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Le ricette
centenarie
di Gemmi
Hundred Year Old
Recipes at Gemmi
La storica bottega di Sarzana le ha ereditate dall’arte
dei pasticceri svizzeri dell’800
The historic pastry shop in Sarzana inherited
the art of Swiss pastry-making in the 1800s
ASarzana in un palazzo
d’epoca del centro storico la
pasticceria Gemmi è una tappa
obbligata nella memoria della
città. Tra volte affrescate, grandi
specchi e vetrine d’epoca ti
regala un’atmosfera d’altri tempi
e ricette centenarie ereditate
dall’arte dei pasticceri svizzeri
dell’800. Silvano Gemmi nel
1924 aveva rilevato da una
famiglia svizzera il barpasticceria
aperto nel 1854. E
aveva mantenuto molte delle
loro ricette, una scelta rispettata
dalla figlia Fiammetta, oggi
titolare dell’esercizio. «Lavoriamo
ancora con le vecchie tradizioni
per garantire la qualità di un
tempo – spiega – Non usiamo
basi preconfezionate, sbattiamo
le uova per fare la crema e a
mano facciamo anche le
marmellate». La specialità della
casa è la spungata, una sfoglia
azzima con ripieno di frutta:
mele, pere, mandorle canditi. Una
volta le mele erano le “rodelle” o
“pomi rodei”, melette tonde delle
colline della zona un po’ acidule
e ottime a smorzare il sapore
troppo dolce. Di spungate
esistono varie versioni, almeno
una quarantina lungo la via
In Sarzana in an ancient
building in the old quarter
of the town, the pastry shop
Gemmi is an obligatory stop
on memory road. With its
century-old recipes
inherited from Swiss pastrymakers
of the 1800s, with its
frescoed vaults, great mirrors,
and antique showcases, it takes
the visitor back in time. In 1924,
Silvano Gemmi acquired the barpastry
shop from the Swiss
family who had opened it in
1854, but he kept many of their
recipes. His choices are still
respected by Fiammetta, his
daughter, who now runs the
historic shop.
“We still use the old traditions to
guarantee the quality of the
past,” she explains. “We don’t use
ready-made material. We beat
our own eggs to make the cream,
and cook our own marmalades
by hand.” The bitter almond
macaroons called “amaretti
Margherita” – in honor of the
queen of Italy who stopped in
Sarzana in 1908 on her way to
comfort victims of the
earthquake in Messina, Sicily –
has made Gemmi famous. But
the true specialty of the house is
La pasticceria Gemmi ritratta
dalla matita di Gianni Renna
per la guida 2012 dei Locali
Storici d'Italia, il circuito in cui
l'omonima associazione
culturale riunisce gli oltre 240
più antichi e prestigiosi
alberghi, pasticcerie, distillerie
e caffè del Paese. Tra questi,
ben 24 (oltre a Gemmi)
sono liguri
The pastry bar Gemmi as seen by
Gianni Renna for the 2012
Guidebook of Historic Shops
and Bars of Italy. The cultural
association of the same name
has gathered over 240 of the
oldest, most prestigious hotels,
pastry bars, distilleries, and cafés
in Italy. Among these, in
addition to Gemmi, there are 24
others in Liguria
the Spungata, an unleavened
puff pastry that is filled with
fruit – apples, pears, candied
almonds. Once the apples were
all “rodelle” or “pomi rodei”,
round heirloom apples from the
hills around the town, a bit sour,
but excellent in damping down
the sweetness.
Spungata comes in various
versions. At least forty can be
found if you follow Via
Francigena, the road from the
coast to Reggio Emilia. Each
reflects the products that can be
found locally. If you climb into
the hills, you find nuts and
hazelnuts, if you descend, pine
nuts and figs.
Another shop celebrating over
150 years of activity in the area
is (or actually, was, as it has just
recently closed) in La Spezia.
Cartoleria Barone, which has
been a bookshop, printer, and
crystal shop, was founded in
1830 by Gio Batta Barone and
later run by his son, Carlo. When
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