Trentino, Trentino-Alto Adige
Trentino's Carnival flatbread — a thick, dense batter-bread (the name means 'hunger-killer') of buckwheat flour, yellow cornmeal, milk, eggs, and luganega sausage sliced directly into the batter before baking in a greased iron pan. Baked at moderate temperature until a firm but yielding cake forms — it's a cross between a frittata, a bread, and a savoury tart. Made specifically for the Carnival period before Lent as a hearty, sustaining food. Eaten warm, cut in wedges, as an antipasto or a complete merenda.
Dense, earthy buckwheat with pockets of rendered sausage fat — a thick, filling Carnival food with no pretensions
The batter consistency is key — thicker than pancake batter (almost a loose bread dough) and thin enough to self-level in the pan. The luganega pieces must be sliced thin (5mm rounds) so they cook through and render fat into the batter during baking. The buckwheat-and-cornmeal combination gives the characteristic dense, earthy flavour distinct from pure wheat batter. The pan must be generously greased (with lard traditionally) to allow the base to caramelise without sticking.
For a more complex version: add a few slices of Speck Alto Adige alongside the luganega. Smacafam freezes well — slice, freeze individually, and reheat from frozen in a 200°C oven for 8-10 minutes. For service: cut into wedges and serve alongside soft polenta and a glass of Trentino Marzemino.
Batter too thin produces a wet, unset smacafam. Not pre-rendering the sausage slightly before adding to the batter leaves the fat unrendered and the interior greasy. Using fine polenta instead of coarse — the texture should have grit. Over-baking makes it dry and crumbly rather than dense and yielding.
La Cucina del Trentino — Accademia Italiana della Cucina