Carnival is a festival that is celebrated in the countries of Christian tradition and in particular in Catholic ones, where the festivities are celebrated with parades and allegorical floats.
The word Carnival comes from the Latin "CARNEM LEVARE (eliminate the meat) and indicated the banquet that was held on the last day (Fat Tuesday) before the start of Lent, the period of abstinence and fasting preceding Easter. The start date of the Carnival coincides with the Sunday of "Settuagesima", which is celebrated 70 days before Easter, and it ends 40 days before.
"At Carnival every joke is allowed..." and if Seneca thought that once a year it was ok to be crazy, Lorenzo the Magnificent wrote: "How beautiful it is youth, that you flee however! Whoever wants to be pleased, then so be it : in tomorrow there is no certainty... let's toast today, free and enjoy carefreeness."
The dessert par excellence of Carnival are “chiacchere” or “crostoli” (Crostui in Friulian dialect) crumbly, golden and rectangular, they have an unmistakable appearance and flavor.
The origins of these delicacies date back to ancient Rome, when the Saturnali were celebrated, a festival very similar to Carnival. During this period of folk festivals and banquets, all social rules were overturned and one of the symbols of this excess was the "Frictilia", sweets fryed in pork fat that were distributed to the crowds in the streets of the city. Historically, one of the typical products of carnival was pork, symbol of lust and temptation and it is no coincidence that the festivities began in the circle of Sant'Antonio Abate (January 17), iconographically represented with fire and pork precisely for having won over the temptations of the devil.
The dough of the Crostoli varies according to regional recipes, but one thing that surely has to be present are the bubbles, a sign that the dough has been pulled properly and they have been fryed to perfection. We present you the recipe that has delighted our palates for decades.
Ingredients: 4 eggs, 4 tablespoons of sugar, 4 tablespoons of oil, 100g of butter, 1 glass of milk, 1 glass of rum or grappa, 1 glass of white wine, 2 vanilline, 1 brewer.b s yeast, salt and lemon.