The Sugna and Pepper Taralli, or taralli ‘nzogna e pepe, are strictly enjoyed with a cold beer and eaten on the rocks of Naples for a moment of pure relaxation!
The ingredients are: flour — I used buckwheat flour for a gluten-free version — leavening (I used sourdough starter) and sugna (lard) and pepper.
▸ Etymologically there are several hypotheses:
– from the Latin verb torrere, meaning to toast
– from the French toral, meaning dryer
– from across the Alps from the term “danal” (pain rond, round bread)
– from the Greek root “daratos”, “a kind of bread”.
▸ The tarallo is dough wrapped around itself, mixed with pepper and traditionally decorated with almonds, shelled and baked in a high-temperature oven.
▸ Born at the end of the 18th century from Neapolitan bakers’ need to recover the leftover leavened dough from bread production, after flavoring it with sugna (n’zogna) and pepper.
▸ Later it was enriched with other ingredients and in the early 1800s the almond was added.
▸ In the past taralli were sold by the so-called “tarallaro” who, with a basket on his shoulders, walked the city streets advertising with the slogan “good for little”.
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Cost: Low cost
- Rest time: 3 Hours 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking time: 55 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- tsp fresh brewer's yeast (or about 6 1/2 tbsp (96 ml) gluten-free sourdough starter)
- 2 1/2 cups buckwheat flour
- 3/4 cups rice flour
- 1 cup almonds (+ 39 almonds)
- 7 oz sugna – lard (about 1/2 lb)
- 3 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp honey (or sugar)
- to taste salt
Steps
If using fresh brewer’s yeast, dissolve it in about 1/3 cup (80 ml) of room-temperature water.
Add about 3/4 cup (100 g) of buckwheat flour to the yeast and 1 teaspoon of honey or sugar.
Cover and let rise for 1 hour.
Toast the almonds in the oven at 392°F (200°C) for 10 minutes.
Coarsely chop them.
Add the sponge to the almonds, the rice flour and the remaining 1 2/3 cups (200 g) of buckwheat flour. Then add the lard, about 7 tablespoons (100 ml) of water, salt and pepper.
Let rise for 30 minutes.
Divide into pieces of 80 g (about 3 oz). For each piece roll into a rope, fold it over itself, bring the ends together and roll to close into a ring.
Don’t be discouraged if you can’t create smooth ropes that roll onto themselves: this is normal because the gluten network is missing. Do your best to achieve the typical tarallo shape.
Moisten the 39 almonds.
Place 3 almonds in each tarallo, tucking one into each braid roll.
Place the taralli on a baking tray, cover and let rise for 2 hours.
Bake in the oven at 392°F (200°C) for 25 minutes, lower the temperature to 374°F (190°C) and bake for another 30 minutes.
PREPARATION IDEA:
You can use the Sugna and Pepper Taralli in a creative version of panzanella: the taralli panzanella is a southern variant, often Apulian, of the classic Tuscan recipe, which replaces stale bread with crumbled or whole taralli.
The taralli are briefly moistened with water and vinegar, then seasoned with tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, extra virgin olive oil, salt and basil. I also added hard-boiled eggs and used mint instead of basil.
