History of the Pezzaro Bakery - Cossato

The crispy softness, perfumed heat and smell of a sponge finger, what an unforgettable experience it was to spend a day in Riccardo Pezzaro’s bakery!
Sat comfortably, with a tray of biscuits and the famous “Bottalini”chocolates filled with a creamy wine flavoured filling, you feel an uncontrollable urge to learn more about the history and origin of this family that has milled corn, kneaded bread and baked biscuits in the oven ready for many feast days.

In 1914, Riccardo’s great-grandfather Pezzaro Giacomo, moved from the Adorno Valley to Cossato with his young son Osvaldo and his sister Marietta. The family history and recipe books records that Giacomo had by this time learnt the necessary skills of his profession as a baker and pastry chef and he was followed into his profession by both Osvaldo and Marietta.
The Pfatisch Bakery Turin.

From 1961 to 1963, Riccardo Pezzaro worked with the renowned Gustavo Pfatisch, the honourable baker who prepared lunches for diplomats of the Foreign Embassies in Turin. It was here that he created his famous mint and gentian sweets. He recalls how the crystallised sugar was left to cool on a marble table, and then hand-cut and moulded into oval shapes, this is where these sweets were born. He remembers some of the working practises of the time when accuracy, silence and activity were the secret of the way to work at Pfatisch’s. He also recalls the numerous posters conveniently placed to remind everyone of these rules, such as “Work in Silence”, “By chatting you do not produce”, “Each thing has its place, each place a thing”. Some of these notices now adorn his shop in Cossato.

Riccardo was nearing his eighteenth birthday when he started his career and as if by magic, his hands became the tools of his profession which make these fine delicacies. He returned to the family home in Cossato, a house built in the 1700’s and which to this day is still a home, shop and bakery. He brought with him the many recipes he created such as the “Savarin” a sponge cake made with a soft gianduia cream and the chocolate mousse or meringue.

If you close your eyes just for a moment you can taste the flavour and the perfume of red alchermes, in which the sponge has been soaked. This cake is still a family cake, produced to the original recipe.

In addition to the Pezzaro family’s traditional recipes such as the Canestrelli Biellesi Torcettoni, Bicciolani, Ossa Croccanti and Baci, you can also find new specialities. There is just one thing still to be done, to try the thousands of delicacies that the Pezzaro family has been creating for us for a long time!