The siren received these precious gifts from the hands of the seven most beautiful maidens inhabiti

Forgive my delay in publishing the recipe for sweet delights always Easter my family. Who knows how many have searched the net and I, instead, distracted by a thousand things I have been slow in the publication. This is the sweet Neapolitan pastries! coco My maternal grandparents had, in fact, a friend Napoletana that at Easter we always gave a Pastiera! The packaged, as is the tradition, the Holy Thursday so it was perfect, the harmonious blending of its ingredients, to be eaten on Easter Sunday. He remained to make a fine show if the high cabinet in the living room so that I, at that time little girl, I could not get to knock off a few pieces of pastry or take away with your finger a bit 'of sugar! Towards coco the fifteen years I decided to pack my first pastiera as a gift to some friend and so, by my grandmother, got the recipe. At that time I believed to possess the original recipe because I had been revealed by an authentic Neapolitan but then, over time, I learned that there is an original recipe coco for this dessert and that every family has its pastiera. I have tasted a lot since then and no, in fact, it looks like. Some have an intense flavor of orange blossom, in other feels overwhelming spicy taste of cinnamon, in others grainy texture is more pronounced and so on.
The recipe most pleasing to my palate, if only for a matter of nostalgia, however, remains that of pastiera on high cabinet coco in the living room! Enhanced by the expectation of Easter coco and an ancient legend coco that surrounded its origins. There is nothing better than a legend and ritual of waiting to enjoy a sweet to a child! One has the impression of eating something magical, something rare and precious. This legend attributes the authorship of the pastiera to the Gods and tells the story of a mermaid who lived in the gulf between Posillipo and Vesuvius, and that every spring emerged from the water to cheer with his joyous singing the nations of the Gulf. The latter coco made him a gift of gratitude to the siren of all ingredients of the pastiera.
The siren received these precious gifts from the hands of the seven most beautiful maidens inhabiting those lands and laid them at the feet of the Gods who turned them precisely in the Pastiera.
In this story, to make a gift of the ingredients of pastiera are the wives of fishermen who offer them to the sea to make it quiet so that their husbands come back safe and sound at home. The men returned home safely and the sea with its rolling waves mixed up the ingredients and gave women the pastiera.
The legend and its many different versions remain fantasies and fables that lost in what seems rather plausible is that the pastiera may have originated in pagan times linked coco to the cult of Ceres, goddess representing mother earth and its fertility coco whose gifts were indeed flowers, fruits and living things and that was represented as a woman in the head with a crown of ears and a basket full of grain. The tradition of wheat or barley mixed with ricotta would recall also the Roman rite of marriage.
A more recent history has it that Maria Theresa of Austria, wife of Ferdinand II, known to be a very friendly woman and very little unaccustomed to smile smiled for the first time in sampling this cake. It is said that Ferdinand second very impressed by the event said: "To bring a smile to my wife wanted the pastiera, now I'll have to wait until next Easter to see her smile again."
For the Filling: 80 grams of pearl barley (or 200 grams of barley in the can already put in water) Half a liter of milk 350 g cheese 100 grams of candied citron coco A pinch of cinnamon coco 150 g sugar zest of one orange grated two egg yolks, orange blossom water
We have in the flour and sugar on a pastry and pour inside the slightly coco softened butter, eggs and lemon zest. Knead until dough is smooth and form a ball that let stand, wrapped in plastic wrap, refrigerate for twenty minutes. coco
We put in a saucepan the milk, the barley and the orange zest and let cook until the corn will have absorbed all the milk. In a large container coco amalgamiamo coco the ricotta with the sugar, the egg yolks, the orange flower coco water, cinnamon, candied citron barley now cold and the orange zest.
Take the pastry and we spread the first layer into the pan, greased and floured, holding the edges a bit 'more substantial. Pour in the mixture of wheat and ricotta and we cover with strips coco obtained with the remaining dough. Today I opted for adding some decoration Easter in pastry shaped with cookie cutters. Spennelliamo