When opening our store last fall, we knew the taralli would be popular. What we didn’t expect is that every person that sampled one would buy a bag. One of our sales people imposed a three taralli a day rule in fear of eating the whole bowl.

The taralli is a typical salty food originating in southern Italy, mainly Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria and Campania. The name probably comes from the greek Toros (toroidal), because of the donut-y nature of the taralli.

A few years ago the Atlantic ran an article (in the Health section…) called “Taralli: Italy’s Superior Snack.”

“If you aren’t familiar with taralli–and most Americans, of course, aren’t-they’re little bagel-shaped (but much smaller) rings of dough that are…omnipresent in bakeries and at parties when you hit the right regions of Italy…

The secret, to making a good tarali, which is really no secret at all, is the quality and quantity of the olive oil you use to make the taralli with…

When you bite into one of these it’s right there with eating a super flaky pie crust, or, I imagine what a croissant would be like if you could compress it down into a compact little disc.”

While adults have an aperitif at their local bar or cafe in Italy, children will snack on these crispy disks. Here in the US, set them out with a bowl of olive and nuts at cocktail hour for an instant hit.

People loved them so much we completely sold out before spring arrived.

Now back in stock, we have original EVOO, chili pepper, fennel, rosemary, and tomato and oregano. And we have added a flavor this shipment – onion. How could we not, with our connection to Cannara.

While they will be featured in the store when we re-open, for now you can snatch them up on Emporio. Happy snacking!

Ci Vediamo!

—Via Umbria