BY RENEE ENNA© 2012 Chicago Tribune

Despite our country’s romancewith all things Italian, it seemsthere is a serious gap when itcomes to Italy’s colorful and di-verse repertoire of cookies.

Admittedly, it’s not as ifFrench, Peruvian or Latvian cook-ies are flooding the markets here.But at a time when the vast arrayof Italian olive oils, breads, pas-tas, cheeses, etc., continues to becelebrated in high-end restau-rants and mainstream supermar-kets alike, the Italian cookieremains an anomaly.

(Anyone who bakes themknows this. You hand your pre-cious tray of Italian cookies to therecipient, who looks down atthese sturdy treasures and says,eyes darting hither and yon,“Wow! I’m going to save these forlater!” We all know what latermeans.)

Besides biscotti — the authen-tic ones often criticized for ap-proximating the texture of graniteor, worse still, Americanized intoa variety of bizarre flavors andsquishy textures — and perhapsthe pizzelle, those crispy wafersthat require a special appliance,the Italian cookie carousel re-mains familiar mostly to Italian-Americans who bake (or whoserelatives do), dedicatedItalophiles and those who stocktheir pantry with Stella D’oro.

Most Americans, asked to de-fine cucidati, will furrow theirbrows and perhaps blush. (It’s afig cookie. And, for the record:koo-chee-DAH-tee.) Ditto for thechubby Italian lemon cookies. Si-cilian sesame cookies. Cantucci(crunchy almond cookies). Thereare more. Hundreds more.

“The range of Italian cookies inItaly are virtually unknown here,”agreed Francine Segan, an Italian-American and author of “Dolci:Italy’s Sweets” (Stewart, Tabori &Chang). Her book explores manyItalian cookies, including amarettiand savoiardi (aka the ladyfingersyou enjoy in tiramisu), and sheacknowledged that she onlyskimmed the surface in her beau-tiful book. Indeed, the variety shefound on her travels through Italy,she said, was “a real surprise.”

Part of the problem is thatthese cookies’ flavor profiles areoften lost on a culture thatreaches for a soft-sweet-sugarblitz.

“Americans generally likechewy cookies,” Segan said. “Toget a soft, chewy cookie, you’regoing to need a lot of butter. Gen-erally, Italians don’t like thatmuch.” And, she added, “they donot (use) as much sugar as wedo.”

Which brings to mind a friendwho dislikes Italian cookies just

for those reasons and describesthem as tasting “industrial.” Noargument here: They are rarelygooey, often cakey and pair beau-tifully with coffee, which is howItalians like them. To be com-pletely honest, many Italian cook-ies are heavy enough to causedamage if you throw one at some-body, and rarely are they the pret-tiest kids on the cookie tray. Butonce you adapt to the sturdy, hon-est flavor, you’ll become addicted.What’s more, they keep forever —it’s not unusual for a recipe to endwith, “Store in an airtight con-tainer for up to 1 month.” Andthey’ll come out of the freezer justfine after a year.

“It’s essentially,” Segan con-cluded, “a cultural difference.”

This still doesn’t explain whythe multifaceted language of Ital-ian cookies remains so limited,because there are, after all, somethat are gooey (the aforemen-tioned cucidati) and soft (caval-lucci, made with honey, nuts andanise).

Segan thinks it has to do withthe role of the cookie in its home-land. She traveled throughoutItaly for her book, exploring thecuisine’s language of dessert.Italy’s bakeries usually focus onbread, she said, while its chefstend to concentrate on fancifuldesserts. Cookies, she learned,are very much a homemaker’s do-main, and obviously travelers arenot going to experience thesecookies, short of knocking on afew doors and inviting themselvesin. (We’re not recommendingthat.)

Emily Luchetti, a San Fran-cisco-based pastry chef (Farallanand Waterbar) and cookbook au-thor (”Classic Stars Desserts,” “APassion for Desserts”), sees thatfocus translate to Italian-Ameri-can bakeries, which produce fabu-lous breads and other bakedgoods. As for the cookies, well ...

