Immediately after the harvest, sapa or vincotto is prepared, the most archaic of the sweeteners of the Sardinian tradition (together with honey). It is obtained by cooking unfermented must, flavored with the aromatic notes of spices, among which orange peel stands out above all.
By integrating sapa into the bread dough, a “seasoned” bread is obtained, which is endless in the dessert field, which can be further enriched with dried fruit. Sometimes, even a small amount of honey can be added to the room.
Su fatu e cotu (lit. 'done and done', scil. kneaded and put in the oven), thanks to the use of chemical yeast, is much faster to prepare than the recipe characterized by the long times required by natural leavening.
Often on bread 'e saba it takes on the value of ceremonial bread. On the traditional horizon, the occasion for its preparation coincided mostly with the autumn (All Saints' Day and the Memorial of the Dead) and winter (Christmas, etc.) festivities. It also often assumed the function of votive food in honor of patron saints and martyrs. Even today, for example, in Quartu Sant'Elena, four large loaves of bread 'e saba finely decorated with s'indoru (gold leaf for food use) are placed at the foot of the statue of the patron saint Saint Helena carried in procession on an ox cart, on the occasion of the liturgical festival of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14 September).
In Atzara it is a tradition to make sapato bread for the feast of the patron Saint Antiochus the Martyr (13 November), in the past the most important festival of the whole year.
On this occasion, not only numerous foreigners flocked to the village of Mandrolisai, who were guaranteed food and lodging by the local population, but also those most in need from neighboring countries, to whom a type of bread 'e sapa called prana, smooth, as opposed to the froria (decorated), covered with peeled almonds, was destined as alms.
In Sini, a town in the Marmilla region, it is still being prepared today on bread 'e saba to donate it to Saint George. The method of the votive offering is the use of the money obtained from the sale of sweetened bread for the purpose of maintaining the country church dedicated to the holy megalomartir.
The sapa was also a sign of social distinction. If the most valuable variety was grape or fig, the poorest were those obtained from wild fruits, such as prickly pears or strawberry trees. Once a sign of poverty, prickly pear sapa is now characterized by the attributions of a niche local product for gastronomic and cultural tourists, such as those who participate every year in the prickly pear festival in Dualchi, the town of the Marghine.
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