Torta co' Bischeri

The torta co' bischeri comes from Pontasserchio, a village of San Giuliano Terme in the Valdiserchio just north of Pisa, and from neighbouring Vecchiano. It was made to feed the crowds of pilgrims who gathered each 28 April for the feast of the SS. Crocifisso del Miracolo, the Most Holy Crucifix of the Miracle, honouring a miracle held to date from the thirteenth century; from there it spread through Pisa and the countryside north of the Arno. Its name comes from the bischeri, the little pointed pegs of pastry pinched up around the rim, named for the tuning pegs of a lute or violin. In April 2007 its producers registered a trademark and a written set of production rules, and it is now listed among Italy's traditional regional food products.

Under a crisp, sweet shortcrust the filling is dense and dark, almost fudgy, bound by rice that has all but dissolved into it. Bittersweet chocolate leads, deepened by nutmeg and the warmth of liqueur, with pine nuts and raisins for texture and pockets of chewy candied peel. It is a substantial, satisfying slice, the sandy pastry a clean foil to the soft, heavy centre.

The filling sets through starch and egg. The rice is first simmered in milk until soft, so its starch granules swell and gelatinise, absorbing the liquid; as the tart bakes and then cools, this starch retrogrades and stiffens, thickening the filling into a sliceable mass. Beaten eggs reinforce the set, their proteins coagulating in the oven to bind everything to a custard-like density. Melting the chocolate into the warm rice disperses its cocoa solids and fat evenly through the mixture. The shortcrust stays crisp because its high proportion of butter coats the flour and limits gluten, and because the dense filling shields it from soaking through. The exposed pastry pegs and any sugar on top brown by Maillard reaction and caramelisation, while the folded rim both seals the filling and gives the tart its name.