AICW Conference, Viterbo

24 Wednesday Jun 2026

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Italocanadesi, Libri, Travel

Tags

AICW, Association of Italian Canadian Writers, Italian Canadian Literature, Lazio, Via Francigena, Viterbo

A few weeks ago, I attended the 20^th Biennial Association of Italian-Canadian Writers (AICW) Conference. More than 80 speakers and participants from across Canada, Italy the US and beyond gathered at l’Università degli Studi della Tuscia in Viterbo, Italy to share their work. The theme was Common Ground, Distant Shores: Prospettive Interdisciplinari tra Italia e Canada (Interdisciplinary perspectives between Italy and Canada).

Attendees included established writers, celebrated novelists and academics, as well as emerging writers and first-time conference participants, ranging in age from early 20’s to mid 80’s. The voices of first, second, third and even fourth generation Italian-Canadians were heard. Friends, family members and students from the university were also in attendance.

Palazzo dei Papi, Viterbo

The stunning backdrop of Viterbo, one of the most well-preserved medieval walled cities in Italy, added that extra bit of magic to the conference, transporting us back a few centuries and sparking new creative energy.

Viterbo is what i would call medievalissimo! My trek to the university took me along the city walls, through arches and narrow cobblestone streets, and up stone staircases and past a piazza with a fountain. Along the way, I would spot several cats sunbathing on ancient stones. Viterbo, known as ‘la citta’ dei papi’, the city of popes, is located in central Lazio, 81 km northwest of Rome. The Via Francigena, an ancient pilgrim route from Canterbury, England to Rome passes through it.On the morning of May 27 pre-conference activities included a poetry-writing workshop led by Silvia Falsaperla and a prose-writing workshop by Licia Canton. In the afternoon, Università della Tuscia art history professor Fulvio Ricci led a walking history lesson and tour of the medieval center of Viterbo. It seemed as if every time we turned a corner, there was a piazza with a large fountain that we wanted to go back and hang out in-which we did!

Piazza del Gesu’- Photo Licia Canton

On the following 2 days, conference presentations -in English and Italian- included academic papers, readings of poetry, prose, essays and memoirs. Also featured were three roundtable discussions, including the role of Italian cultural social clubs in Canada, the writer/translator relationship and teaching Italian as a second language.

Presentations addressed the general themes of the Italian Diaspora, including migration and return, memory, identity, displacement, loss, family, food and tradition. Also addressed were the topics of immigrant women and their works, biography and life writing, Italian-Canadian queer identities, self-translation, teaching Italian beyond the classroom, and as a second language, media in Italian culture and Italian cultural narratives across media-literature, journalism and visual culture. Each day had three parallel sessions running, requiring careful scheduling choices. I wanted to attend everything, but it was not possible.

‘Tastes of home: Food, memory and identity’. Photo-Eloise Carbone

What was my contribution? I read ‘In vino there are memories’ from ‘A Literary Harvest-Canadian Writing about Wine and other Libations’ and took part in a group presentation introducing the first of a 3 volume bilingual anthology published in Italy ‘La Letteratura Italo canadese: una storia che continua’ with Anna Romano Milne, Maria Giuseppina (Giusy) Cesari, Darlene Madott and Genni Gunn. I read from ‘A Nzalat d’Purtuall’, a revised, updated version of this post.

Photo Eloise Carbone

In his opening remarks, Simone Cassini professor at Università della Tuscia spoke on the contacts, cultural interests and studies that brought the university and the AICW together for this conference. The keynote address, given by Monica Barni of Università La Sapienza, Roma and Massimo Vedovelli of Università per Stranieri in Siena was titled ‘Research on Italian around the world: methodologies, data, interpretations, and interventions, and the potential role of AI’. It focused on Italian immigration around the world, particularly Italian immigration to Canada after World War II (1966-1971).

