Venice, Italy. October, 2012

For years, I’ve been making zaleti (aka Venetian cornmeal diamonds) according to the recipe in my friend Nick’s book, Great Italian Desserts. They are always crowd-pleasers. (My friend Joe, who sometimes can’t stop himself, calls them “a gateway cookie.”) So when I returned to Venice for the first time in 26 years, of course I had to search out the original. Nick had told me that Rosa Salva was the place to try them. And here I am, about to bite into the real thing. Verdict: I like Nick’s recipe better. The folks at Rosa Salva were really nice, showing me the corn flour they use, and humoring this American’s telling them that he makes zaleti at home in New England, that his are smaller, that his use cornmeal, etc. This year for Christmas, I made double my usual amount. So there.