What is the Sfratto dei Goym?

The Sfratto dei Goym It is a traditional Jewish pastry from Pitigliano, in Maremma: a roll of dough, usually about 20 to 30 cmlong, filled with walnuts, honey and spices. "Sfratto" means "eviction" in Italian; "goym" refers to non-Jews. Its name and shape recall a painful episode in local history: in the early 17th century, Jewish families were forced to leave their homes to move into the ghetto, and tradition tells that the messengers knocked on doors with a stick.

The dough is rather firm, while the filling is dense and very sweet; it is often served cut into thin slices. Depending on the recipe, you may also find orange zest, nutmeg or anise in it. Its exact origin is difficult to date: it is better to see the story of the stick as a memory passed down through tradition than to claim to know precisely when the recipe was born. Today, you can look for it in the bakeries and local product shops of Pitigliano. It is a specialty tied to the Jewish history of the village, not simply a walnut cookie to taste without knowing its meaning.