Ricciarelli di Siena

Appearance & taste

Ricciarelli di Siena have a diamond-shaped oval form. One piece weighs 10 to 30 g; the longer diagonal measures 50 to 105 mm, the shorter 30 to 65 mm, and the thickness is 13 to 20 mm. The surface is white from a layer of icing sugar and shows cracks in the dough here and there; the edge is lightly golden brown.

Inside, the dough is beige to lightly golden brown, tender, compact and not crumbly. According to the specification, the white colour of the dough comes from the sugar alone. Unlike similar biscuits, Ricciarelli di Siena contain no potato flour and no potato starch.

Production

For 1 kg of dough there are 35 to 50 % sweet almonds, 35 to 47 % granulated sugar, 6 to 12 % hen’s egg white, 5 to 8 % icing sugar and raising agents; egg white may also be used as powder or pasteurised. Also permitted are up to 6 % bitter almonds in place of some of the sweet almonds, up to 10 % glucose syrup or invert sugar in place of some of the sugar, up to 7 % blossom honey, up to 5 % candied orange peel and vanilla or vanillin, essential oils from citrus fruits and almond flavouring. Starch wafers serve as a base. Other ingredients, additives, colourings or preservatives are not permitted.

The dough is worked and baked in the oven; according to the specification, the grain of the dough and the processing with egg white give the particularly soft consistency. Processing and packing take place without interruption in the area. Immediately after cooling, the ricciarelli are packed individually in hermetically sealed film or several at a time in sealed trays so that they neither dry out nor become too soft.

Origin & history

The area comprises the whole province of Siena. It is shaped by the craft of confectionery, which goes back to the spice shops that emerged in the Middle Ages. Ricciarelli used to be made in the monasteries and in these spice shops, the only places where the necessary spices and flavourings were available. According to the specification, in the historic centre of Siena golden inscriptions on the ceiling frescoes of old spice shops still praise the ricciarelli, panforti and other local sweets today.

In a novella, the Sienese storyteller Parige tells of Ricciardetto della Gherardesca, who on his return from the Crusades introduced Arab biscuits whose curled shape recalled the slippers of the sultans; this is said to be the origin of the name Ricciarello. The term was first mentioned in 1814 in a song in praise of coffee and sugar printed in Livorno: “della lupa i Ricciarelli” refers to Siena with the she-wolf. In 1891 Pellegrino Artusi’s cookbook “La scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiar bene” contained recipe no. 629 “Ricciarelli di Siena” with sugar, sweet and bitter almonds, egg white and orange peel flavouring.

According to the specification, for the people of Siena Christmas is unthinkable without ricciarelli. With visitors from all over the world, they are now also eaten in the other months of the year.