The Almond Snake of Sant’Anatolia di Borgorose

This snake-shaped cake made with ground sweet and bitter almonds, sugar, eggs, lemon and coffee, sometimes sugar-glazed, is typical of Borgorose (Rieti), the delightful village in the Cicolano area, 40 minutes from Rieti and, by autostrada, just over one hour from Rome.

In the ritual of the Serpentone, pagan and Christian elements are blended, both in the shape of the cake and in the meaning of some ingredients.

It is said that in AD 249, Anatolia, a martyr and saint, closed in a sack with poisonous snakes, emerged miraculously unscathed the next day. Symbol of the triumph of good over evil, Saint Anatolia is represented in the act of crushing the snake. Hence the tradition of the Serpentone that, for over 16 centuries, has been prepared on the 10th of July in Sant’Anatolia di Borgorose for the feast of the Holy Virgin and the Martyr Anatolia, to commemorate her martyrdom in the city of Thiora (now Cartone).

Snake-shaped cakes, typical in many areas of Italy, are prepared at the change of seasons to indicate the regenerative capacity of the snake, the cycle of death and rebirth that made this animal the symbol, in ancient times, of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture. A tradition linked to a symbol of pre-Christian origin.
The symbolism of the almond: the main ingredient of the Serpentone di Sant’Anatolia, in the Christian world this fruit refers to the interiority hidden in exteriority. That is the reason why breaking the shell of an almond means reaching the end of a journey that allows you to discover the heart of things.

With a bitter aftertaste and an aroma of lemon, the Serpentone di Sant’Anatolia is baked at 180 ° C for 1 hour in its characteristic “coiled” shape, and is often decorated with two red cherries as eyes and an almond as a tongue.