Lombardy and Veneto: how many Christmas specialties! We want to take you on an journey through sweets known all over the world to traditional products of individual cities, so as to have new ideas to celebrate December 25th and the holidays between December and January.

If you are a true Veronese, you cannot just have the classic Pandoro under the tree, pride of this city and now a dessert that represents Italy all over the world. There is also room for the so called Nadalin, the ancestor of the most famous local Christmas product but still considered the true typical product of the December and January holidays. History has it that it was even invented around 1200, to celebrate the return of Verona under the hegemony of the family Della Scala. Compared to Pandoro, Nadalin, while sharing a good portion of ingredients, plays on the different quantities in the dough, which is more compact and sweet, less buttery and fragrant. The shape also changes: infact the Nadalin is flattened and irregular in shape, compared to the tall and star-shaped Pandoro. However, Nadalin is often prepared in an eight-pointed mold, similar to that of its own "descendant" invented at the end of the 19th century by Domenico Melegatti.

To discover Nadalin the only way is to take a tour of the traditional pastry shops and shops of the city of Verona: here you still see the traditional recipes, garnish the product with powdered sugar, almonds, pine nuts or other dried fruit in the covering, doughs are made that compared to Pandoro are simpler and faster to make, even if this does not mean not having knowledge and skill! In Verona the tradition wants the Nadalin to be accompanied by a cup of hot chocolate or a glass of the wine Recioto della Valpolicella.

In addition to Pandoro and Nadalin, the Verona area offers other precious products: the Offella d'Oro from Bovolone, also a variant of Nadalin, and the Mandorlato from Cologna Veneta, made with a mixture of honey, sugar, white eggs and almonds, already appreciated in the sixteenth century by the Venetian Doges.

The Pagnotte of the Doge, made with honey, figs, butter, eggs and nuts, originate from Villadose, in the province of Rovigo. A very tasty Christmas product is born from a few simple ingredients: the lords of Venice enjoyed it when they came here to spend their holidays.

Crossing the border from the Veneto to the west, you will find another Christmas excellence in Brescia, the Bossolà. It is a large donut made up of several layers of dough, in which an increasing number of eggs are used. The other ingredients are flour, butter, sugar and yeast, with the result of having a soft and light dessert, considered in the local tradition as a symbol of rebirth.

Did we leave you with curiosity and appetite? Then it's time to go hunting for the typical sweets of the Veneto and Lombardia area!

 

A land to discover:

Food and Wine: A slice of Nadalin together with a glass of Recioto della Valpolicella.

History: Products that have even eight hundred years of history, up to the intuitions of the fourteenth century.

Territory: Traditional pastry shops where you can find typical Christmas products.

 

Credits: Verona.net