Rose-shaped fried Christmas pastries, made from thin ribbons of dough pinched and coiled into open 'roses', dried, deep-fried until crisp, then steeped in warm honey or vincotto and dusted with sugar or cinnamon. In Christian symbolism the rings are read as the swaddling of the infant Christ, or as his crown of thorns. Shared with Puglia, they carry a distinctly Lucanian dough enriched with eggs, about four to a kilo of flour, and more sugar, left unleavened, and Basilicata leans to a honey or icing-sugar finish where Puglia favours vincotto. The form is old: pastries called 'nuvole', clouds, appear at the 1517 wedding banquet of Bona Sforza.
Cartellate belong to the Christmas tables of Puglia and Basilicata: thin sheets of dough, at their plainest just flour, oil and white wine, cut into ribbons, pinched at intervals and wound into a spiralling rose, then dried, deep-fried and soaked in something sweet. The coiled rings carry a Christian reading, taken for the swaddling bands of the infant Christ or, at the other end of his life, the crown of thorns. The form is documented early: pastries called 'nuvole', clouds, were served at the 1517 Naples wedding banquet of Bona Sforza, later Queen of Poland, and a 1762 Benedictine convent record in Bari names them again. The Lucanian version parts from the Pugliese by enriching the dough with eggs, about four to a kilo of flour, and more sugar, and by finishing in honey or icing sugar rather than the vincotto of cooked grape must that Puglia prefers.
Light and shatteringly crisp from the frying, each rose is a lattice of thin, blistered petals that snap and dissolve. The honey soaks into every coil, so the crunch gives way to sweet stickiness, deep and floral where honey is used, darker and winey where the finish is vincotto; a dust of cinnamon or sugar sits on top.
The dough is deliberately lean and unleavened, flour, egg, a little oil and wine, with no yeast or soda, so it stays firm and workable enough to be rolled paper-thin and pinched into a shape that holds. Drying the shaped roses before frying drives off surface moisture, which sets the form and lets them blister rather than slump in the oil. In the hot oil the thin dough dehydrates fast and its starch and egg proteins crisp into a rigid, glassy lattice riddled with air; that porous, brittle structure is what drinks up the warm honey, wicking the syrup deep into every layer by capillary action while the pastry stays crisp at the edges.
Variations
The sweet finish is the main fork in the road: Basilicata often bathes them in honey or simply snows them with icing sugar, while Puglia and the strictest tradition steep them in vincotto, the cooked-down grape must, sometimes of figs. Cinnamon, toasted almonds or coloured sprinkles may be scattered on top, and modern kitchens dip them in chocolate. The dough shifts too, from the lean flour-and-wine version to the richer Lucanian one bound with egg, and the roses are wound tight or loose, small or broad, from town to town.
On the Palate
Where Cartellate Lucane sits in the Italian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8
How it's made
7 steps · 1 hour
- 125 min
Make the dough: work the flour with the eggs, sugar, olive oil and white wine into a firm, smooth dough; knead well and let it rest, covered, for half an hour.
- 220 min
Roll the dough out very thin and cut it into long ribbons with a fluted wheel.
- 335 min
Fold each ribbon lengthwise and pinch it together at intervals to form little pockets, then wind it round on itself into an open rose, pressing the pinches to hold the coil.
- 4180 min
Lay the shaped roses on cloths and leave to dry for several hours or overnight, so they keep their form and blister when fried.
Watch outDry the shaped roses several hours or overnight before frying — the set form holds its coils and blisters in the oil; damp ones slump flat.
- 520 min
Deep-fry them in hot oil, turning once, until pale gold and crisp; lift out and drain.
- 612 min
Warm the honey or vincotto until fluid and dip the fried roses, spooning the syrup into every coil so it soaks through.
Watch outWarm the honey until it's runny and spoon it into every coil so it soaks through — the porous fried lattice is meant to drink the syrup deep.
- 76 min
Lift out, let the excess drip away, and dust with cinnamon or icing sugar; leave to set before serving.
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