Rollò

The rollò, or rollò nisseno, or ricotta roll from Caltanissetta (from the French "roulé"), is a typical dessert from the Nisseno area, produced by local pastry chefs. It is consumed year-round, as it is not tied to any specific event or occasion. This dessert, along with the ricotta raviola, originated in Caltanissetta.

Nisseno roll in miniature format

History

This dessert, together with the Raviola di ricotta nissena, is a dessert that originated in Caltanissetta.

The rollò likely emerged in the last decades of the 19th century when the influence of Swiss pastry-making arrived in Caltanissetta through pastry chefs like Luigi Caflisch in Palermo, Alessandro Caviezel, and Ulrico Greuter in Catania.

The rollò is structurally similar but not ingredient-wise to the Swiss roll—a type of sponge cake rolled and filled with cream or jam invented in Central Europe in the 19th century—the rollò nisseno also resembles an international tradition of rolled desserts found in many countries, including Italy's Christmas log. However, the absolute uniqueness of the rollò nisseno remains due to typical Sicilian pastry ingredients such as sheep's ricotta and pasta reale.

Ingredients

A sectioned rollò

Whole eggs; flour, ground almonds, sugar, bitter cocoa powder that characterizes the sponge cake that in turn rolls the sheep ricotta and the heart of marzipan (marzipan). In addition, honey, green marzipan, sweetened and sifted ricotta, dark chocolate and/or chopped pistachios.

Some pastry chefs cut the rolls horizontally so as to have a constant thickness of the cake, others even obliquely so as to have a thinner part. The thickness of the green marzipan heart varies, the thickness of the chocolate sponge cake varies, the garnish varies with pistachio grains with or without dark chocolate grains.

Notes

• Rollò is a type of swiss roll

See also

• List of Italian desserts and pastries

External links

• Salvatore Farina: Dolcezze di Sicilia. Arte cultura storia e tradizioni dei dolci e della pasticceria siciliana 2003, ISBN 88-8243-084-7
• Alba Allotta (18 September 2012). La cucina siciliana. Newton Compton Editori. pp. 608–. ISBN 978-88-541-4612-9.
• Joël Robuchon (2009). Larousse Gastronomique: The World's Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia. Hamlyn. ISBN 978-0-600-62042-6.
• Gary Hunter; Terry Tinton; Patrick Carey (2008). Professional Chef: Level 3 S/NVQ. Cengage Learning EMEA. pp. 339–. ISBN 978-1-84480-531-0.
• Glenn Rinsky; Laura Halpin Rinsky (20 March 2014). The Pastry Chef's Companion: A Comprehensive Resource Guide for the Baking and Pastry Professional. Wiley. pp. 149–. ISBN 978-1-118-06066-7.