It's Carnevale time in Italy, and of course, Italians have food traditions to mark the celebration, deeply rooted and varying slightly from north to south.
Dolci di Carnevale, or Carnival sweets, are simple and made with ingredients that can be found in any kitchen’s pantry, such as flour, milk, sugar, butter, eggs, vegetable oil, and sometimes honey and dark chocolate. With a few exceptions, dolci di Carnevale are fried.
Why? Historically, before refrigeration, winter allowed for cold storage simply by leaving ingredients outside. Lard, the pig fat used for cooking, needed to be used by February or early March or it would go to waste. Carnevale provided an excuse to use up the winter’s remaining lard supply while supplying tasty treats for the celebration.
Let’s take a look at the most popular sweets to mark Italian Carnevale, as well as where to find them in New York City.
Chiacchiere.
First, there’s chiacchiere. This deep-fried or baked dough is a tradition in every region of Italy at Carnevale, albeit with a range of names. Chiacchiere is used in Parma, Umbria, Campania, and Basilicata; frappe in Rome, Viterbo, and Ancona; cenci in Tuscany; crostoli in Friuli and Trentino; galani in Veneto; and bugie in Piedmont and Liguria.
They have the shape of angel wings or twisted ribbons, and are served with a generous sprinkle of powdered sugar. Chiacchiere are sometimes paired with “sanguinaccio,” a rich dark chocolate cream or pudding.
Castagnole.
Next, there’s Castagnole, fried dough rolled in sugar while still warm. They’re soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside.
Migliaccio. Credit: Courtesy of Il Gattopardo
Another Carnevale treat, and one that doesn’t rely on frying, is Migliaccio, a crustless Neapolitan Semolina and lemon cake, made rich and moist with ricotta. The original recipe goes back to Medieval times, when miglio (millet flour) was the main ingredient. Nowadays semolina has replaced it.
Even though Carnevale is not as popular in the United States, New York City’s Italian-American community makes it possible to experience the festive flavors of the dolce di Carnevale at these locations:
Pane Pasta, a Sicilian bakery in the West Village, where pastry chef Vincenzo Virzì, from Palermo, prepares chiacchiere made with flour, eggs, strutto (lard), lemon, lemon zest, and vanilla.
Cerasella in Astoria Queens, co-owned by Luca Schiano di Cola and Caterina Pepe, serves both chiacchiere and a variety of struffoli similar to cicerchiata, where small pieces of dough that look like chickpeas are deep-fried and shaped into a bow.
Castagnole and chiacchiere can also be found just across the Hudson River in Wayne, New Jersey at Palazzone 1960. Pastry chef Giancarlo Palazzone has a variety of chiacchiere with chocolate fondue on top or a separate chocolate ganache that can be used for dipping.
The only place to find Migliaccio in New York is at Il Gattopardo restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. The Neapolitan delicacy is on the menu for about a week during Carnevale. The restaurant also serves chiacchiere with sanguinaccio. And for Carnevale, owner Gianfranco Sorrentino and chef Vito Gnazzo add a special treat for those who prefer their celebratory foods on the savory side: authentic Neapolitan lasagne with hand made pasta sheets, ricotta, polpettine, smoked mozzarella, and tomato sauce. A rich ricotta lasagna layered with tiny meatballs is a must on every table in Naples for Fat Tuesday or Fat Thursday.