Easter time, Colomba time! Did you know that the Made in Italy Easter cake par excellence calls up an ancient fact that happened long before the birth of Christ? The cake seems to evoke the dove that announced the end of the universal flood and thus is a sign of peace, representing the end of hostilities between God and his people.
Legend and history
But there are (relatively!) more recent legends. One in particular traces the Easter dove back to the time of the Lombards and Queen Theodolinda.The sovereign is said to have hosted a group of Irish pilgrims led by Saint Columbanus and offered the guests a large game banquet. Being Lent time, the pilgrims were reluctant to eat meat, and Saint Columbanus, to avoid offending the queen, blessed the banquet and turned everything into soft bread doves.
Another legend features King Alboin, to whom the citizens offered dove-shaped sweet bread after the siege and subsequent conquest of Pavia. The bread was so good that it convinced the king to show mercy towards the population.
The cake that tastes like Spring
The Colomba as we know it today is far more recent. As an industrial cake, it was created by Dino Villani (Nogara 1898 – Milan 1989), a brilliant artist, engraver, and Motta’s advertising director from 1934 to 1939. In 1934, Villani, who also designed the Motta logo with a capital ‘M’, had the ingenious idea of using the machinery, dough (but without sultanas and with the addition of almonds) and procedures used to make panettone to bake an Easter cake.
Thus, the first industrial Colomba, with its ingenious slogan ‘the cake that tastes like spring’, was born.
To test its goodness, Angelo Motta sent his creation to famous writers and journalists, asking for their opinions. The result was a unanimous success. As Ernesto Bertarelli wrote, the Colomba became a symbol of ‘peace and spring’.
Its success soon prompted other companies to follow suit, including Vergani, which started producing Colomba in 1944. Since then, the Colomba has always been the classic Easter cake, with infinite variants that still tickle the palates of Italians today.
Congratulations to those who carry on Italian culinary traditions and brighten up Easter with Colomba!
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