Easter time, sweet time. From North to South you are spoiled for choice. Long before the advent of Christianity which celebrates the resurrection of Christ in this period, the ancient Romans celebrated the spring equinox with propitiatory rites, which marked the rebirth of nature, invoking the fertility of the earth.
And every feast has always been the occasion for abundant libations destined to end on a sweet note. In Italy each region in its traditions gastronomically celebrates the anniversary in its own way: Campania with the Pastiera, Sicily with the Cassata, Tuscany with the Schiacciata, Calabria with the Cuzzupa, Sardinia with the Casadina, Romagna with the Zamberla , Veneto with Focaccia, Trieste with Pinza and so on. But only one sweet flies - it is appropriate to say - over the whole peninsula and has become the undisputed national symbol of the holiday: it is the Dove, symbol of peace and love.
Its origins go back in time. A legend dates the dove back to the first half of the XNUMXth century: during the siege of Pavia, which lasted three months, King Alboin would have seen an old merchant from Pavia offer him a cake in the shape of a dove as a sign of peace and this he would have persuaded him not to let the city be sacked. Another legend instead sees Queen Teodolinda as the protagonist who, having hosted a group of pilgrims led by San Colombano originally from Leinster, offered them a lunch based on fine game. But being in the Lenten period, the saint refused, causing considerable irritation in the Lombard sovereign. At that point San Colombano blessed the game by transforming the birds into bread cakes in the shape of doves.
Then there is the third and most credible origin of the dove, and it dates back to Milan in the 30s. For the Christmas holidays, the use of Panettone had spread in large numbers. An advertising man from Mantua, Dino Villani who became Motta's advertising director in 1934, for which he invented the famous "M" logo and the Angelo Motta Christmas Night award, had a brilliant idea: why interrupt the factory's production activity at the end of the Christmas holidays? With a dough similar to that of panettone, other desserts could be made. Thus was born the Easter Colomba which was later imitated by all the factories and confectioners in Italy.
A typically Lombard sweet, therefore, whether one believes the legends or adheres to the story of Motta and Dino Villani.
But today the primacy of the best Italian Colomba Easter cake has flown away from Lombardy to settle on a pastry shop in the Marche region of Gabicce Monte. In fact, Michele Falcioni, Chef Pâtissier of "Posillipo Dolce Officina" is the winner of the "Premio Regina Colomba 2018" competition which took place at the Teatro Filodrammatici in Milan.
Pesaro pastry chef with thirty years of experience behind him, he gave life to the Posillipo Dolce Officina project, divided between a restaurant and a pastry shop, in via dell'Orizzonte 1, proposing in Italy - and also establishing itself abroad - Italian products of excellence, such as panettone and colomba, to create food culture and support the quality of the artisan product.
The runner-up of the "Premio Regina Colomba 2018" is Neapolitan. Salvatore Varriale owner of the homonymous pastry shop, in Via Nuova San Rocco 3 bis in Naples, member of the Neapolitan Pastry Chefs Association since 1995. Winner in 1997 of Exposudhotel. Regional delegate of CON.PA.IT (Confederation of Italian Pastry Chefs) and since 1999, member of the Academy of Italian Pastry Chefs. All in all, a respectable story.
And Lombardy is also excluded from the third place where Cristiano Pirani finished, who in 2010 gave life to the Pasticceria Chocolat, in via Cortevecchia 55 in Ferrara with one goal, as he himself says: to have fun, research raw materials, experiment and study. In his professional background there are two first places in national competitions (best hazelnut cake and best modern cake).
Following, for convenience of purchases in view of the Easter and Easter Monday lunch, the other classified: Emanuele Comi of the pastry shop of the same name, via Cavour 4, Missaglia (LC); Gabriele Lolli of the Belsito pastry shop, in via delle Rimembranze 29, Serrone (FR); Antonio Daloiso of the pastry shop of the same name, in via Indipendenza 16/C, Barletta (BT). TO
Anna Sartori of the homonymous pastry shop, in via Volta 8b, Erba (CO), and Vincenzo Santoro of the Martesana pastry shop, in via Cagliero 14, Milan deserve the credit for having brought the honors of Lombardy among the finalist pastry chefs in the ranking. Massimiliano Malafronte of the bakery of the same name, in via Castellammare 162, Gragnano (NA) should also be mentioned; Claudio Marcozzi of the Picchio pastry shop, in via Traversa Rampolla 2/4/5/8, Loreto (AN); Alessandro Dall'Alba of L'Ofelee, in via Padre Paolo Arlati 2, Merate (LC); Vincenzo Mennella of the pastry shop of the same name, in via Pezzentelle 3, Torre del Greco (NA); Giovanni Saviozzi, from Farina del mio sack, in via Tosco Romagnola 1777/A, Cascina (PI); Alessandro Rizzo of the homonymous bakery-pastry shop, in via Morgante 39, Tarcento (UD); Luca Porretto, of the Beverara pastry shop, in via Matteotti 183-185 Sabbiuno di Castel Maggiore (BO); Fiorenzo Ascolese, of the homonymous bakery, in via Vetice 53, San Valentino Torio (SA); Angela Padovano, of Tenerità, in via Domenico Mondo 59, Caserta; Alessandro Marra of the pastry shop of the same name, in via Sesia 6, Cantù (CO); Massimo Ferrante of the pastry shop of the same name, in via Martiri della Libertà 53, Campomorone (GE); and finally Marco Bruno of Pasticceria Artigiana, in via Roma 20, Cavour (TO).
