Italy Photo of the Week: Bergamo’s Signature Dessert

For this Italy photo of the week, we’re in Bergamo:

I’m told that this little treat is Bergamo’s signature dessert. It’s called polenta e osei, which is the local dialect for “polenta and birds;” it’s supposed to look like a nest of a pile of polenta with a little bird nestled on the top. These, while pretty, didn’t look at all like birds to me – though the rest did look amazingly like polenta, I’ll admit. We saw them in the windows of just about every pastry shop in Bergamo, in several different sizes.

When you bite into a polenta e osei, you’ll discover that it’s a little cake with a layer of this thick fondant-like stuff (which is mixed with corn meal to produce that color) over the top. You can see what the inside looks like in this photo, which I managed to capture before the husband ate the whole thing.

Check out my other Italy photos and the other photos of the week!