The Poor Clare Monastery of Sezze has always played an important role for all the people of Sezze. Since 1300, the Poor Clares, through historical ups and downs, have lived the life of the community itself.
The Poor Clares of Sezze
This shows how cloistered life can be compatible with the outside world. The nuns, while living between work and prayer, withdrew from IT world;, however, have a role in the world itself. Everything revolves around her, "Clare of Assisi"; whose beauty is fabled, which she herself wanted to mortify, giving herself entirely to God. It's not hard to believe. Incredibly, in Assisi, in a shrine, her hair, which she wanted to cut, is still perfectly preserved.
I am a blonde that tends towards tawny, beautiful and they seem just fallen under the blow of a pair of scissors. No one would guess that so many centuries had passed. She wanted to make herself penitent by cutting her hair; as men did at the time. Clare, of high lineage, was expected to marry well, but she chose to wear the ruffled robe, which was the most humble of garments. Thus she founded the Poor Clares, following with revolutionary initiatives, like other young people of Assisi.
Almond pastes
In Sezze, the "light of Chiara," canonized in the cathedral of Anagni, not far from our region, lives on thanks to its devoted Poor Clares. And so, through the ebb and flow of history, with life flowing through the ancient alleys, we arrive at the 600th century, when a Poor Clare wanted to dedicate a cake to Chiara. We know well that the nuns, surrounded by so many poor people, have always been custodians of often secret recipes, which they rarely revealed.
Experts in blending highly prized ingredients, once the preserve of a select few. Famous are the nuns who invented the Arpino eggs, or the Sicilian nuns who once prepared unique and somewhat mysterious desserts. Then, in Sezze, a nun decided to use egg whites, perhaps for similarity. Another favored and very expensive ingredient was almonds.
Sour cherry paste and the Poor Clares of Sezze
So, on a wafer, which the nuns have always made for Mass, with egg white, almonds, and lemon, when sugar wasn't available, or was just beginning to be used as a sweetener. This is roughly how almond paste was born, as a devotion, somewhere between the sacred and the gift, between devotion and the sweetest, most mystical homage. After all, the egg has always been "the whole," a symbol of life and wealth, and in much of Lazio, the white part is called "chiara," as we used to say, like the Saint of Assisi.
Today, the Sezze almond paste sThey are a traditional dessert that the local population is deeply attached to. What's not insignificant is that the almond paste is tightly bound with the sour cherry paste, which is based on egg yolk. In the old days, nothing was wasted in the kitchen, so part of it went into one dessert and part into another.
Order of the Poor Clares
These sweets, however, are still a must-have at special festivals, not just local ones. Yet almond pastries, created in honor of the Saint of Assisi, are round in shape, made with simple ingredients—egg whites, now also sugar, almonds, and flavored with lemon peel—and are truly special. When the almond trees blossom, among the first trees, heralding spring, one cannot help but think of that magical scent. The faith of that host, which represents the Santa, as if crowned with that whiteness, like a wedding dress that becomes almost white, represents not simply a pleasure for the palate. It is a pleasure for the sight, it is a promise, and it conceals an intimate prayer.
