FAVE DEI MORTI - ALL SOUL’S DAY

8 Jan

Another Halloween tradition- this time from Italy- is ‘fave dei morti’, or ‘beans of the dead’!

In the medieval period, mendicants went from house to house in the name of the dead receiving boiled beans and chickpeas. Beans were also cooked and consumed in the house, where it was thought the dead came to visit at this time of year.[1] Beans have long been associated with the dead – in ancient Rome it was thought that the souls of the dead lived in black broad beans, and they were used in funeral rites. [2]

Today, in some parts of central Italy, fave dei morti are still consumed on All Soul’s Day/ ‘Day of the Dead’ (2 November), but the beans have been replaced by tastier bean-shaped biscuits, made from flour eggs , sugar, and almonds.

Here’s a recipe:

Ingredients (40 mini biscuits)[3]

Blanched almonds 300g
Icing sugar 150g
Pine nuts 50g
Flour 150g
Lemon peel 1
Grappa 15ml
Cinnamon powered 5g
Egg 1
Egg yolk 2

Method

Blend the almonds into a powder
Blend the pine nuts into a powder
In a bowl, beat the egg, the 2 yolks, and the grappa together
On a clean surface, sieve the flour into a pile
To the flour add the almond and pine nut powders, the sugar, and the cinnamon
Grate the lemon peel (finely) into the mixture
Mix it all together
Make a little hole in the centre of the pile and add the egg mixture
Start kneading the mixture until it becomes uniform and mouldable
Role into little circles and place on a lined baking tray
Bake for 15/20 minutes

[1] Eraldo Baldini, La sacra tavola: il cibo e il convivio nella cultura popolare romagnola: simbolismi, riti e tradizioni (2003, Bologna), pp. 213 -4.

[2] https://anamericaninrome.com/wp/2016/10/fave-dei-morti-italian-cookies-for-the-day-of-the-dead/

[3] The original recipe in Italian is here: https://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Fave-dei-morti.html

Published 2/11/18