Cartellate

Cartellate are a Christmas sweet of Puglia and Basilicata. A single continuous strip of thin dough is pinched and rolled into a flower shape lined with small hollows. After being fried or baked, they are soaked in thick grape or fig syrup or in honey. The open flower shape is both decorative and a vessel that holds the sweet liquid.

Pinching a strip of dough and rolling it into a flower shape

The basic dough consists of flour, olive oil, white wine, and a little salt. After kneading and resting, the dough is rolled out thin and cut into long strips with a fluted pastry wheel or a similar tool. Each strip is folded lightly in half lengthwise, and the two sides are pinched together at regular intervals to create a row of small boat-shaped hollows. The strip is then rolled up from the center, with adjacent hollows fastened together, to form a spiral.

The pinched points and the thin edges differ in thickness, so they also cook differently. Fastening the pinched points keeps the flower shape from coming apart, and the syrup added as the finish collects in the hollows.

Some methods combine soft wheat flour with durum wheat semolina. In the method passed on by an artisan in Bari, the slightly grainy dough is passed through rollers repeatedly and folded back as it is thinned out. If it is rolled too thin, it breaks easily when the pieces are stacked after frying. For that reason, it is rolled to a thickness at which the strip holds its shape without breaking.

Shaping cartellate: a narrow strip of dough is pinched and rolled into a flower shape. Photo: Horcrux, 2019-12-21, location unknown. Original image / CC BY-SA 4.0. Reduced-size version from the source; no additional processing.

Resting the dough, then shaping and drying

In some methods, the shaped flowers are set out with space between them and left for about one night to dry. In the published recipe (ingredient proportions and method) of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina (Italian Academy of Cuisine), too, the strips are pinched and rolled, then left to dry until the next day before frying. Resting the kneaded dough and drying it after shaping are separate steps.

When frying, the flowers are handled carefully so as not to break them, then lifted out of the oil and drained well. In some versions, citrus peel is used to perfume the oil. Baking in the oven is also a traditional method. In both cases, the syrup is applied after cooking, so sweetness is added at a different stage from sweets that have a lot of sugar worked into the dough.

Fried cartellate set on paper. The flower shape of the rolled strip and the fried surface are visible. Photo: Horcrux, 2019-12-21, location unknown. Original image / CC BY-SA 4.0. Reduced-size version from the source; no additional processing.

Grape syrup, fig syrup, and honey

Vincotto is a thick sweetener made by cooking down grape juice or similar liquids. Dipping the flowers a few at a time into the warmed syrup, then lifting them out and draining off the excess, keeps the sweetness in the hollows while leaving the edges exposed. Rather than being coated thickly with syrup, the cartellate are finished with the open hollows of the flower shape left visible.

In Puglia, cotto di fichi is also used: ripe figs are crushed, and the juice is squeezed out through a cloth bag and heated. Locally, cooked-down fig juice is sometimes also called vincotto di fichi. Usage that refers only to grape juice overlaps with usage that refers broadly to concentrated fruit syrups.

In versions made with honey, the flowers are dipped in honey warmed in a water bath or by similar means, or honey loosened with a little water is poured over them. Finally, they are garnished with anicini (tiny anise-flavored candies), colored sugar, pine nuts, almonds, cinnamon, and so on. Dark fruit syrup and light honey give different colors and aromas.

Theories on the origin of the name and shape, and records of old tables

Material on traditional foods from the Puglia region presents a theory linking the name to “kartellas,” a Greek word for basket. According to this theory, the hollows in the dough were likened to a basket. Among local tourism organizations, another theory holds that the name comes from “carta,” meaning thin paper. There is no settled etymology, and regional pronunciations such as scarteddate also survive.

The strip of dough is also likened to the swaddling cloth of the infant Jesus, or to a halo or the crown of thorns of the Passion. Two different scenes, the Nativity and the Passion, are overlaid on the same shape.

In Bari, the sweet appears in the 1762 records of meals and expenses of the Monastery of Santa Scolastica, and a local newspaper in 1906 describes it as a Christmas sweet. Records survive from the monastery table and from later celebrations, but the original inventor and any lineage going back to antiquity are unknown.

A Christmas sweet of Puglia and Basilicata

As Christmas approaches, families in Puglia gather in the kitchen and share the work of pinching and rolling the strips. Making many flowers at once and going through the stages of drying, cooking, and coating with syrup are also part of preparing for the celebration.

The sweet is also popular in Basilicata; in Pisticci, it is counted among the Christmas sweets under the corresponding local name “ngartagliato.” In Ruvo del Monte, fried cartellate are topped with vino cotto and chopped toasted almonds. Names, syrups, and decorations differ between the two regions, and each family and town hands the sweet down as a celebratory treat.

Glossary