Apulian Christmas Fritters: Cartellate al Vincotto

The tradition of making cartellate al vincotto in Puglia has very ancient roots. In fact, each sheet of ‘cartellata’ dough represents the cloth used to wrap the Infant Jesus at birth. According to some, the recipe for these Christmas fritters arrived from ancient Egypt, where it was a delicacy prepared for pharaohs. But then there’s also the possibility that the dessert came from ancient Greek culture, considering that the Greek word ‘kartallos’ means ‘basket’ – perhaps a reference to the shape of the fritters.

In Puglia, locals make cartellate al vin cotto during the fall until early December – serving them for Christmas and the whole holiday season. To make them, multiple generations of families gather together, as they have traditionally for years now.

Alloro’s Chef Pasquale Martinelli – born and raised in Mola di Bari, Puglia – has vivid memories of cartellate al vincotto, back when he used to watch his mother and grandmother make them. Today Chef Martinelli continues to make them in the same way, with the goal of keeping the tradition alive for many years (and generations) to come.

That’s why he decided to share his family’s recipe with La Cucina Italiana – so we can start the tradition of making cartellate al vincotto fritters at home, too!

Cartellate al Vincotto by Chef Pasquale Martinelli

Ingredients:

2 lb all-purpose flour 
1 cup of dry white wine (slightly heated)
½ cup of olive oil, for the dough 
Olive oil, for frying
1 quart of fig vincotto
Ground cinnamon

Method:

Mix the flour with the oil and the wine to create a smooth dough. Form a ball with the dough and wrap it in a cloth. Set the dough aside and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Lightly flour a clean work surface or wooden table. Then roll the dough out thin (about 12 inches in length) and cut out 2-inch wide strips.

Every 2 inches, pinch the edges of the dough strips together. Then wrap the dough onto itself in a spiral formation to create a sort of flower shape.

Once all the dough strips (the cartellate) are shaped, cover them to dry for about 10 hours. (There's no egg and no yeast in the dough, so it’s fine to leave them out of the fridge.)

In a heavy-bottom pan, bring the olive oil for frying to a hot temperature. (Not too hot though! You don’t want the oil to start smoking.) Fry 3 or 4 cartellate at a time until golden-brown.

Dry the fried cartellate on paper towels and heat up the fig vincotto until it starts to thicken.

Let the cartellate rest in the vincotto syrup for a couple of hours. Then transfer them carefully to the serving dishes. Sprinkle with cinnamon and finely minced cloves to taste.