Amaretti
These delicious almond-flavored biscotti have an ancient history, as they were supposedly first made during the Middle Ages. Their name is derived from the Italian amaro, meaning bitter, in reference to the sharp flavor of bitter almonds or apricot kernels, which are traditionally used in the recipe, together with egg whites and sugar.
They can be made either dry and crispy, or soft and chewy—secchi or morbidi, respectively—though amaretti are today synonymous with the crispy amaretti di Saronno from the homonymous Lombardian town, commercialized by Lazzaroni family and often referred to as the original amaretti.
Over time, they have become ubiquitous in Italy, and each region has its own version of the recipe, using different proportions of the basic ingredients or different stiffness of egg whites, temperatures, and times of baking, or additional ingredients such as egg yolks, flour, or leavening agents. Read more
Piedmont’s version, amaretti di Mombaruzzo are also crunchy and made exclusively with sugar, egg whites, sweet almonds, and apricot kernels, while the small town of Sassello in Liguria is renowned for their round-shaped, very soft and chewy amaretti, with almost marzipan-like interior, due to a very high percentage of almonds in the dough.
Lombardy's version, amaretti di Gallarate, are also very soft, but irregularly shaped, while amaretti Casperiani - from the province of Rieti - are made with hazelnuts instead of almonds. Amaretti di Carmigiano, also known as amaretti di Fochi, can be found in Tuscany - they are soft, imperfectly shaped, and smaller than the others, with characteristical amber color and strong almond aroma.
In Lazio, soft and oval-shaped amaretti of Fiuggi and of Guarcino are made with both sweet and bitter almonds, egg whites, and sugar, and they are traditionally placed on a disc of wafer paper. Also made with the combination of sweet and bitter almonds is Emilia-Romagna’s version, amaretti di Modena, which are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Regardless of the type, amaretti are an excellent after-meal snack that pairs perfectly with the sweet, almond flavored liqueur called amaretto Disaronno, but they also go very well with a cup of coffee or Italian espresso.
