The rain finally stopped for a day allowing the traditional monthly market to take place in Barga but it has to be said that it was a fairly low key affair with hardly any stalls inside the castle walls – most of them staying on the Fosso and enjoying the sun while they could.
As you can see from the images above there was also some new entries to the market though, hand made Bombolone – doughnuts.
Bombolone (pl. bomboloni) is an Italian filled doughnut (similar to the Berliner, krafne, etc.) and is eaten as a snack food and dessert. The pastry’s name is etymologically related to bomba (bomb), and the same type of pastry is also called bomba (pl. “bombe”) in some regions of Italy; at least in modern uses, this etymological connection is usually regarded as a reference to the very high calorie density of this recipe (i.e., a “calorie bomb”).
While bomboloni may be primarily connected to Tuscany, they are traditional of other regions of Italy, although with slight variations on the recipe. In those areas that used to be under Austrian rule, such as Trentino Alto-Adige, Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia the tradition of bomboloni is believed to have originated from that of Austrian “krapfen” (i.e., Berliner), and the recipe includes eggs, which are not found in the Tuscan variety. – source
