Sweets for Carnivale and St. Joseph’s Day. Katherine Pulzone

It’s that time of year again and I am asking for all members to send me their traditional recipes, photos of their family sitting at the table with their favorite foods, and I’ll submit them to our website. KPuzo@insightbb.com

During Carnival, it is time to eat before Lent. Traditionally, we are talking meat here; ribs, roasts and ragù etc. Although the ingredients are more or less the same, slight regional variations have given us 'crostoli' from Friuli, 'bugie' from Piemonte, 'scroccafusi' in Le Marche, as well as 'frappe', 'pignolata' and 'stracci' from elsewhere. Cannoli from Sicily was originally a carnival sweet.

ZEPPOLE FROM NAPLES CARNIVAL BISCUITS OF PUTIGNANO

The traditional carnival biscuits recipe from Putignano in Puglia includes chick pea flour, barley flour, lemon & orange peel and cinnamon and is as simple as a recipe gets. Putignano claims its carnival as one of the oldest in Italy. Experts have pinpointed the date of the first carnival to the 26 December 1394.



The full name is Zeppola di San Giuseppe in honour of the Saint on the 19 March every year. Nevertheless, they are widely available throughout Carnival, at least here in Rome. They are typical of the zone of Vesuvius near Naples and further south towards Puglia and even Sardinia where they are called Zippulas.

How to make them:

This is the most classic of zeppole recipes using white flour, sugar, cognac, cinnamon, caster sugar, olive oil, salt. At most feasts in the NE, cinnamon and cognac are optional. Even without these 2 ingredients, they are wonderful. Here is the richest recipe, the traditional recipe not typically used in U.S. feasts or carnivals. In most feasts in the United States, it’s a simple pizza dough deep fried and dusted with powdered sugar. Usually you 6 for $2.00 (used to be 6 for a dollar). Zeppole isn’t known all over the U.S., even in the Italian communities but you must try them if you get a chance. The dough must be airy and with yeast – do not make with an inferior pizza crust recipe that comes out hard or chewy when making pizza. If you have a good dough, deep fry them. If you want the traditional mouth watering zeppole, try this recipe.

• 2 quarts vegetable oil for frying
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

1. In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Stir in the eggs, ricotta cheese and vanilla. Mix gently over low heat until combined. Batter will be sticky.
2. Drop by tablespoons into the hot oil a few at a time. Zeppole will turn over by themselves. Fry until golden brown, about 3 or 4 minutes. Drain in a paper sack and dust with confectioners' sugar. Serve warm.

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RUM BABA

Rum Baba – the mushroom shaped pastry on the left of the dish is the Rum Baba. This light spongy pastry is literally drenched in rum and then sprinkled with a little powdered sugar – optional of course. The dough has red wine which gives it a fabulous flavor combined with the sweet ingredients. The best Rum Baba I ever had was in Hoboken, New Jersey and under the Pelham Bay “El” train in the Bronx, New York. Naturally, Naples, Avellino and Sorrento made them to perfection. Even the airport in Naples has outstanding pastry. So good in fact, that if a stranger were stopping over in Naples airport heading somewhere else, it might be enough to make him want to venture out into the city and stay awhile.

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CENCI FROM TUSCANY They may also be called 'chiacchiere' and watch the cute little video behind the link to prepare perfectly your flour, sugar, eggs, caster sugar, olive oil, salt, orange & lemon peel and sweet wine.

INGREDIENTS:

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Preparation time: 30 minutes.
Cooking time: 15 minutes.
400 g plain mwhite flour.
2 eggs.
3 dessert spoons sugar.
Half a glass Vin Santo (or sweet sherry).
One lemon.
Extra-virgin olive oil.
Icing sugar.
Salt.

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PREPARATION:

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Mix the flour, eggs, sugar, Vin Santo, grated lemon ring, three tablesspoons of oil and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Knead well, forming the pastry into a ball and roll out on a pastry board to a thickness of about two millimetres. Cut into ribbons about eight centimetres wide and then cut obliquely into section. Fill a frying pan with oil, heat and drop the pastry in. When the cencil become crisp and golden, remove, put them on kitchen paper to dry well and then shake plenty of icing sugar over. You can make the biscuits look prettier by cutting the ribbons with a pastry wheel, or you can use your own imagination to cut it into different shapes and forms. Roll the pastry out as often as necessary to use it all up. Cencil, like the Florentine schiacciata, are traditional Carneval time biscuits.

They are found throughout all of northern and central Italy, and have different names according to the region. In Bologna, for example, They are called frappole (fringes) and in Milan, chiacchiere (chatters).

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Chestnuts or CASTAGNOLE

These are simple carnival sweets made from chestnuts and found across the Italian regions and are said to be named after the word 'castagna' or chestnut. The recipes are found in locations in Piemonte due to the two towns of Castagnole Piemonte in the province of Turin and Castagnole Monferrato in the province of Asti. There are so many recipes that include chestnuts, that I couldn’t list them all, but the best way are making a cross on the flat side of the chestnut (using a sharp small knife) and then roasting them until the cross cut starts curling a little. Then peel the shell and oh my, what a flavor. Hard to impossible to find in Louisville except for the Fresh Market on Shelbyville Road over in Middletown. Unfortunately, every time we’ve purchased them (usually an outrageous $6.00 a pound), they are moldy. Good news is that Fresh Market always refunds our money, bad news is that we don’t get to have chestnuts. If any of our Italian club members know where I can get some in Louisville or nearby locations, please e-mail me at KPuzo@insightbb.com

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FRITOLE VENEZIANE

These fried 'dolci' are the traditional and classic sweets of Carnival in Venice. The 'fritelle' or 'fritole' or 'frittoe' in local dialect are ready when they turn a deep golden color. Rum and pine nuts make all the difference.