Image
By
Emiko Davies
Abstract
The name of these sweet, buttery biscuits comes from the Venetian word buso, or buca in Italian, meaning hole.
The original bussolai were made simply of bread dough (water, flour, yeast and salt) and shaped into the characteristic ring and baked, after which they could easily last three months if kept well in a biscuit tin – no wonder, then, they were the preferred snack of the mariners and fishermen from Burano.
These beloved, long-lasting bread rings were eaten by all Venetians (they are also known as buranei, or buranelli, referring to their origins on the island of Burano), as they were eventually prepared by the bakeries run by Serenissima apparently as early as the fifteenth century. They took the place of regular fresh bread during meals and were dipped into wine.
But bussolai today are usually in the form of sweet biscuits, rich in egg yolks, buttery and sweet. They can still be found in rings, but also in an S-shape, according to some stories at the request of a restaurateur on Burano, which made them easier to dip into small glasses of sweet wine – these esse-shaped ones have since become more popular.
I have adapted this recipe from the way they are made at Cantina Do Spade, an excellent bàcaro near the Rialto market,Read More
