The ancient tradition of wheat

Wheat is a cereal of very ancient cultivation originating in the fertile crescent.

Since the Middle Ages, the Ferrara plain, made up of particularly fertile alluvial lands, has dedicated the drier lands to the cultivation of wheat and other cereals. Both soft and durum wheat were already cultivated, and in the 16th century yellow wheat, or corn, also entered the rotation, so much so that by the 19th century cornmeal polenta had become the daily food of farmers, the precious bread being reserved for festive occasions. With the arrival of water machines in 1870, the great land reclamation began, which, by wresting it from the waters, gave wheat cultivation new land. Today, the Ferrara wheat-growing area has good production yields combined with high protein qualities from which flours suitable for the production of bread, cakes and baked goods are obtained.

The tradition of fine flours

Such high quality flours that some of our most typical local products feature it as a protagonist, such as bread, famous throughout Italy and the latest in chronological order to be awarded the De.C.O. denomination of origin of Ferrara.

In addition to wheat, flour becomes the protagonist - together with egg, another element strongly linked to the land - of some of our city's most characteristic confectionary preparations such as the 'ciambella' or 'brazadela' and the biscuits known as 'favini' or 'brazadlin'.  

Did you know that the 'brazadlin' was the first product to obtain the De.C.O. mark?

Flour's best friend: the egg

Switching back to the egg, we find another sweet preparation, which is also the second product to have obtained the De.C.O. mark, namely the Mandorlini del Ponte. irregular sweets made with almonds, egg white, sugar and flour. For some they were created in 1857 in honour of Pope Pius IX, for others they were born in the early 20th century from the idea of a Pontelagoscuro shop assistant to use the egg whites left over from making ice cream. According to this version, the shop was destroyed during the war but the recipe was taken up by local businesses. So much so that one of the Pontelagoscuro bakeries is said to jealously and secretly preserve the original recipe and, by asking locals, some say it is such and others say it is the other. Absolutely typical of Pontelagoscuro (a district of Ferrara that lies on the Po river), they can be found (often with variations) in the city and the rest of the province.

Il Cibo è Chi lo Fa - an opportunity to meet the Italian tradition and also our own

Some of these products, such as mandorlini and brazadlins - together with many other agricultural and artisan food products from all over Italy - can be found for sale during the event called 'Il Cibo è Chi lo Fa' (Food is Who Does It) - Market of Italian Taste - which will take place in its spring edition from Friday 31 March to Sunday 2 April in Piazza Trento e Trieste in Ferrara.