Purcidduzzi salentini and Cartellate

If you ask a Puglian what the typical Christmas dish of their land is, they will mostly indicate a dessert, most likely the Purcidduzzi from Salento and the Cartellate from Bari. These preparations bring with them a mix of aromas and flavors typical of that time of year, of one’s childhood, of one’s family.

The ancient Arab and Spanish contacts certainly influenced the Apulian confectionery production, but the elements used for the preparation came and come from our countryside. Almonds, honey, wheat, figs, quinces, ricotta, olive oil are the good raw materials used to prepare simple desserts such as cartallate and more elaborate and rich desserts such as almond paste fish from the ancient tradition of female Apulian monasteries. And so, despite the differences in forge and the slang variations, those preparations, so different from province to province, have the products of our land in common.

The purcidduzzi from Salento and the Cartellate from Bari, for example, are prepared with the same ingredients and according to a very similar procedure. Cartellate are the Christmas dessert par excellence of the popular tradition of Puglia. From a mixture of flour, oil and dry white wine, ribbons of pasta are obtained which are shaped to form a spiral, with a design reminiscent of a rose, full of small concavities and interstices which, after frying, must collect the wine ( or must) cooked or cooked figs. This last spraying and the final addition of finely chopped cinnamon and cloves, tiny sprinkles or toasted almonds, represent the personalizing element of the Cartellate, the aromas and flavors that lead back to our Christmas, to our family and to our tradition.

Below we show you the ingredients for a correct preparation of Purcidduzzi.
The recipe is a bit particular, but the result will be excellent!

The original recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of flour,
• 200 ml of olive oil
• Freshly squeezed orange and mandarin juice
• 1 pinch of salt
• honey
• pine nuts

Method:

1. Knead the listed ingredients first and knead them for a long time.
2. Then slowly add the orange and mandarin juice, or just the orange is fine, together with a pinch of salt.
3. The quantity of juice needed is what ensures that the mixture is homogeneous.
4. When the dough is ready, cut it into small pieces and with the help of a grater, turn them inside out, crushing them and sliding them downwards.
5. These small pasta dumplings, the Purcidduzzi Salentini, heat them in oil in a pan and fry them. Take care that the oil temperature is not too high.
6. When the purcidduzzi are golden, drain them and let the oil absorb.