Pastiera - The story and the legend

The legend of the Pastiera is tied to the Siren Partenope and her song in honour of the people who live in the gulf, and in this way gives honour and great favour for the gifts of the fertile ground. The Flour – Force and wealth of the countryside The Ricotta – Gift of the shepherds and the sheep The Egg – Symbol of renewed life The Tender Grain – Boiled in milk, as proof of the two kingdoms of nature The water of the orange blossom – because the perfumes of the earth also yield a gift The Spices – Representing the people in far away lands.  Finally, the sugar – to express the ineffable sweetness lavished on her song, in the sky, in the ground and in the entire universe.  The Siren happy for the many gifts, returned to her kingdom to place the precious offerings at the feet of the gods. They, thrilled with the sweet song, joined together and with divine skill mixed the ingredients together, transferring all the sweetness and goodness of the song into the first ‘pastiera’: In the Gatta Cenerentola the noted fable of Giovan Battista Basile take us to the scene of Maestro De Simone, the ‘pastiera’ together with the Casatielli they are mentionedas a delicious finale to lunch. Among the many small stories of the ‘Pastiera’ is that of King Ferdinando II of Borbone, who was good natured, but had to marry Maria Teresa of Austria, who is said never to have smiled, given her severe northern character. One day Maria Teresa surrendering to the insistence of the good tempered Ferdinando and tasted a slice of the ‘Pastiera’ and couldn’t stop from smiling. To which the king said: - to make my wife smile we need the ‘pastiera, now we have to wait for next Easter to see the smile again. In times past the ‘pastiera was only prepared for the occasion of Easter, but now it is easy to find all year through and it is also possible to partake of other Neapolitan delicacies, the ‘baba’ and the ‘sfogliatella’ the flavours are diverse and every family its own secret recipe. To add to this is the confectioners cream of the Sorrento coast, add to that the rice of the Beneventano and the Tagliolini prepared by the Nolano. For the more greedy you can also include chocolate.