pastry Archives - Living in Italy

5 December 2017

Italian Delicacies

Stef Smulders italian food bakeries, pastry 0

pasticceria milan Italian pastry shops are incredible. They more like art galleries than negozi where you can actually buy something to eat. Food really is an art in Italy. Do not forget to spot these little artisan spots when you visit a city. You do not even have to enter the shop itself to have a mouthwatering experience. The little cakes are very delicately decorated with the tiniest of tasty ornaments. And they often are costly as the jewels they seem to be imitations of. I guess Italians buy these pastries only when they want to make bella figura, to give as a present to a host, on the occasion of an anniversary and so forth. Every now and then you see an Italian carrying a beautiful box on the palms of his hands with such a pastry treasure in it. Careful, careful! Please don’t let it drop!

Pastry shops and bakeries in Milan and surroundings

Pasticceria Gialli
Italians are master pastry -cooks, artists with chocolate, fruit, nuts, fondant, nougat, … One of the most famous of Milan, Gialli (1911), has two shops, one not far from the Duomo (go west), the other near Torre Velasca . Products: alchechengi , marrons glacés, fondants, boers and pralines, chocolate bars, chocolates, cakes, biscuits, candy-coated almonds, tea and chocolate wines. Depending on the season the pasticceria also sells: the panettone (a typical Christmas cake), the veneziane (a kind of soft bun), the colomba (dove-shaped Easter cake), the chiacchere (Carnival cakes), Easter eggs the typical Milanese cakes such as ” pan de mein ” or ” pan dei morti “. Try before you die (of cholesterol)!
Pasticceria Clivati
This is one of those typically Italian delicacy shops that it is difficult to pass by without trying one of those mouthwatering masterpieces. The Clivati is located just outside the city ring near Porta Genova . It offers a shop, a caffetteria and a ciocolatteria. The products on sale and taste are: panettoni & colombe (typically Italian cakes for Christmas and Easter) pasticceria mignon (small pastry) pasticceria salata (all sorts of bread) torte & semifreddi ( bomboniere (the chocolate stuff) The day at Clivati starts with breakfast and ends with the apertivo , till 8.
Pasticceria Galdina
In a small cortile aside of the Corso Magenta this small shop and laboratory of Italian pastry is located. The owner Galdina della Seta has been inspired by the French way of making pastry into an art form and offers a wide range of delicacies, like the chocolate pyramid. Other specialties are the bavarese, charlotte, meringhe and crostate of different types and tastes and the fruit mousse, crumble and cheese cakes. Galdina also offers the possibility of a three evenings course , see the website for the dates.
Luini
This is a 60-year old Milanese bakery, famous for its panzerotti , a typical lunch roll from the Puglia region, where the Luini family has its roots. The shop is located in city center, slightly north of the Duomo . The classic panzerotto is filled with mozzarella cheese and tomato, but many other variants have been created later of course. The dough is traditionally fried, but can be baked in the oven as well.
California Bakery
This is a chain of four bread and pastry shops / lunchrooms that took its inspiration from the American example, with a touch of Italian mixed in. In each of the shops you can get cheesecake, home made bread, hamburger, bagel, quiches, sandwich farciti, scrambled egg, pancake, waffle, granola yogurt, frullati, gelati. The five shops are located at Via Larga 19 (south of the Palazzo Reale ), Viale Premuda 44 (near Porta Montforte ), at Via Tortona 28, at Piazza Sant’Eustorgio 4 (at the St Eustorgio church ) and at the Largo Augusto (north of the San Bernardino alle Ossa ). In addition to the shops there is also a mobile version in the form of the famous Ape car , that appears at special events. You may also learn yourself how to prepare the delicacies during one of the Showcooking workshops .
Piadineria La Caveja
Though originally from the Romagna region (around Ravenna, Rimini ), piadinerie where the Italian piadina or rotolo is served can be found all over Italy nowadays. Fortunately! The piadina is a kind of dough wrap filled with fresh vegetables, cheese and cold cuts (but the Nutella version is also popular). La Caveja has a wide choice of piadine at each of its five shops currently in Milan: Corso Italia,38 Via Lanzone,27 Via Ponte Vetero, 11 Via Corso Vercelli, 25 Bicocca Village – Viale Sarca / Via Chiese The one mapped here is not far from the Castello Sforzesco . The only one open on weekends is the Bicocca Village shop.
Pasticceria Dante (Vigevano)
Just as many other Italian towns, Vigevano has its own food specialty , in this case related to the frequent presence of Ludovico Il Moro in the city. Legend has it that his young wife Beatrice wanted to offer him and his guests something special. This became the so-called dolceriso del moro or torta di riso, a sweet cake made of rice of the Lomellina region, with an imprint of the heraldic weapon of the Sforza . Here is a recipe . Pasticceria Dante is one of the shops in town that produces this Vigevano specialty.
Pasticceria Vigoni (Pavia)
This is the most famous pasticceria of Pavia, with it’s main shop opposite of the university at the Strada Nuova (others at the Viale Libertà and Via Olevano ). Window shopping is mouth watering when you look at the little works of food art produced here. Vigoni is especially known for its Torta Paradiso (also called Torta Vigoni for that reason), which was invented, based on a traditional North Italian recipe, by Enrico Vigoni in 1878, owner of the pasticceria . A legend connected to the Torta tells that a monk of the Certosa abbey discovered this delicacy while secretly searching for medical herbs outside of the abbey. He managed to get hold of the recipe and his fellow monks were so delighted by the taste of the cake that they called it “of paradise”.