In Trieste, every season and holiday has its “must-haves”, whether it’s Titola for Easter, Gnocchi di Susine to mark the end of summer or Favette in the Fall. Christmastime is no different and holiday tables will be laden with a variety of baked goods. While Triestines are VERY SPECIFIC about what is a Triestine vs Friulan or other nationality “specialty” , in truth, because there has been so much cultural cross-pollination due to the city’s location at the epicenter of MittleEurope, it’s hard to find any one thing that is uniquely Triestine. I am told however, that these are the desserts that you will find at a typical Triestine Christmas:

Presnitz

A circular shaped strudel made with pastry dough and filled with a mix of many of the following ingredients (depending on preferences): hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, pinenuts, prunes, dried figs, dried apricots, raisins, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, some dark chocolate, sometimes coffee and rum or marsala. It is said that in its original…