The closing keynote address ‘Radici Ciociara… A Life in Three Languages’ was given by long-time AICW member Gianna Patriarca on the topic of identity and cultural roots. Regarding radici, Gianna spoke about the roots of her identity and stated that roots are what make trees grow- without them, the tree does not survive. She read a selection of her poems in English, Italian and dialetto Ciociaro. Gianna, who recently published her lucky thirteenth book, lives in Toronto, but her roots are in the town of Ceprano in the Ciociara region of Lazio.

Keynote address. Photo Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli

A formal group dinner at a local ristorante followed, giving everyone a final opportunity to gather, talk to new and old friends, and share ideas. May 30^th was reserved for an optional excursion by bus to Villa Farnese in Gradoli on Lago di Bolsena, and a delicious long, leisurely meal at the agriturismo Azienda Agricola Vazianello in Caprarola.

The quality of the literary work presented at this conference demonstrates that Italian-Canadian writers have a lot to say, carry a strong sense of cultural identity, and those radici that Gianna Patriarca spoke about in her presentation are strong and thriving.

Thanks go to the planning committee:Salvatore Bancheri (University of Toronto), Simone Cassini and Francesca De Caprio (Università della Tuscia), Christine Sansalone (Laurentian University), Maria Pia Spadafora (AICW) and student volunteers Matteo, Anastasia, Luca, Cristina, Ludovica, Antonella,Virgilio and Luca from Università della Tuscia.

The next AICW biennial conference in 2028 will be held somewhere in Canada. Stay tuned for the location and more information by visiting the AICW website. Alla prossima!

Read my article about the conference -a shorter version of this post, with different photos-in Accenti Magazine.

Panforte di Siena

12 Saturday Dec 2020

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Feste, Mangiamo!, Recipes

≈ 26 Comments

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Cucina Toscana, Dolci, Dolci di Natale, Gastronomic history, Italian Christmas, Natale, Panforte Margherita, Panpepato, Siena, Via Francigena

Panforte is un dolce Natalizie- a seasonal treat from Siena, although it is sold all year round. A chewy, sweet cake, panforte leaves a wonderful aftertaste of candied citrus, almonds and a bold hit of spices.

Panforte dates back to the introduction of exotic spices from the East, via the port of Pisa. The earliest known record is from the 13th Century. Documents in the State Archive of Siena state that a bread rich with pepper, spices and honey was paid as a tax to the monastery of Monte Celso on the seventh of February, 1205.

Panforte was originally made with flour, water, honey and spices, mixed with chunks of fresh autumn fruits such as grapes, figs and plums. The water content of the fruit kept the bread moist and after a few days, fermentation gave it an acidy flavour. This is where the name panes fortis, or ‘strong bread’ comes from. It was also known as panpepato because of the abundance of pepper and other spices and the dusting of black pepper on top.

Panpepato/panforte was made by speziali, spice sellers who could be considered medieval pharmacists. It was valued not only as a food but also as a medicinal remedy because of the spices it contained.

Siena was on the Via Francigena, the ancient pilgrimage route running through France to Roma, then to Puglia where the ports of Bari, Brindisi and Otranto were transit points for the Holy Land. This made Panforte known outside of Tuscany. A sweet cake with energy and sustenance, Crusaders carried it on their travels…like medieval energy bars! In 1515, a nun named Suor Berta changed the fruit to canditi-honeyed or candied fruit. The canditi were usually citrus fruits (orange, lemon and cedro/citron) and dark melon or pumpkin.

Canditi, nuts and especially spices were $$$ costosissimi-making Panforte an extremely expensive item. Only the wealthy could afford the extravagance. It was also given to the clergy as a gift on special occasions such as Christmas or local feast days. Panforte confezionato

The recipe remained the same for centuries, almonds, flour, honey, canditi and spices, dusted with black pepper and held together at the bottom with foglie di ostie-a sheet of unconsecrated communion host! That was until 1879, when Regina Margherita di Savoia– of pizza Margherita fame-visited Siena. In her honour, a local speziero made a more delicate ‘white’ version of panforte, without the black candied melon and covered with a dusting of vanilla icing sugar instead of black pepper. It was called Panforte Margherita and is the version most often sold today. In 2014, Panforte di Siena received the PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) European Union designation of quality label. Panforte di Siena with holly and greenery

In Siena it is thought that Panforte should contain 17 different ingredients. This is because 17 is the number of Contrade or districts in Siena. Representatives from the Contrade take part in the Palio di Siena horserace every July 2 and August 16.

