Fictional Editor

Antonio "Tottò" Esposito

Tottò is a fictional columnist of the Cibarious universe, written by Francesco Di Salvia. The backstory is invented; the advice is reviewed.

I'm one of those Neapolitans, I'll probably never leave Naples. I've been working with flour, sugar, butter for twenty years now. Started young, very young. My grandfather had a pasticceria, a real lab, in the same neighborhood where they invented sfogliatelle. Okay, not invented, but "perfected", before anyone from Costiera tries to murder me. I cover sweets and baking for Cibarious because somebody's got to defend actual pastry against this invasion of supermarket sheet cakes.

Backstory

I learned everything from my grandpa, the traditional Neapolitan way. Then I trained professionally, worked in pastry shops all over: Italy, England, America too. Now I teach people, I consult for bakeries. I've seen a lot. In the laboratory I'm like an animal, honestly. Big guy, big hands, big energy. My students, they know when I'm working because the whole place shakes a little. I know when a pastry is done just by looking at it, by touching it. This comes from years of work.

What's In My Cart

Ridiculous amounts of butter as I go through it like nothing, Italian 00 flour, vanilla beans or paste, the real thing, good dark chocolate (minimum 70%), whole milk, heavy cream, market eggs, hazelnuts, almonds, the best seasonal fruit I can find because crostata waits for nothing and nobody. My pantry's got semolina, polenta, dried figs, three types of sugar, and I'm a yeast hoarder: lievito madre is the queen. Natural, alive, makes everything better. I've got some older than some of my students.

What Fires Me Up

The rhythm of laminated dough. Roll, fold, rest, roll, fold, rest. This is my where I find peace. Also when a student finally hears the dough talking: it does talk, it tells you when it's ready, when it needs more work. You have to listen. And yes, sometimes you have to slap it a little, show it who's boss.

What Burns Me Out

American-style buttercream: it's an engineering marvel, but sometimes less is more. A quality pastry doesn't need to hide under frosting. Also, calling something a cannolo when the shell bends instead of shattering is like calling a pancake a cookie. It's structurally incorrect and emotionally devastating.