Concetta’s Sicilian cookies
Just as her grandmother and mother did, Concetta Pilato bakes cookies for Christmas in her Boca Raton kitchen. She’s been cooking forever – “I’ve made my own pasta since I could stand up,” she says. “My four grandparents came from the same town in Italy.” Concetta’s body of culinary work – pizzelle, spritz, biscotti regina, to name a few – links indelibly to those Italian roots.
For pizzelle, thin cookies baked in a special pan that imprints a lacy pattern on both sides, she sets up three pizzelle irons at the same time. Instead of traditional anise flavoring for the batter, she prefers fior di Sicilia, an extract made with vanilla, citrus and floral flavors. She uses an ice-cream scoop to load uniform amounts of batter on the iron. They bake in a couple of minutes, then go on a rack to cool before being packed up. Each cookie Concetta makes requires different levels of handwork. Spritz cookies are sprinkled with pistachio nuts and spattered artfully with melted chocolate. Traditional biscotti regina are rolled in sesame seeds.
Concetta gives away all her cookies to friends. She is generous, too, sharing knowledge of food and gardening in her backyard. “I’m already an influencer!” she says. “Young friends want to learn from me. Find someone who knows how to do something,” she advises. “Find older people in your world.”
