by MR
Why it is called ‘Strenua’, Gioia doesn’t know, but the recipe for this ‘White Pampepato’ has strenuously resisted over time; in the culinary tradition of the Falcinelli family it retains a charm that is as tasty as it is melancholic: every Christmas it brings to life the memory of the grandmother. Someone who loved being in the kitchen and had also frequented professional ones, serving the rich.
Terni A humble, strong and ingenious woman who already with the ‘Strenua’ alone made a virtue of necessity: «She couldn’t afford chocolate – Gioia tells Umbria24 – but he had other easy-to-find ingredients around him and he knew how to make the most of them. This dessert, similar in shape and dried fruit to the traditional Pampepato of Terni, has always been presented to me as the white version of the same. Soft, tasty and precious, I propose it every Christmas together with the classic, to renew the family tradition and remember my grandmother, with just one variant: candied cherry for decorative purposes.”
White gingerbread «No flour, no chocolate, well-worked honey, walnuts, pine nuts, almonds and hazelnuts, with prunes and raisins. Oh, and of course the pepper. I guard the recipe jealously; it dates back to the early 1900s.” Gioia, 57 years old, proposed the strenuous contest to the Met’s Pampepato ‘out of town’, the one in collaboration with the Pro loco of Marmore. Kept out of the competition, you satisfied the tastes of those present; and who knows, maybe she will also find her showcase at the Sweet Pampepato party next November in Terni. Like any self-respecting pampepato, the ‘strenua’ often becomes a gift and it is not excluded that the name derives from ‘strenna’.
