Bravo, biscotti: Italian wedding shower cookies

Few cultural traditions rival the liveliness of an Italian wedding shower. It’s one part decadence and one part Mardi Gras – all on a Sunday afternoon. Picture this: 100 of your closest female relatives and friends crowded into a large banquet hall (nonstop laughter, hugging and cheek pinching) sitting down to a catered four-course Italian meal, which is topped off with a homemade cookie buffet that must be seen – and tasted – to be believed.

So why the cookies when you’ve already enjoyed a filling tiramisu with dinner? Well, that’s simple: the cookies aren’t intended for dessert – some families call them the “biscotti booty.”

Once the bride-to-be has opened all the gifts and the last bow has been stapled to the colourful paper-plate hat, you and the other 99 women armed with paper plates and foil converge upon the cookie table, jockeying for position to get the time-honoured favourites (is it Nonna’s mostaccioli?) and scoop up the most cherished morsels (perhaps the pignoli). Some guests even bring extra-large handbags to discretely ferry their riches home to husbands and sons. Think of one of the Italian cookie recipes as a tasty little thank-you!