Tradition, legend and history in a savoury pie whose recipe has been handed down orally to the present day. The combination with good ends allows you to savour traditional local flavours.
Finding the recipe for baciocca cake is not easy. We are talking, in fact, about a tradition that has always been handed down orally. It is a savoury pie made with potatoes, onions and lard, whose origin can be traced back to the Ligurian Apennines.
Legend has it that the baciocca cake was dedicated to Elisa Bonaparte. She was in fact fond of it and was also nicknamed ‘la Baciocca‘, after her marriage to Felice Baciocchi. The most traditional part of this recipe is the cooking. In ancient times, it was cooked in cast-iron bells in wood-fired ovens. First of all, the special feature is the chestnut leaves that were used to wrap the pans, as if they were a lid. Consequently, it was not only a cooking technique, but also a way to give the dish a different flavour.
Now as then, the ingredients are poor and simple. Quarantine potatoes typical of the upper Genoese and Val Borbera are used. The onions are the golden onions of Voghera, which were also abandoned for a time due to the takeover of productive varieties. Today it has been rediscovered because of its long shelf life and its characteristic intense flavour that makes it ideal in soups, salads, focaccias and savoury pies. The Voghera onion is sown in February and must be constantly irrigated until two weeks before harvesting in July.
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE
Dough
● 150 g 00 flour
● 150 g Manitoba flour
● 170 cl water
● salt, oil, white wine vinegar
Stuffing
● 500 g potatoes
● 100 g lard
● 60 gr Parmesan cheese
● 2 onions from Voghera
● 20 gr flour 00
● 2 eggs
● Rosemary, parsley
● salt, pepper, oil
PROCEDURE
Prepare the dough by mixing all the ingredients together and leaving it to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Brown the lard in a pan with the onions, parsley and rosemary until slightly stewed. Now add the thinly sliced potatoes and cook without letting them fall apart too much.
In a bowl, place the Parmesan cheese, eggs and flour. Add the cooked mixture and mix. Roll out the pastry and fill with the filling. Some people use a little milk to make the filling creamier. Bake at 180°C for 40 minutes.
WINE PAIRING
Cabernet Sauvignon IGT - Az. Agricola Testori Quinto e Piero
