Café Counter · Cream-Filled Sweet Bun
Maritozzo
Photo: Ensahequ / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
By old Roman custom, young men gave their sweethearts a maritozzo on the first Friday of March, sometimes with a ring or small gift hidden in the cream, which is the usual explanation for the name, from marito, husband.
A maritozzo is a soft, slightly sweet yeasted bun, split and generously filled with billows of freshly whipped cream. Rome's cafés and bakeries serve them for breakfast, piled high behind the counter each morning.
Why it's made this way: The bun has roots going back to ancient Rome and was traditionally eaten during Lent, and it remains one of the city's most iconic breakfast foods today.
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