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.
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 Swiss roll, jelly roll (United States), roll cake, cream roll, roulade, Swiss log or swiss cake is a type of rolled sponge cake filled with whipped cream, jam, icing, or any type of filling. The origins of the term are unclear; in spite of ...
—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
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
A Swiss roll, jelly roll (United States), roll cake, cream roll, roulade, Swiss log or swiss cake is a type of rolled sponge cake filled with whipped cream, jam, icing, or any type of filling. The origins of the term are unclear; in spite of ...
See also
*
List of Italian desserts and pastries
This is a list of Italian cuisine, Italian desserts and Pastry, pastries. Italian cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BCE. Italian desserts have been heavily influenced ...
References
External links
* Salvatore Farina: ''Dolcezze di Sicilia. Arte cultura storia e tradizioni dei dolci e della pasticceria siciliana'' 2003, ISBN 88-8243-084-7
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{{Pastries
Cuisine of Sicily
Italian confectionery
Italian pastries