Outside Parma when we talk about Malfatti we immediately think of egg pasta to eat in broth or, if you are Lombard, large ricotta and herb dumplings. In Salsomaggiore Terme instead we mean those that in Parma and Piacenza are used to call tortelli d’erbetta.
Malfatti are still the center of tradition.
On the night of San Giovanni, June 23, large tortellate are set up throughout the Province of Parma in honor of the saint and the memory of a time long gone when on this night the end of the harvest was celebrated.
The Tortellata di San Giovanni ends late at night, because the ultimate purpose, in addition to bingeing, is to “ take” the dew.
It is said to bring good luck.