Ferratelle: the family-made waffle

If you walk into a town home in Abruzzo, sooner or later someone will open a tin and offer you a ferratella. It’s a thin wafer, scented with anise or lemon, slightly crunchy, with a rose or diamond pattern imprinted by the mold. It is eaten plain or filled with cremor (cream), grape jam (Abruzzo mostarda), chocolate, or cooked grape must.

Depending on the area, it goes by different names:

• Ferratelle in the Chieti and Sangro areas
• Pizzelle in the L’Aquila area and in some parts of the Pescara area
• Nevole in the southernmost part of the Vasto area
• Cancellate in the inland Teatina area (due to the grid-like pattern)

The mold, even before the recipe

The ferratella takes its name from the tool used to make it: the “ferro,” two rectangular metal plates joined by a hinge, with long handles. Each of the two inner surfaces is engraved with a design—the classic eight-pointed rosette, or diamonds, or family crests. The mold, heated over a fire (today on a gas stove, once over embers), opens like a book: a spoonful of batter is poured onto one side, it is closed, and cooked for one minute per side.

The iron is a familiar, heirloom object:

• It used to be commissioned from the town blacksmith on the occasion of a wedding. The design often included the couple’s initials.
• It was passed down from mother to daughter. It is one of the most “dowry-worthy” objects in Abruzzo’s material culture.
• Today, you can still find antique ones at flea markets, but many families have a working one at home, a legacy from their grandmother.

“Every ferratella bears the family’s mark. You can tell who it comes from by the design.”

The classic recipe

Very few ingredients, measured by memory. A typical Turin version:

• 3 eggs
• 250 g sugar
• 500 g of 00 flour
• 200 ml extra virgin olive oil (never butter, never vegetable oil)
• Grated lemon zest, or a teaspoon of anise seeds
• Half a packet of baking powder (modern variation; often omitted in the traditional version)

Knead a soft dough, let it rest, and bake in a sizzling hot mold. One at a time. The sound—the “clunk” of the iron closing—is one of the sounds of Abruzzese cuisine.

Occasions

Ferratelle aren’t an everyday treat: they’re a festive dessert. They’re made for:

• Weddings—once upon a time, grandmothers would make them by the trayful for the banquet.
• Communions and confirmations.
• Christmas and Easter—always present alongside fiadoni, cicerchiate, and calzoncelli.
• Patron saint’s day — the Pro Loco distributes hundreds of them in the town square.
• Visits from relatives — a box of ferratelle is the classic gift.

Regional Variations in Torino di Sangro

In the lower Sangro region, the ferratella has some specific characteristics:

• They tend to use more oil and less sugar than the L’Aquila version—resulting in a crumblier, less sweet texture.
• The aroma of anise seeds prevails over lemon (unlike in the Upper Sangro, which is more “lemony”).
• They are often filled with grape jam (cooked grape must and pumpkin) or with scrucchiata (strawberry grape jam).

Where to try them in Torino di Sangro

• The town’s bakeries and pastry shops always have them, starting in the morning.
• Summer festivals and the patron saint’s day celebration distribute them fresh.
• Some farmstays in the hills offer a “ferratelle snack” to overnight guests.