TURIN, ITALY - JULY 11: People celebrate the victory of the final of EURO 2020 Italy vs England on July 11, 2021 in Turin, Italy. Italy's men's team claimed victory over England in the UEFA EURO 2020 final at Wembley Stadium this evening, winning the tournament for the first time since they hosted the competition in 1968. (Photo by Stefano Guidi/Getty Images)
Food - Drink
Italian 'Beans Of The Dead' Are The Fall Cookie You Probably Haven't Heard Of
By RYAN CASHMAN
When it comes to Halloween, there are plenty of countries outside ours that have their own spooky traditions. Usually associated with holidays like Christmas and Easter, Italians also celebrate Halloween through the delicious “beans of the dead,” and interestingly, it has nothing to do with beans.
Fave dei morti — beans of the dead in Italian — are small, soft, almond cookies, not typically found outside Italy, that are eaten from mid-October to All Saints Day, when Italians commemorate and celebrate the departed. Umbria is likely the ancestral home of these cookies owing to the discovery of an Etruscan tomb where remains of this dessert were found.
There are several fave dei morti versions made throughout Italy specifically for this time of year, each differing in size, shape, and ingredients according to the region. Trieste, for example, has cookies made in a tricolor pastel of white, mocha, and pink, while in Marches, they are more like small, round, crispy, and rum-infused biscotti.