In difficult times, such as the current one, we like to find refuge and comfort in popular and family traditions:11 November is the day of Saint martin, a popular festival associated, in ancient Sicily, with the opening of the barrels after the harvest and the tasting of the new wine. In Palermo and in the province, in this period, the custom of preparing i San Martino biscuits, to be dipped in Moscato or Passito. The cake has the shape of a large round loaf and in addition to the dry variant there is a soft one, with ricotta filling, and then another richer and more decorated one, with cedar preserves.

The legend

The feast of San Martino was deeply felt in the peasant world. The traditional sweets of that day were the sfinci di San Martino, leavened dough pancakes enriched with fennel seeds and sprinkled with honey, which were already sold in the stalls of Palermo during the Middle Ages. It was then the nuns who reworked this dessert, adding lard to the dough and cooking it in the oven. Thus they created a biscuit to be stuffed (in Sicilian viscotto chino, stuffed biscuit) with ricotta or preserves, intended for aristocratic tables. According to historians, it was the custom of the nuns to never miss a box of San Martino biscuits for their confessor on the Saint's day. In the archive of the monastery of Santa Caterina in Palermo, the expense notes are still preserved containing the biscuits of San Martino donated to the painters who frescoed the interior of the beautiful Baroque church. For the people, who could not afford the luxury of this delight, there was instead a simpler variant, namely a hard biscuit to be dipped in fortified wine. On November 11, St. Martin's Day, the cookies were usually given by the nuns to the poor, to remember the generous gesture of Martino: according to legend, the young man during a snowfall deprived himself of his cloak to offer it to a poor cold beggar, met on the street. God wanted to reward that noble gesture and suddenly the sun reappeared. Hence the famous summer of San Martino.

Pastry Delight

Giuseppe and Mauro Lo Faso, respectively father and son, are the owners of the renowned Delizia di Bolognett pastry shopto, a small town on the outskirts of Palermo. The two pastry chefs offer in this period the typical autumn dessert, to be purchased directly in the pastry shop or to be ordered at home. As for the soft version, you can choose between two sizes, mignon to mitigate the feelings of guilt and large for the sweet tooth, and two different fillings, classic ricotta or pistachio ricotta. The decorated variant of the biscuit is also available, with external icing and an internal compote of candied fruit, pumpkin and cedar. All the desserts of the Lo Faso have always been characterized by the attention paid to the selection of raw materials (they do not allow semi-finished products) and by the artisanal preparation techniques. For the stuffed San Martino biscuits, for example, they only use raw ricotta from the pastures of the area which is then sweetened in the laboratory. The dough, on the other hand, is double leavened (usually only one is made), one of the great passions of the young Mauro Lo Faso – one of the most talented pastry chefs in Sicily – along with panettone and chocolate.

Wine pairing

For pairing wine with this traditional dessert, we recommend an iconic label such as Ben Ryè, award-winning passito di Pantelleria produced by Donnafugata in the small volcanic island suspended between Europe and Africa.

To order the San Martino biscuits

The Delizia pastry shop is open every day – except Wednesdays – from 7 to 19 (break from 13:30 to 15) for take-away, while for the home the service is available from 9 to 20 by calling 091 8724324.

Pastry Delight
Corso Vittorio Emanuele 38 – 90030 Bolognetta (Palermo)
Tel. +39 0918724324