“A lot of the old-fashioned bak-eries — and I’m not blasting all ofthem — but you’ll see 50 differentvarieties (of cookies),” Luchettisaid, “and they all look so uniqueand they all look so beautiful andthen when you go home and tastea few ... they all taste the same!”

“You would never begin to

think that if there were 45 gelatiin the case, they would all tastethe same.”

Luchetti wonders if it’s timefor American bakers to startbridging the gap between Italianclassics and American prefer-ences. The pine nut-fig cookie inher latest book, “The FearlessBaker: 175 Surprisingly Simpleand Utterly Indulgent Recipes”(Little, Brown), uses traditionalItalian ingredients (pine nuts,figs, semolina) but incorporatesmelted butter to create a moister,flatter cookie. This is not to dis-miss anybody with a penchantfor authentic Italian cookies.Luchetti, a proponent, says thatItalian cookies have not morphedinto a steroid version of some-thing they’re not. She recalledsitting next to a woman on an air-plane who was unwrapping acookie whose package said it“serves 4.”

“The good thing about Italiancookies, as opposed to Americancookies, is that sometimes youjust want a small bite of some-thing sweet,” Luchetti said. “Thetradition of the Italian cookie isin a good spot: It has stayedwhere the intention was.”

———ABBONDANZA!

Looking for authentic Italiancookie recipes? The Internet willyield a variety of recipes, and sowill your neighbor’s nana. (Donot pass up any opportunity tobake with a veteran.) In themeantime, these cookbooks de-liver the goods:

“Dolci: Italy’s Sweets,” byFrancine Segan (Stewart, Tabori& Chang).

“Cookies Unlimited” (WilliamMorrow). Nick Malgieri, therenowned cookbook author andteacher, offers many Italian cook-ies in this book, as well as deli-cious examples from othercultures.

“La Dolce Vita” (Harper Peren-nial, out of print but availablefrom online sellers), by MicheleScicolone. An array of cookies aswell as myriad desserts from thisprolific author of Italian cook-books.

“Sweet Maria’s Italian CookieTray” (St. Martin’s Griffin), byMaria Bruscino Sanchez, is shorton photos, long on authenticrecipes.

———

SICILIANSESAME

COOKIESPrep: 40 minutes Chill: 1 hourCook: 30 minutes Makes: 24

cookiesFrom “Dolci: Italy’s Sweets,” by

Francine Segan. This variation ofthe Sicilian classic, producesmoist, lemony cookies, encased ina crunchy sesame-seed crust,writes Segan, and “is a bullet-proof recipe that produces pastryshop-perfect cookies every time.”

2 cups (12 ounces) flour1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar8 tablespoons butter, olive oil

or lard, see note3 eggs, separated2 tablespoons milk1 tablespoon honeyGrated zest of 1/2 lemon1/4 teaspoon salt3/4 cup sesame seeds3 tablespoons waterCombine the flour, sugar and

butter in a large bowl until mix-ture resembles coarse sand. Addthe egg yolks, milk, honey, lemonzest and salt; knead with yourhands until a dough forms. Rollthe dough into a ball; cover withplastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Toast the sesame seeds in a dryskillet over medium heat untillight golden, about 5 minutes;shake pan occasionally and donot overcook, or they’ll burn.Pour into a shallow bowl or plate;let cool.

Beat the egg whites and waterwith a fork in a small bowl; setaside.

Divide chilled dough into fourportions. Roll each section into alog about 1-inch thick; cut the loginto 1 1/2-inch sections. Dip eachsection in the egg whites, then rollin the sesame seeds, covering allsides. Place cookies on bakingsheet lined with parchment orfoil. Bake until golden, about 30minutes. (Do not over bake; checkthe bottom of the cookies.) Coolcookies on wire rack. Cookies canbe stored in an airtight containerfor several weeks, and freeze welltoo.

