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Reflections: What Grows in Silence - I Sepolcri di Grano

Today, as I prepare i sepolcri di grano - those tender shoots of wheat grown in darkness for Holy Week, I’m struck by how much of our heritage is cultivated in shadow. These small grains of wheat will in time sprout into humble and symbolic tender shoots; grown quietly in cupboards and cellars, much like the family stories carried in silence. They belong to rituals that travelled across oceans with our families, reappearing each year in kitchens and parish halls far from Basilicata. I remember my maternal grandmother, nonna Carmela preparing them for Good Friday. I watched her soak the grains, spread them into shallow dishes, and hide them away in darkness. She had carried this tradition from her village to Australia, recreating it in a suburban kitchen that bore little resemblance to the world she left behind. For her, it wasn’t nostalgia; it was devotion and continuity; a quiet way of keeping the rhythm of faith and the old world alive in a new one. I didn’t fully understand the sy...
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Biscotti della Nonna (Breakfast Dunking Biscuits)





I miss cooking with mamma and it dawned on me that I had promised to share this recipe on the blog last year and didn't! I only realised when mamma told me she was baking some biscotti with Papa` to pass the time and warm the kitchen. The photos were taken last year in-between lockdowns by my youngest daughter Georgia who wanted to document some special moments cooking together. 

These are papa's favourite breakfast biscuit that he loves to dunk in his latte e caffe`. He calls them biscotti del mattino (morning biscuits). We refer to them as biscotti della nonna. They are more of a rustic soft cookie than a true biscuit and mamma loves to scent them with lemon or oranges from their garden. 

I followed mamma's recipe which reads simply 'ad occhio', without real measures and instinctively.  It uses pantry ingredients and if you have a lemon or freshly picked orange, even better.  This recipe will yield about 30 biscuits depending on how large you make them.  I have to admit, it's a very easy recipe that comes together in one bowl and formed with a spoon as seen below.  


Biscotti della Nonna (Breakfast Dunking Biscuits)

Ingredients: (Makes 30)

6 eggs
1 cup of caster sugar plus extra to sprinkle on top
3/4 cup of sunflower or vegetable oil
zest and juice of 1 lemon or orange or vanilla paste to scent them
self-raising flour - quanto basta (as much as you need) Start with 250g and add more until required consistency. It all depends on the size of the eggs.

Preheat your oven to 180 C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Place eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat using a whisk or hand held mixer until light and fluffy. Add the orange zest, juice and oil and continue to whisk until combined.  Sift  250g of flour and add to egg mixture a spoonful at a time, stirring through. The mixture should be creamy but hold its shape when spooned out.

Arrange spoonful amounts leaving enough space between them to expand while baking. Sprinkle the tops with sugar and bake in moderate oven for 20 minutes or until cooked through and lightly golden on top.  Cool on tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

They are spongy soft and lovely on their own, but exceptional dunked in latte e caffe`.

Enjoy!












 

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