Macaroons hail from grave past

Ossi di morto (bones of the dead) may not be the most enticing name for a biscuit, nor are these little macaroons pretty, but they are delicious.

Like most Italian specialties they are tied up with history and tradition and ways of life, according to Giovanni Maccioni of Pasticceria Mariuccia in Montalcino, Tuscany.

A pasticceria makes and sells sweets, cakes, pastries and biscuits, but not bread, he explains.

He was in Dunedin recently staying with Judith Cullen, whose culinary tours to Italy include a visit to his parents' pasticceria to see the biscuits and cakes being made.

Each part of Italy has its own history, food and lifestyle traditions, which are inextricably interlinked.

The food depends on the local geography and ingredients, and the way you provide yourself with food is the main foundation of your lifestyle, he says.

He tells the story of one of the many battles between Florence and Sienna in the 13th century, to which the people of Montalcino, reluctant allies of the Florentines, turned up late.

They were given the job of burying the dead, from which they became known as beccamorti (gravediggers), and a version of ossi di morto became a Montalcino specialty in commemoration.

Various versions of ossi di morto are found around Italy and they are traditionally eaten on All Souls Day, November 2, in remembrance of the dead.

Pasticceria Mariuccia started in 1935 when his father's aunt, Mariuccia Fineschi, started a small confectionery business in her bar.

She had no children and considered her nephew Angelo as her son, Giovanni says.

As a child the young Giovanni "breathed in the atmosphere" of the bakery kitchen where his parents spent much of their time, and helped make simple cookies because he liked the taste of the dough, he says with a laugh.

"Work is not simply a job, but part of the social context of the village, and that's why there are long family traditions in the small communities.

"You play a social role," he said.

But as he grew up, he decided he was not interested in pastry-making as it was a hard lifestyle and instead went to university to study economics.

However, at the time in the mid-1990s, Italy was conforming to European Union regulations and his parents were having difficulties with their business, so the day after he graduated he went back to help them.

"They were hard years reorganising the business and investing in new machinery and making it more modern.

"In Italy the economy is built on small and medium-sized firms and it's difficult for them to catch up and renew themselves.

"However, the pasticceria is still there and, despite the world economic situation, business is doing well, but we had to make hard choices," he said.

Their aim is not to make money or cookies, but to ensure the people who work there enjoy it and respect each other.

There are five employees besides himself and his parents and sister and girlfriend, who work part-time.

They believe the best advertising is to have people try their products and tell others.

If someone looks for you, your work is good, he says.

The firm specialises in typical Tuscan and Montalcino specialties, and his father Angelo has developed and tweaked the recipes over the years.

They make several kinds of panforte, ricarelli, cavalluci, cantucci and other specialties created by his father such as pane di Mariuccia, made with raisins, pine nuts, almonds and butter, and dandi, very soft chocolate, hazelnut, egg white, sugar and candied orange peel.

These were named after Giovanni because when he was a child he called himself "Dandi" as he could not say "Giovanni", he says with a laugh.

Giovanni had dreamed of visiting New Zealand after he met a man on a bike in India who enthused about the country, and he first came in 2007, he says.

He enjoys the different social context, which is less structured than in Italy, where people are more concerned with culture, history and regions.