Looking for a good workable recipe for Italian SAVIATTA cookies-Very popular in almost all the bakeries around 86th St. in Brooklyn. They are about 5-6inches long, WHITE to an ever-so-slightly tan, with a very smooth, almost shiny, but often cracked(crackled?) top surface, about 2inches wide. Top is domed to slightly'puffed', while the bottom is flat- a generally oblong shape. They are light and delicate to the taste with a hint of almond(?) and/or vanilla. They are a soft, but chewy consistency.
While I believe them to be mostly of eggwhite, I have come across a couple of recipes using potato flour.Nothing has come remotely close-and I am long and far away from any bakery that would have them. The very last one that I am hoarding, looks as though this batch has a smoothed LAYER of some variation of a merange on the whole top.-but the ones I remember, looked all as one piece. I have one left if a picture is needed! ANYONE know these??

Is there an alternate to the name?

I've checked all my Italian cookbooks and Italian cooking sites and this recipe is not listed anywhere. It could be an Americanization of an Italian name.

Hi Eros - I know exactly what cookie you're talking about. My grandmother used to come to our house every weekend with a bag full (along with the tri-color cookies)from a bakery in Canarsie. I live in PA now and haven't been able to find anything like them locally. I've searched for Saviatta recipies, even using various other spellings, but haven't had any luck. Suprisingly, of the few people I've run across in newsgroups and other websites asking for recipies, even fewer seem to know of this particular cookie. My grandmother always called them Saviatta, but I wonder if they go under another name.

Good luck with your search.

Jim

EROS:

Why not contact a bakery in Brooklyn and ask them about the biscuit?

Or have you tried that - ?

SAVIATTA OR SAVIARDI NON E` IL NOME GIUSTO IO CREDO CHE SIA:
( SAVOIARDI) UNA REGIONE DI FRANCIA CHE FACEVA PARTE A
L'ITALIA CHE SI CHIAMAVA; SAVOIA, DA DOVE VIENE IL NOME
< SAVOIARDI> UN ITALIANO DA MOTREAL CANADA

SAVIATTA OR SAVIARDI NON E` IL NOME GIUSTO IO CREDO CHE SIA:
( SAVOIARDI) UNA REGIONE DI FRANCIA CHE FACEVA PARTE A
L'ITALIA CHE SI CHIAMAVA; SAVOIA, DA DOVE VIENE IL NOME
< SAVOIARDI> UN ITALIANO DA MONTREAL CANADA`
HAPPY MOTHER DAY

if anyonre wants a translation of clever-dick's little post, I can oblige....

He thinks you have the name wrong, and that it originates from the Savoie Region of France, that once was a principality or domain of Italy... The biscuit he thinks you should be looking for is a Savoiardo.... But I think you already eliminated that in your original post....?

And he's an Italian living in Montreal... and I know it's male, because he's speaking in the masculine, not the feminine.

Molte grazie, anonimo... Sei un grande aiuto...

(I just tole him he wuz a real big help.... <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> )

Alexandra,
Thank you for the assistance.

In my continued research I read that this cookie is similar to Margherite cookies. Others have described them as being similar to the Stella D'Oro breakfast treats.

[color:"red"] Saviordi [/color]
[color:"blue"] I hope this will help you...
I found in the first link a recipe and what the cookies are called there. [/color]
http://www.joyofbaking.com/Ladyfingers.html
Boudoir biscuits, sponge biscuits, sponge fingers, Naples biscuits, Savoy biscuits (Savoiardi)

[color:"blue"] In this link I located a Brooklyn bakery that sell Saviordi Cookies online. [/color]

http://www.monalisabakery.com/detail.aspx?ID=17
Saviordi Cookies

[color:"blue"] Here is another recipe for lady fingers I found on another website. [/color]
Biscuit Cuillere/Lady Fingers


INGREDIENTS AMOUNTS
_______________________________________________________________
Pastry Flour 2 lbs. 10 oz.

Granulated Sugar 2 lbs. 10 oz.

Egg Whites 1 1/4 qts.

Egg Yolks 3/4 qt.
________________________________________________________________

METHOD OF PREPARATION
Beat egg whites and sugar to firm.
Fold in yolks and vanilla.
Sift and fold in flour.

Sift powdered sugar over ladyfingers twice.
Makes 20-25
Bake at 325 for 12-15 minutes
Cool and store in covered containers.

