Che buono!Despite our country’s romancewith all

things Italian, it seems there is a seriousgapwhen it comes to Italy’s colorful anddiverse repertoire of cookies.

Admittedly, it’s not as if French, Peruvi-an or Latvian cookies are flooding themarkets here. But at a timewhen the vastarray of Italian olive oils, breads, pastas,cheeses, etc., continues to be celebrated inhigh-end restaurants andmainstreamsupermarkets alike, the Italian cookieremains an anomaly.

(Anyonewhobakes themknows this.Youhand your precious tray of Italiancookies to the recipient,who looks downat these sturdy treasures and says, eyesdarting hither and yon, “Wow! I’m goingto save these for later!”We all knowwhatlatermeans.) Besides biscotti— the au-thentic ones often criticized for approxi-mating the texture of granite or,worsestill, Americanized into a variety of bizarreflavors and squishy textures— andper-haps the pizzelle, those crispywafers thatrequire a special appliance, the Italiancookie carousel remains familiarmostly toItalian-Americanswho bake (orwhoserelatives do), dedicated Italophiles and

thosewho stock their pantrywith StellaD’oro.

Most Americans, asked to define cuci-dati, will furrow their brows andperhapsblush. (It’s a fig cookie. And, for therecord: koo-chee-DAH-tee.)Ditto for thechubby Italian lemon cookies. Siciliansesame cookies. Cantucci (crunchy al-mond cookies). There aremore.Hundredsmore.

“The range of Italian cookies in Italy arevirtually unknownhere,” agreedFrancineSegan, an Italian-American and author of“Dolci: Italy’s Sweets” (Stewart, Tabori &Chang).Her book exploresmany Italiancookies, including amaretti and savoiardi(aka the ladyfingers you enjoy in tiramisu),and she acknowledged that she onlyskimmed the surface in her beautifulbook. Indeed, the variety she found onhertravels through Italy, she said,was “a realsurprise.”

Part of the problem is that these cook-ies’ flavor profiles are often lost on a cul-ture that reaches for a soft-sweet-sugarblitz.

“Americans generally like chewy cook-ies,” Segan said. “To get a soft, chewy

Dry? Hard? Not sweet enough?In defense of the Italian cookie

(so good!)

BILL HOGAN/TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS PHOTOS; CORRINE KOZLAK/FOOD STYLING

Sicilian sesamecookies, above, areclassic Italiansweets, while thepine nut-fig cookies,left, represent abridge betweenItalian andAmerican tastes.

By Renee Enna | Tribune Newspapers

Please turn to Page 5

NW Wednesday, November 7, 2012 | Section 6

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GOODEATING

CURE ITMaking salumi and othermeats at home isn’t as hard

as you think, authors say. Page 4

STOCKUPHow to build flavor in homemade turkey broth

and rampupThanksgiving. Page 4

BRING ITNeedwine for a gift but you never knowwhat

to choose?Wehave answers. Page 3