Carnival fritters (divided by shape and type of dough used)


Dough balls (with or without yeast)

Bigne
Castagnole
Crostoli
Frittole or Frittelle
Galani
Screppele (sometimes spelled scripelle or scrapelle)
Tortelli
Zeppole


Pastry strips

Bugie
Caragnole
Chiacchiere
Cenci
Frappe
Lettughe
Nastrini


* Variations may occur

Carnival fritters are known by different names depending on the regions they are made. The recipes may vary -- but not necessarily by region. It seems countless of variations occur within regions, provinces and individual households. Generally speaking these fried pastry strips are made in three shapes: large rectangular strips, thin rectangular strips and bow-shaped. The names given for these fritters are: Bugie (English translation, lies) -- from Piedmont; Chiacchiere (English translation, gossip) -- from Lombardy, Chiacchiere di Suora (English translation, Nuns' gossip) -- from Parma, and Cenci (English translation "rags and tatters") -- from Tuscany. Also on the list of Carnival fried pastry strips whose shapes vary are: Lattughe (English translation: lettuces) from Emilia-Romagna, Cannaricali from Calabria and "Nastrini" (English translation, "Lovers' knots). In some sources "galani" from the Veneto region are described as fried pastry strips, other times as dough balls. The same goes for Crostoli from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region and Zeppole from Sardinia. Zeppole from Campania are dough balls but as for Sardinia, it's hard to say what they are from the information given on the internet. Even the recipes for "Frittole" or "Frittelle alla Veneziana" occasionally pop up as fried pastry strips, but generally the recipes are those made with yeast dough. Prior to World War II most fritters were made for the Christmas holidays, Carnival and The Feast Day of Saint Joseph. According to a number of first-generation Italian-Canadians from the Molise region caragnole were also made for these three holidays. However, in Canada, the tradition of making these fritters for Carnival died off in the 1960s, as few, if any, in North America cared about Carnival (except for those in New Orleans perhaps). Also, fewer and fewer Italian-Canadians make fritters for The Feast Day of Saint Joseph as this feast day is not given that much attention in North America. Generally speaking, those who keep the fritter tradition alive in this part of the world do them for Christmas. Of course, there are those who love fried dough so much they make fritters any old time.... Photo: Mary Melfi.

Back to main list