A thin wedge of panforte makes a delicious treat with caffè or liqueur after a meal. Panforte makes a beautiful edible gift-but only for very special people! I made mine small, wrapped them in parchment paper then in Florentine paper and sealed the bottom with a large gold sticker. Homemade panforte di Siena

I use white pepper, as the flavour is more delicate, while still providing heat. It is hard to find good canditi, so I made my own with organic orange and lemon peels using Domenica’s recipe. canditi

My homemade canditi ran out after 2 batches, then I substituted chopped dried Kalamata and Mission figs and sour cherries. The zest of an orange added a bit of citrus flavour. For the ostie, I used something called ‘edible wafer paper’ made with potato starch. Edible rice paper is also available at specialty food stores.

Panforte di Siena

Ingredients:

125g (1 cup) hazelnuts

200g (1½ cups) blanched almonds

175g (1½ cups) icing sugar, sifted

200g (⅔ cup) good quality honey

30ml (2 tbsp) water

300g candied fruit peel (orange, lemon, citron) and/or dried fruit

Grated orange or lemon zest

5g (1 tsp) ground cinnamon

2g (¼ tsp) ground ginger

2g (¼ tsp) ground cloves

2g (¼ tsp) ground star anise

3g (½ tsp) ground coriander

2g (¼ tsp) ground nutmeg

2g (¼ tsp) ground white pepper

175g (1½ cup) flour, sifted

Ostie-unconsecrated communion wafer /wafer paper/rice paper

Icing sugar to coat

Instructions:

Using a heavy saucepan and a low flame, set the icing sugar, honey and water to boil. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon, being careful to keep the syrup from sticking. This will take a while, so in the meantime, do steps 2 and 3.
Use tart pan(s) with removable bottoms. Line with the ostie/wafer paper. If needed, grease and dust the sides with cocoa powder.
Toast the nuts lightly for 6-10 min in a 200°C (400ºF) oven.
Coarsely chop the nuts with a knife, or leave whole. Dice the candied fruit and mix with the spices and nuts, then add in the sifted flour.
When the syrup in step 1 reaches at least 100°C (200°F ), remove pot from heat and stir into the nut mixture. If you do not have a candy thermometer, use a toothpick to pick up a bit of syrup and pass it under cold water. If it becomes solid, it is ready.
Working quickly, using wet hands and 2 tablespoons, divide the batter into the tart pan(s), smoothing the top with damp fingers or the back of a wet spoon. It can also be pressed down with the bottom of a glass.
Bake in a 150° C (300°F) oven for 35-40 minutes. Do not let the panforte brown, or it will be too hard.
Remove the panforte from the pans and let it cool completely on a rack. Dust with icing sugar on all sides. and serve cut into thin wedges.
Panforte keeps well for a month if wrapped in parchment paper or in an airtight container and stored in a cool, dark place. Do not store in the fridge.
This recipe makes one 22cm (9½ inch) panforte in a springform pan or six-seven 10cm (4 inch) panforte in tart pans. A 25cm (10 inch) round of parchment paper and fancy paper wraps the 10cm size.Doubling the dose is not a great idea since you need to work fast. If you make 2-4 doses in a row like I do, you can prepare everything in advance. I measure all the spices for each dose in a little jar so they are ready to add in, toast the nuts in advance, and have a separate bowl for each dose so I can work quickly. I also have the wafer paper cut in advance and the tart pans ready on a baking sheet.