Cacao Nib Biscotti, a.k.a. Biskotina

The biscotti: a relic of gentle-paced time. Behold its feat of extraordinary endurance, the echo of an empire, baked and re-baked in the sun-drenched ovens of Italy. Its form, elongated and crescent-edged, speaks of the hands that kneaded and shaped the dough—a practical affair, and edible for centuries, as Pliny the Elder is said to have boasted. Indeed, the original bis-coctus was a dry, unadorned bread, its Latin name a reference to the method of its preparation: baked not once, but twice to remove every last vestige of moisture, it was a hardtack, the rugged, frugal nourishment of unceasing Roman legions, meant to ward off hunger on the long, dusty roads of conquest.  For centuries, this sturdy ration traversed the known world, sustenance for soldiers, travellers, and other assorted wayfarers. Even Christopher Columbus, so legend tells, stashed a hold full of these rusks for his 1492 voyage to the Americas.  But it was not until the Renaissance, with its re-awakening of beauty and