Traditional savoury baked pies

Savoury pies: history and curiosities

The history of savory pies is truly curious: their origins have to do with man's ability to recycle food, especially in times of poverty, creating new dishes with ingenuity.

It was especially during the Middle Ages that rustic cakes began to appear in the sumptuous banquets of wealthy lords, merchants and bourgeoisie when they festively decorated their tables. At the time, however, the filling was the only part of the savory pie eaten, but also the least important. Yes, because the rich wanted the salty pie dough to create large dough sculptures to amaze diners.

From the Risorgimento recipe books, it is therefore clear that the satisfaction of the guests was linked more to the sight than to the palate: the meat was hard and there were no suitable preservation tools. The advent of molds, first in ceramic and then in steel, made it possible to roll sheets that were ever thinner and, consequently, tastier.

It was especially starting from the thirteenth century that bread began to be filled with all sorts of ingredients, meat, fish, vegetables, herbs, eggs, cheeses, depending on the season and the market offer, the possibilities and tastes of each one, local traditions and customs. This is how the so-called rustic or savory pies were born.

We often talk about these cakes when dealing with the topic of Italian cuisine and its regional or even more local variations. It is above all the cities in our country that develop gastronomic culture by ensuring the resources of the territory and reworking its recipes to the present day.

Bartolomeo Scappi, the great Italian cook of the Renaissance, left in his recipe book, published in 1570, a vast collection, almost an anthology of local recipes. For the cakes, he proposed the four models from the cities of Milan, Bologna, Genoa and Naples. Every recipe is' real 'and' authentic 'in its own way, and it wouldn't make sense to wonder which one is the best. It's worth trying them all, you decide which

Savoury pies, which are the most famous

Rustic pies can be prepared in a thousand ways with vegetables, with cold cuts with cheeses, with puff pastry, with shortcrust pastry, they can be enjoyed both hot and cold.
They can garnish a buffet for a reception or a party or simply become an appetizer or, if very elaborate, a second course or single dish.

They are often very easy and quick to do. From the French quiche Lorraine, to the Neapolitan casatiello, to the fiatone and the rustic Molisan casatelli or the Easter cake, without forgetting the rustic Abruzzo pizza.
As you can see, each region has its own typical local dish.
In Sicily, the so-called Sicilian scacciata is prepared, filled with broccoli or cauliflower. Another typical feature that comes from Sardinia are panadas made with violated pasta. Many of these cakes are typical of the Easter period, such as, for example, just look at the name, the Easter cheese cake, a typical Umbrian recipe