The Rolling Pin of Campo di Giove: Abruzzo tradition artisans

The Mattarello of Campo di Giove in Abruzzo is one of those realities that honors the gastronomic tradition of our country. A small gem of goodness that keeps alive the tradition and ancestral gestures handed down from mother to daughter. A Italian heritage that distinguishes us and strengthens the added value of our typical Italian products. Typicality is a human value before it is an economic value. It is the sweet story of the grandmother to her granddaughter, the gesture of hand in hand to round out a dough. The value of selecting raw materials, the recognition of quality that comes from experience. These are all elements that are part of an intangible good that, in a generic way, we call tradition. But it is everything on which the roots of a people's culture and the communities that inhabit our small ancient villages, the hamlets, the streets, and the small homes built of stone are founded. 

Maria and Barbara are sisters, and their knowledge comes directly from their grandmothers. The small bakery and pastry shop located in Campo di Giove, in the province of L’Aquila, at the foot of the Majella, represents a gem of pleasantness and goodness nestled within the Natural Park. A space that continues to gift intoxicating aromas that waft along Via San Matteo, leading to the historic center of the small stone village. In this small artisan workshop, gestures and processing techniques have been preserved from times immemorial. Egg pasta that still today retains the characteristics of the past and the dough recipes handed down through generations. 

Spaghetti & Mandolino has chosen this small gastronomic gem from Abruzzo precisely for all these values that perfectly integrate into what we more generically call the enhancement of Italian authenticity and typicality. The production of their sweets does not involve any artifice of novelties dictated by modern culinary evolution. Their products have the same shape, the same aromas, and the same variation as in times past. This is the strength of Il Mattarello. 

The Biscottone Abruzzese and the Dolce del Vescovo are examples of this. The ingredients are sourced from what the territory offers, and the suppliers have been the same for generations. Some of them are organic, not just because they have the European leaf printed on them, but because here the pure air of the Majella and the ancestral production techniques of flours, jams, and eggs thrive on the cleanliness and purity of a context that does not involve the use of substances that spoil the environment in which we live.

The added biological value here can be summed up in one word: love. Attachment to the values of the land. Respect for the environment for its healthiness and that of the people who live there. Passion and love for goodness. These are all ingredients that are irreplaceable and come from the heart of Maria and Barbara, from their simplicity and genuine authenticity. The handmade packaging is another one of those gestures that should now be considered unique and essential for recognizing quality. 

Today, there is much talk about packaging, but do you remember the cookies that grandma would gift us, wrapped in a small napkin tied with a colored ribbon? Can certain emotions and simple gestures that offered the loving added value of a gift ever be forgotten? In a package of fagottini from Mattarello, you will have that sensation of being handmade. 

All packaged just for you: craftsmanship in its purest form. All of this is about experiencing a leap through generations. Open the package and be enveloped by the aroma of goodness, let yourself be captivated by the freshness of a product and its irregularity that represents its true uniqueness and rarity. 

Il Mattarello is part of the Italian heritage of good cooking. A pastry shop that appeals to those who love truth and history. To avoid all dying of homogenization, of TV sweetman acrobats and unconditional modernism that, unfortunately, is taking too much space away from the essence of things.

Bernardo Pasquali

S&M