One of the most heartfelt holidays in Verona is Santa Lucia, a saint who brings sweets, toys and presents to the homes of the Veronese on the night of 12-13 December. Legend has it that Santa Lucia travels ‘with her shoes all broken’ on a cart pulled by a donkey in the companionship of the faithful Castaldo. For this, children prepare a glass of milk and hay on the table at home. The typical city cake prepared on the occasion of Saint Lucy is called ‘puoti’ (‘puppets’) in local dialect slang. Moulded shortcakes in the shape of a child.
The artisanal pastry laboratories and bakeries of Verona have already started churning out the first ‘Puoti di Santa Lucia’. A few days ago, this leavened cake entered the list of traditional food products of the Veneto region. Puoti are short pastries offered in delicious variations filled with cream, chocolate and pistachio or jam. As well as a generous sprinkling of icing sugar.
Over the years, interest in these sweets has grown, with requests even from outside the region and abroad. The puoti are prepared by mixing eggs, sugar, butter, milk, flour and sourdough combined with a careful leavening process lasting a dozen hours and good manual skill. Secrets of goodness that remain jealously guarded within the walls of traditional workshops.
