city of Rome, in the Lazio region of Italy. The Roman Jewish community prepares this traditional dessert on the occasion of a Brit milah (ceremony of circumcision).{{Cite web |last=Skinazi |first=Karen |date=22 August 2022 |title=A Jewish pizza from Rome? I need a slice of that |url=https://www.thejc.com/life-and-culture/all/a-jewish-pizza-from-rome-i-need-a-slice-of-that-4tPRys6oW3bCIssMMcWwZz |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=The Jewish Chronicle |archive-date=16 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316203628/https://www.thejc.com/life-and-culture/all/a-jewish-pizza-from-rome-i-need-a-slice-of-that-4tPRys6oW3bCIssMMcWwZz |url-status=live }}
Etymology
The name pizza is here to be understood not in the recent meaning that has spread into Italian through the Neapolitan language, but in the original Medieval Latin meaning of 'focaccia',{{Cite book |url=https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/pizza/ |title=Pizza |work=Vocabolario Treccani |publisher=Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana |language=IT |accessdate=5 April 2021 |archive-date=27 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227012325/https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/pizza/ |url-status=live }} and thus suggests, as in the case of the Easter pizza, an ancient origin of the dish. The term pizza in Medieval Latin is first attested in 966 in Naples and in 997 in Gaeta, and was also used to designate ceremonial foods cooked for Easter such as Easter pizzas.{{Cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/pizza/|title=Pizza|work=Enciclopedia online|publisher=Treccani|accessdate=18 February 2022|language=IT|archive-date=18 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218092755/https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/pizza/|url-status=live}} Similar preparations (pizza alla rustica, pizza di ricotta) are reported in early 19th century cookery manuals such as Vincenzo Agnoletti's.{{Sfn|Emilio Faccioli|1987|pp=783–784}}
The cake's appellation Beridde derives from the Judeo-Roman form of the word Brit milah ('covenant of circumcision' in Hebrew), i.e. the ritual circumcision of male infants in the community.{{Cite web|url=https://www.progettodreyfus.com/pizza-dolce-ebraica/|author=Elena Pavoncello|title=Pizza di Beridde o Pizza dolce ebraica|date=7 August 2018|language=it|accessdate=19 March 2023|publisher=Progetto Dreyfus|archive-date=19 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319153716/https://www.progettodreyfus.com/pizza-dolce-ebraica/|url-status=live}}
History
The origins of the dish are obscure, but the cake may have been brought to Rome by Spanish Jews who were driven out of Spain in 1492 or by those expelled from Sicily in 1493.{{Cite web |author=Catalano |first=Giustino |date=26 February 2023 |title=Storia in cucina – La Pizza di Beridde o Pizza Ebraica |url=https://www.ditestaedigola.com/storia-in-cucina-la-pizza-di-beridde-o-pizza-ebraica/ |accessdate=16 March 2023 |language=IT |archive-date=18 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318195209/https://www.ditestaedigola.com/storia-in-cucina-la-pizza-di-beridde-o-pizza-ebraica/ |url-status=live }} This would explain that the ingredients include nuts, sultanas and candied fruit, typical of the cuisine in Muslim countries.
The pizza ebraica was reportedly Pope Benedict XVI's favorite dessert.{{Cite web |last=Koenig |first=Leah |date=18 March 2019 |title=Pizza Like No Other |url=http://www.saveur.com/article/Kitchen/Pizza-Like-No-Other/ |access-date=2019-12-11 |website=Saveur |language=en |archive-date=16 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316203356/https://www.saveur.com/article/Kitchen/Pizza-Like-No-Other/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Rummel |first=Rachel |title=Pizza Ebraica |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/pizza-ebraica-jewish-rome |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=Atlas Obscura |archive-date=31 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831180312/https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/pizza-ebraica-jewish-rome |url-status=live }}
Ingredients
The main ingredients of the bread, which contains neither eggs nor yeast, are flour, sugar, almonds (both whole and ground), raisins, candied fruit (usually candied citron), olive oil or other vegetable oil, white wine and pine nuts.{{Sfn|Giuliano Malizia|1995|p=59}}{{Sfn|Benedetta Jasmine Guetta|2022|p=284-85}}
Preparation
The ingredients are mixed with wine and lukewarm oil, kneading them to form a type of soft, sweet pastry dough that must not stick to the hands.{{Cite web |title=Pizza dolce di Beridde |url=https://blog.giallozafferano.it/cuochinprogress/pizza-dolce-di-beridde/ |accessdate=16 March 2023 |website=Cuochinprogress |date=7 April 2017 |language=IT |archive-date=16 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316161002/https://blog.giallozafferano.it/cuochinprogress/pizza-dolce-di-beridde/ |url-status=live }} This is rolled out with a rolling pin to a thickness of about {{cvt|2|cm}}, cut into lozenges{{Sfn|Giuliano Malizia|1995|p=59}} or rectangles (the former are called diamanti), and baked in a very hot oven until a crust forms on the surface, while the inside must remain soft.{{Cite web|url=https://www.labna.it/en/beridde-pizza-or-sweet-jewish-roman-pizza.html|author=Benedetta Jasmine Guetta|accessdate=19 March 2023|title=Pizza di Beridde or sweet Jewish-Roman Pizza|date=2 May 2014 |archive-date=19 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319160322/https://www.labna.it/en/beridde-pizza-or-sweet-jewish-roman-pizza.html|url-status=live}}
Religious tradition and sale
File:Boccione Bakery.jpg in the Roman Ghetto]]
A lozenge of the cake is traditionally given to each participant of the circumcision feast at the end of the ceremony. It is contained in a bag of sweets called kavodde,{{Cite web |title=Sacchetto Kavodde |url=https://www.ogcreazioni.com/prodotto/art-ln-55-sacchetto-kavodde-benvenuto/ |accessdate=19 March 2023 |website=OG di Orietta Greci |date=5 March 2020 |language=it |archive-date=8 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208135326/https://www.ogcreazioni.com/prodotto/art-ln-55-sacchetto-kavodde-benvenuto/ |url-status=live }} which means 'dignity' in Hebrew and symbolises the commandment to honour one's father and mother.{{Cite web |author=Rabbi Nachum Amsel |title=How to Show Respect for a Parent: A Jewish View |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/how-to-show-respect-for-a-parent-a-jewish-view/ |accessdate=20 March 2023 |website=My Jewish Learning |archive-date=20 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320184532/https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/how-to-show-respect-for-a-parent-a-jewish-view/ |url-status=live }}
In addition to being prepared in families for the feast of circumcision, pizza di Beridde is sold by kosher bakeries such as the Pasticceria Boccione in the Roman Ghetto (in Sant'Angelo rione), along with other traditional Jewish sweets, such as ricotta and sour cherry tart and mostaccioli.
See also
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{{Portal|Italy|Food}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- {{Cite book |author=Emilio Faccioli|url=https://archive.org/details/lartedellacucina0000unse |title=L'Arte della cucina in Italia |publisher=Einaudi |location=Milano |year=1987 |isbn=88-06-59880-5 |language=it}}
- {{Cite book |author=Benedetta Jasmine Guetta|title=Cooking alla Giudia: A Celebration of the Jewish Food of Italy|publisher=Artisan|isbn=9781579659806|year=2022}}
- {{Cite book |author=Giuliano Malizia |title=La Cucina Ebraico-Romanesca |publisher=Newton Compton Editori |location=Roma |year=1995 |language=it}}