Canto 6 means “song 6” or “chapter 6” depending on the language you speak. But of course, we can’t leave it at that. The reference is from The Divine Comedy, written by the Italian poet Dante in the Middle Ages. This three part long poem is essentially an imaginary journey through Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise full of wild characters, omens, and farce.
The 6th Canto of the Inferno is where Dante puts the food obsessed – those fated folks who never turned down temptation and always ate dessert. We figured we’d fit right in! Dante’s Canto 6 is part of a long and complicated relationship between food and sin – think forbidden fruit or devil’s food cake. Our Canto 6 is a salute to food: the devilishly good, the indulgent, and of course, the divine
Bostok is a somewhat obscure, but utterly delicious pastry from Eastern France. Its base is a slice of buttery brioche which is topped with orange blossom syrup, frangipane (homemade almond cream), and toasted almonds. The whole thing is then baked to golden perfection. Ideal for breakfast, or an afternoon “gouter” (snack.) If you like twice-baked croissants, you’ll love Bostok!
Brioche is an enriched French bread, whose high egg and butter content give it a rich and tender crumb. Not quite bread, not quite cake, brioche is a sweet fluffy breakfast treat like no other. Brioche is best eaten the day it’s baked, but in the unlikely event that you have any left over, day old brioche makes unbelievable French toast!
(Fact: Marie-Antoinette actually said “Let them eat Brioche!”)
Another fantastic French treat, these little jewels originate from the Bordeaux region. The Cannele (pronounced can-elle-eh) is like an airy crepe with a chewy caramelized exterior. Enjoy Canneles alone or alongside coffee or espresso.
The tappo is a dense chocolate cake studded with pieces of Valrhona chocolate. “Tappo” means cork in Italian, and true to their name, these little chocolate gems are delicious along side port or red wine. When we’re not in the mood for wine, we eat them alone or dunk them in our coffee.
Most of us think of marshmallows as a modern invention, but they actually date back to ancient Egypt where they were invented as, of all things, a cough suppressant. The Egyptians concocted their medicinal marshmallows using honey, egg white, and the root of the “marshmallow” plant. We make our marshmallows by combining a hot sugar syrup with fluffy meringue and setting the mixture with gelatin.
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