Note: Butter or oil will givethese cookies a softer center; lardwill make them crunchier.

Nutrition information per serv-ing: 139 calories, 7 g fat, 3 g satu-rated fat, 34 mg cholesterol, 16 gcarbohydrates, 3 g protein, 43 mgsodium, 1 g fiber

———

PINE NUT-FIGCOOKIES

Prep: 40 minutes Cook: 12 min-utes per batch Makes: About 30cookies

These cookies could be con-sidered the bridge between Italianand American tastes that pastrychef Emily Luchetti mentions. Tra-ditional Italian ingredients — pinenuts, figs and cornmeal — meldwith an American approach (cour-tesy of the chewy goodness fromgenerous amounts of butter andbrown sugar). This recipe isadapted from Luchetti’s book,“The Fearless Baker.”

1/2 cup pine nuts1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted

butter, melted

1 1/4 cups firmly packed lightbrown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar1 teaspoon vanilla1 large egg plus 1 large egg

yolk2 1/4 cups flour1/4 cup white cornmeal1/2 teaspoon each: baking

soda, kosher salt1/2 cup dried figs, cut into 1/4-

inch piecesHeat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the pine nuts in one layerin a small baking pan; bake untilgolden brown, 10-12 minutes(check after 10 minutes, beingcareful not to over bake). Cool;coarsely chop. Set nuts aside.

Pour melted butter in amedium bowl; add the brownsugar, granulated sugar andvanilla, stirring until well com-bined. Stir in the egg and egg yolk.Add the flour, cornmeal, baking

soda and salt, stirring until com-bined. Stir in the figs and reservedpine nuts.

Place racks in upper and lowerthirds of the oven. Put 2-table-spoon mounds of dough 2 inchesapart on parchment-lined bakingsheets. (A small ice cream scoopcan be useful here.) Bake until thecookies are golden-brown, about12 minutes, rotating pans midwaythrough baking, if you wish. Letcool to room temperature beforeserving.

Nutrition information percookie: 147 calories, 7 g fat, 3 gsaturated fat, 25 mg cholesterol,21 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein,59 mg sodium, 1 g fiber

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40th Anniversary Celebration

Darrel and Marilyn Heimes will celebrate their 40 th wedding anni -

versary on Sunday, November 18, 2012. They were married in Mitchell, SD on November 18, 1972. Their children are Brian (Cody) Heimes of Bismarck, ND; Julie (Matt) Stinson of Box Elder, SD; and Jennifer (Steve) Allen, of Black Hawk, SD. They have 9 grandchildren. Cards may be sent to 3323 Maple Avenue, Rapid City, SD 57701 to congratulate them on 40 wonderful years of marriage.

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SD are proud to announce the engage - ment of their daughter, Alicia Renee Schuch to Jabob Daniel Daum; son of Daniel and Phyllis Daum, Platte, SD.

Alicia Schuch is a 2008 graduate of Dell Rapids High School and a graduate of SDSU with BS in Bio Pre-Med/PA and currently works at Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD.

Daniel Daum is a 2010 graduate of Platte-Geddes High School and attended SDSU and currently works in construc - tion. He will be deployed to Afghanistan in January 2013.

The couple will be wed on November 24, 2013 at Dell Rapids Reformed Church in Dell Rapids, SD.

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Friday, November 16 7:40 am Vermillion Chamber

(Steve Howe) 8:20 am United Way

(Pam Kettering)

Defending Italian Cookies: Che Buono! (So Good!)

BILL HOGAN/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/MCT

Italy offers a colorful and diverse repetoire of cookies, such as pine nutfig cookies, that have yet to be fully seen in the United States.

BILL HOGAN/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/MCT

Italy offers a colorful and diverse repetoire of cookies, such as Sicilian sesame cookies, that have yet to befully seen in the United States.

BILL HOGAN/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/MCT

Italy offers a colorful and diverse repetoire of cookies, such as Siciliansesame cookies, that have yet to be fully seen in the United States.