Maybe Saviordi isn't what you wanted after all but you can still try the Mona Lisa bakery in Brooklyn

I don't know how appropriate it is to post this here, but I am British by birth, but half Italian through my Mother's side...I speak Italian and French fluently, and my mother is a cookery teacher, living in Umbria at present....
I'm not saying this to blow my own trumpet, and I apologise if this is the way it comes across...
..But if anyone needs help with translation, recipes or stuff like that, I'd be more than happy to help where I can.... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thanks so much! You really put alot of effort in!
They do seem to look the closest to the ones shown from the bakery. I actually remember that one, but they weren't as good as 'Gentile's'! They really don't look much like the first recipe- and the ones I know as 'Ladyfingers'-often used in Tiramisu-are what I know as Saviordi(Saviardi). I think the "Saviatta" may be a Sicilian derivation??
Thanks for your research!

Thanks for the post. They really aren't anything like the Stella D'Oro breakfast treats. i think they have anything quite like them. But thanks anyway!

Sorry...meant to say DON'T believe they make anything like them.

Thanks for the translation(s). He actually may be right as to origination. There is very slight variation in spelling, but that may be the subtle difference in locating the recipe? Does he know of any?

Thanks for the input. At least we BOTH them by that name...and MY grandmother, great-grandmother, great,great aunt, and all my family as well as those who lived in that area of Brooklyn! (So where's the recipes???!!)

That's great. Thanks for the assistance.

-So isn't there ANYONE out there (from NY/NJ, perhaps?) who KNOWS these cookies and might have a recipe for them-before they drift off into oblivion forever? <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I too have been looking for months for the very same cookie! I just tried a recipe today and it came out like sponge cake (like cassata) and it didnt have the white sheeny top that looks like frosting (when I was a kid I thought it was frosted!) It was dissapointing. I have an uncle down in Florida (where all New Yorkers go to die), and they have authentic Italian bakeries. I may be able to get the recipe through him. We have always called it Savoiardi...the reason you are pronouncing it "saviatta" is because it is probably Napolitana slang...my Dad speaks Napolitan dialect and it sounds like that. For example, they say gannoli for cannoli and galamad for calamari. Please let me know if you find anything and I will do the same.

That's helpful. I'll also be in the Fort Lauderdale and Naples areas of Florida later this month. I'll check in the bakeries I visit.

My grandfather came from Sicily in the late 1900's and owned Roma Pastry shop in Brooklyn. One of my sisters has his recipe book. My mom made Saviatta cookies when we were children. She's 81 now and doesn't remember the recipe. I am researching who in the family does have it. I remember the eggs were separated. I remember we left the raw cookies out of the oven for a long time so the meringue/sugar could dry out before baking, making the crackly white top part. Joe's Sicilian bakery in Bayside Queens still makes the best Saviatta cookies. Hope that helps.

Were you able to find the recipe from your mom Sicilian-Traditions?

Does this sound like the cookies you are looking for?

Savoiardi (Italian Ladyfingers)

5 egg whites
4 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1 dash vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Separate eggs into two separate bowls, making sure not to get ANY yolk into the bowls containing the whites.

2. Beat egg whites on high speed until foamy.

3. Add two tablespoons of the 2/3 cup of sugar to the egg whites and continue to beat until stiff peaks form, and set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, Add vanilla and the rest of the sugar to the egg yolks and beat until pale yellow, set aside.

5. Sift together the flour and baking powder together (I didn't want to dirty another bowl so I sifted onto a piece of waxed paper).

6. Gently fold half of the egg whites into the yolks.

7. Fold the flour mixture into the yolks.

8. Fold the rest of the egg whites into the yolks.

9. Preheat oven to 350�F.

10. Load batter into a pastry bag with a wide tip, or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off.

11. Pipe onto a greased cookie sheet in any shape you'd like (traditionally, they are shaped like fingers, about as wide as your pointer and middle finger put together). Spread beaten egg white over top of cookies and let tray set out to dry the egg white a little. This will give a crackly appearance to the tops.

12. Bake for 6 minutes, or until edges are just golden brown.

Phyllis, In steps 6 and 8 you say to fold in the egg whites. For step 11, where do you get the extra egg whites? This recipe sounds great I'd like to make it as soon as you tell me :)

Hi cnob,

The extra egg white comes from an extra egg that I forgot to add to the ingredients. This egg sits all by itself, upopened, until you are ready to crack it, separate it, beat the white just a little with a fork, and brush it on the cookies.

Hope that helps.

Yes than you. I am excited to try it! I haven't found a good savoiardi cookie since I moved to FL from NJ. Do I put the oven on 350?