The Carnival period has also arrived with its streamers and confetti colourful.
The "craziest" party of the year cannot be such without traditional desserts:Frappe and Castagnole!|| |150
Ogni festa in calendario ha per noi italiani le sue tradizioni e specialità gastronomiche. Il Carnevale porta con sé il turbinio dei carri allegorici, la frenesia dei bambini travestiti, la particolarità delle maschere, dalle più divertenti alle più ricercate.
But let's not forget thesweets|| |154! Frappe and Castagnole set our tables, both in the classic and revisited versions. Let's retrace the history of these delicious desserts together.
Frappe
They are light and crumbly strips of fried dough, dusted with icing sugar, excellent both in the simple version and glazed with honey, chocolate or dipped and lightly colored with Alchermes. In central Italy and especially in Rome, they are called “frappe“, while in the north they are known by the name of “cenci“, “sfrappole” or “lies“.
We also make them with pistachio cream!
In the south, however, everyone identifies this dessert with the name “chiacchiere“, wanting to indicate the simplicity of the ingredients and its speed of execution, ideal for have a "chat with friends".
History and legends
On the origins of frappe there are manyhistorical ideas and legends. One of these involves the queenMargherita of Savoy who asked her trusted chef to create a simple and quick dessert, to satisfy her sudden appetite.
In reality you can go back in time, even to the years ofAncient Rome where, during the “saturnalia“, the “frictilia“ were made, strips of dough fried in lard, very similar to ours modern chatter. The fact that these sweets were fried in pork fat was a sign of opulence and wealth.
Le Castagnole
Le castagnole instead, they are fried dough balls, circular in shape, golden and crunchy on the outside and very soft on the inside. The coating is compact and grainy given the addition of abundant granulated sugar on the surface: the balls are literally rolled on it! Castagnole are offered both in thesimple version of pasta only, and in the more delicious version filled with cream in various flavours come la chantilly, ricotta e nutella, crema al pistacchio, con ricotta al rum…e molto altro ancora.
History
First courses historical notes oncastagnole date back to around 1700, in fact we can find a trace in a Viterbo manuscript where four recipes are described: three involve cooking in the oven and one only. Some believe that as early as 1600, two chefs from the D'Angiò and Farnese families prepared "Roman-style struffoli" for their lords, very similar to castagnole.
These Carnival delights have a more or less ancient history and despite the passage of time and centuries, they remain among the favorite desserts of adults and children! Perhaps also because their characteristics allow you to "play" with a thousand variations, one more delicious than the other.
We invite you to our restaurant to try the classic Frappe, glazed with chocolate or with pistachio cream and the Traditional castagnole or pistachio and ricotta cream puffs version!
We are sure that once you taste it, you will take away entire trays for your families!
