Taralli

{{Short description|Italian snack food}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Italics title}} {{Infobox food | name = ''Taralli'' | image = Tarallini2.JPG | image_size = | caption = {{lang|it|Tarallini}} | alternate_name = | country = Italy | region = Southern Italy | creator = | course = | type = Cracker | served = | main_ingredient = Wheat flour, yeast, water, olive oil, fennel seeds, black pepper | variations = {{lang|it|Tarallini}} }}

thumb|{{lang|it|Tarallini}} '''{{lang|it|Taralli}}''' ({{singular}}: {{lang|it|tarallo}}) are toroidal Italian snack foods, common in southern Italy.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barbieri |first1=S |title=Sensory and instrumental study of Taralli, a typical Italian bakery product |journal=European Food Research & Technology |year=2018 |volume=244 |issue=1 |pages=73–82 |doi=10.1007/s00217-017-2937-8|s2cid=103476996 }}</ref> Wheat-based crackers similar in texture to breadsticks,<ref name="nyt1">{{cite news |last1=Moskin |first1=Julia |title=Italy's answer to potato chips? Taralli, of course |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/15/dining/crackers-taralli-recipe-a16.html |access-date=12 June 2022 |work=New York Times |date=June 10, 2016}}</ref> {{lang|it|taralli}} can be sweet or savory.<ref name="sunday">{{cite news |last1=McGrath |first1=Gwen |last2=Doherty |first2=Ken |title=Tasty staples from Naples |work=Sunday Times |date=February 7, 2021}}</ref>

{{lang|it|Taralli}} are classically formed into rings or ovals about {{convert|10|to|12.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} in circumference. Smaller {{lang|it|taralli}}, called '''{{lang|it|tarallini}}''', with a circumference of {{convert|3.8|to|7.8|cm|in|abbr=on}}, are sold commercially.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}} Their dough may be shortened with olive oil or lard. More common historically were {{lang|it|taralli}} made with lard, which produces a flakier product.<ref name=":0" /> According to Canadian author Malcolm Gladwell in his book ''Outliers'', "Sweets such as biscotti and {{lang|it|taralli}} used to be reserved for Christmas and Easter; in Roseto they were eaten year-round."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gladwell |first=Malcolm |url=https://archive.org/details/outliersstoryofs00glad |title=Outliers: The Story of Success |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=2008 |isbn=9780316017923 |edition=First |location=New York |pages=8 |oclc=225870354 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Before World War II, the coastal Mergellina region of Naples had a strong culture of {{lang|it|taralli}} consumption. Among the city's poor, sitting at a table by the beach was a way to have relief from their cramped living conditions, and there, they ate {{lang|it|taralli}} with almonds throughout that food writer Arthur Schwartz describes as "supposedly" made by the wives of fishermen. These were always paired with one of three drinks: beer, wine, or the sulfuric water drawn from a fountain in nearby Borgo Santa Lucia.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Schwartz |first=Arthur |title=Naples at Table: Cooking in Campania |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1998 |isbn=0-06-018261-X |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/naplesattablecoo0000schw/page/88/ 88–89]}}</ref>

After World War II, the area underwent urban renewal. By the 1990s, {{lang|it|taralli}} were sold by vendors from carts, alongside chips and other snacks, and Neapolitans complained that the culture had ended. Elsewhere, {{lang|it|taralli}} were sold at specialty bakeries, in flavors such as fennel and sun-dried tomato. They were particularly popular in the {{lang|it|comune}} of Caserta.<ref name=":0" />

==See also== {{Portal|Italy|Food}} * Pretzel

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Tarallini}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080924170501/http://italianfood.about.com/od/breadspizza/r/blr0207.htm Taralli - Italian Food at about.com]

Category:Italian breads Category:Sweet breads Category:Crackers (food)