The renowned Florio pastry store

by Antonella Florio

One of historic meeting place for Grumento’s population was the “Renowned Florio Pastry store”.

Wanted by Francesco Paolo Florio, it was built around 1917 in some locals nearby Archpriest Caputi square.

The activity was carried on by some of Mr. Francesco Paolo’s sons; first was Antonio, the first-born, to learn the art of pastry with some chefs in Palermo and Naples and to open some branches of the pastry store in Moliterno and Viggiano, helped in particular by his brother Vincenzo and his sisters Ernesta, Elvira and Gilda; during this period the pastry store became famous especially for pastries and small cakes with jam, Sicilian cannoli, for nougats and candies finely packed.

In 1930’s the running of pastry store was handed down to brother Vincenzo; he perfected his art, continuing the tradition started by his elder brother, training at the historical Neapolitan pastry store of Cappucci brothers, making Florio pastry one of the best in Agri valley, renowned and appreciated especially for its innovations and for the quality of its products. In the meantime, the new place of pastry store was moved to City hall square.

After the Second World War and the sharp standstill for local activities and businesses, the confectionery production of Florio Bar Bakery restarted to cheer up the important occasions of inhabitants life of Grumento Nova and surrounding until the early 1980’s.

Some of recipes, peculiar and not of local tradition, handwritten and carefully catalogued in a notebook belonged to Florio family, have been preserved and here published for the first time.

Are below reported some pages of the manuscript, in particular the list of dessert assortment made by Florio bakery, autographed by Antonio Florio in 1917 and some recipes of the most distinctive and famous sweets of Florio production.

Copyright text and images A. Florio.