Berlingozzo

«Women, we are young bakers,
good teachers of our art:
we make berlingozzi and lumps of sugar»
Lorenzo de’ Medici
Canzona de’ fornai, dai Canti carnascialeschi

Berlingozzo is a typical sweet of the province of Pistoia which is prepared during the Carnival period. With its traditional ring-shape, soft inside and vanilla and orange taste and smell, it has got very old origins: it seems that it already existed during Cosimo I age in Tuscany. It seems that its name comes from “berlingaccio”, which comes from the German “bretling”, word used popularly to call Fat Thursday and the tradition of rich dinners matched with good vinsanto: “A bite leads to the other, a glass leads to the other…and here is Carnival atmosphere!”.

Today the main feature of berlingozzo is due to the particular combination of its ingredients, of local and rural origin. It is spread everywhere, but in Lamporecchio there is a real tradition which is kept alive by some pastry chefs who prepare it like in the past, using the same ingredients of the brigidino.