Maccafame

Pinza o putana

Maccafame means hunger buster and has always been a popular sweet offering from the Vicenza area. It’s essentially a kind of bread pudding, made from ingredients that would have been easily available in any country kitchen, such as bread, milk and leftovers. There are several variations depending on the financial resources of those who prepared it, for example, the addition of dried or fresh fruit, and even pig’s blood in the autumn. It was the classic, Sunday pudding cooked under the embers in an earthenware pot. Pinza is the traditional name of this pudding, and why it also has the nickname putana, meaning strumpet, can only be left to speculation!