Montebello’s Homemade Taralli

As an Italian bakery providing service to the Montreal community for over twenty years, definitely calls for some delicious traditions that have been passed on from generation to generation. Our taralli with fennel tops the list of products our Nonna has thought us. What is a Taralli? Think of it as a cross between a cracker and a breadstick. It can be eaten as a side dish or as a quick little snack. It is a very common product throughout Italy, but if you order them in four different regions, you will get four different shapes, sizes and recipes. Some are long, others are oval, some are sweet, others are spicy. For Pâtisserie Montebello, we decided to give them a circular shape; it’s how our Nonna made them back in Naples.

The recipe starts out with our bakers making a fresh dough, after resting they will then cut and shape each taralli. Once they are ready for the oven, they will cook until golden outer shell, perfectly crispy yet still carry a brittle texture on the inside. Every crumbled piece makes you fell as if you were sitting in a little café along the Italian country side.