From the legend of the Poor Clare nuns to the lovestruck pastry chef: history and curiosities about the Sospiri di Bisceglie

There is one sweet that is never missing from the Sunday pastry trays of Apulians: the sospiro. A symbol of the city of Bisceglie, it has been a Slow Food Presidium since 2014. This sugary delight is most famous for its shape, which recalls a woman’s breast, not to be confused with the tette delle monache (“nuns’ breasts”), another icon of Apulian pastry-making, distinguished in particular by the absence of one element in its preparation: the glaze on top.

History of the sospiro di Bisceglie

As with every true tradition, the origins of the sospiri are wrapped in stories handed down orally. It is said that, in the 15th century, on the occasion of the marriage between Lucrezia Borgia and Alfonso of Aragon, the Poor Clare nuns prepared these somewhat ambiguous-shaped sweets for the wedding celebrations. However, that marriage never took place. The guests, waiting for the happy event to be fulfilled, gave way to sighs of boredom and impatience and ended up enjoying the nuns’ pastries. Hence the name sospiri (“sighs”), which remained in history. Other incurable romantics, however, prefer to believe in the legend of the lovestruck pastry chef who created this sweet as a tribute to the breasts of his beloved.

Photo Facebook: Puglia Forever

How the sospiro di Bisceglie is made

It is an extremely soft and very light pastry, even in weight. It is prepared with a few ingredients and with a special process. The star of the dough is the sponge cake, made with eggs that are beaten until stiff, but with yolks and whites separated, to be combined only after both have been whipped and incorporated enough air. The yolks are worked with sugar and flour, the whites with the addition of lemon juice to give fragrance to the sweet.

Once the final dough has been obtained, a piping bag is used to create the characteristic shape reminiscent of a woman’s breast. After baking, and once cooled, the sospiri are filled with vanilla-flavoured custard and finished with a flood of giulebbe, as the people of Bisceglie call the glaze. The white giulebbe is made with sugar, water, egg white, and lemon. The sospiro is covered. It is cooled. It can be enjoyed.

Cover photo: sospirodibisceglie.it