Biscotti Di Vecchio

09. December 2008 Ingredient + Produce Features 0

Here’s a stocking stuffer for your discerning friends: Biscotti Di Vecchio. These traditional twice-baked Tuscan cookies get a twist from Danielle Di Vecchio, who works the dough by hand using her grandmother’s original recipe.

From the savory, at $7.95 per dozen:

The sun-dried tomato with basil and cheddar cheese was awesome with a glass of Malbec because of its saltiness. It was flakier and more floury because of the cheese. It smelled good, too, even though the basil taste was barely there.

It was hard for me to tell the difference between the black pepper Asiago Parmesan from the rosemary and thyme walnut because I was eating them one after the other, but the black pepper was definitely present when I ate it separately. It remained my favorite savory flavor after everything else.

For the sweets, at $16.95 per dozen:

The cranberry in the cranberry orange zest added a good chewiness to the biscotti’s texture, but it was the zest that lingered and made an impression. I thought it would have been great with some peach or apricot-infused tea.

The pistachio chocolate chocolate chunk, according to my mother, was like eating a dark chocolate bar in a biscotti. (Twice the chocolate in the name!) She had no complaints. The white chocolate macadamia had a subtle vanilla taste. I wanted a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows with it. The simplest one, toasted almond, was the most biscotti of them all, and just comforting with a cup of hot barley tea.

I think my favorite was the cayenne cherry chocolate chunk. The flavors came in stages: the chocolate was strong at first, followed by the faint tartness of the cherry; the spiciness gradually hit my tongue and then slowly settled in. I loved the unexpected combination and I think any recipient will be surprised.

All in all, Biscotti di Vecchio biscottis are not tough like the ones you buy in stores. They remained pleasantly crunchy even after a weekend in their plastic packaging and I was able to keep the leftovers fresh just by putting them in a resealable container.

I think these biscottis make classy gifts especially during these tough times. If you can’t decide which flavor to give, there is a sweet and savory gift combination for $44.50.