Montecatini Terme and its delights

When we talk about Montecatini Terme, the first thought goes to its thermal establishments, to its very long tradition of hospitality that for over a century has made it known all over the world and since the years of the belle époque taken on the role of absolute importance among the spa towns of the old continent. Moreover, June 24, 2021, becomes a stunning historical date for Montecatini: the thermal city is included in the UNESCO heritage list. It is a unique and integral part of the Italian spa system, which needs to be protected and improved.

Perhaps the enamel of those roaring years has faded, but still today, Montecatini Terme offers those who visit it the serenity and pleasure that our Tuscan land has always had in its DNA.

The spa town par excellence links its name to a pastry speciality celebrating its first century of life in this decade: “Le Cialde di Montecatini.”

The story says that the Cialde were created for the first time in the 1920s by Czechoslovakian Jewish pastry chefs whose name, however, is not passed down due to an actual unfairness of history.

The Bagni di Montecatini, which became Montecatini Terme on October 28, 1928, was a bright and welcoming town frequented by high society, who came to its hotels and excellent spas to enjoy the “treatments” with its beneficial waters and elegant atmosphere. With their sweetness, the “Le Cialde di Montecatini” immediately gained success.

At the end of the twenties and in the following decade, living in our country for a Jewish family, for known reasons, had become increasingly complex, and the creators of the Cialde in 1936, left Montecatini Teme and Italy, giving up their thriving business.

Subsequently, a local businessperson Orlando Bargilli, took over the pastry shop, inheriting in this way the original recipe of the Montecatini waffles, modified over time to become the one we know today.

The “Cialde di Montecatini” are fragrant typical Tuscan specialities based on flour, milk, eggs, sugar, and almonds. The recipe has an ancient history and comes from afar. Flour, milk, and eggs give life to the wafer similar sheets, fragile and fragrant, finely stamped with one of the city’s symbols, and filled with sugar grains, almonds, and vanilla.

In the same years, other enlightened entrepreneurs, already known for the pastry specialities that still delight our palates today, began to produce our Cialde. But, again, the Desideri Family played a vital role.

Desideri Family has produced traditional Tuscan pastry since the early 1900s. Their story begins with the skilful and meticulous work of great-grandfather Stefano Desideri. He sold his delicious pastry specialities as a peddler in the hundred fairs of the Tuscan villages.

The “Brigidini of Lamporecchio,” another Tuscan pastry specialities from Lamporecchio, the birthplace of the Desideri family, obtained the Gold Medal at the Milan Trade Fair in 1911.

A few years later, with a lot of passion and a pinch of ambition, Desideri opened the first shop in Montecatini Terme. The first big challenge that the Desideri won with enthusiasm: was to establish in a prestigious spa town, a tourist destination for many personalities from politics, cinema, and entertainment.

With the arrival of Montecatini Terme, the production of these specialities began. With the passing of the years and generations, the business became bigger and bigger and saw the whole family’s commitment.

Expert pastry chefs and engineers created a new production system which, with the necessary safety changes, is still active today for the production of Brigidini di Lamporecchio, Cialde di Montecatini and Cantucci di Prato under the management of their grandchildren Giacomo and Luca, who have inherited from his father Stefano all the secrets of the pastry traditions of Montecatini and Lamporecchio.

Few and genuine ingredients: free-range chicken eggs, Italian flour and sugar, and top-quality almonds. Where possible, all raw materials come from zero-kilometre farms out of a clear desire to identify with their territory and its peculiarities.

All products of both the Desideri and Bargilli families stand out for the ingredients’ genuineness for the processing’s artisanship and all characteristics that make this renowned family-run company, the excellence of our Tuscan land.

Desideri Specialties: buy online

Discover here Italian pastry traditional recipes