The joy and the colours of Carnival are in the air: from the end of January already, the cities streets are full of festive confettis. It is not rare to bump into small groups of masked kids.In Salerno you cannot start to celebrate the Carnival if there are no trays full of chiacchiere on the table. The traditional desserts of this period have ancient origins. Their simple and light flavour makes them “timeless”.

Today, the chiacchiere are diffused on the entire Italian territory, even if this dessert is originally from Campania. According to some, the name would honour the power of the “small talks” (chiacchiere in Italian also means small talks) able to turn even the most simple and common event into something impressive. This is a recipe composed of few ingredients and allows you to make many desserts.

According to others, Raffaele Esposito was the author of the recipe. He was the chief for Margaret of Savoy’s court: one day, to satisfy her unexpected and uncontrollable desire of sweetness, Esposito prepared some little cookies and gave them the name of the Queen’s most appreciated activity, the “small talks”.

These delicious pastries have different shapes, such as stripes, bows or tied knots. They can be fried or baked. While in the original version a thin layer of sugar covers the chiacchiere, today you can also find the chocolate version and the grain hazelnuts version.

We are going to propose you the classic version and the vegan one, with no eggs. Get your hands dirty!

250 gr Antonio Amato flour for desserts
50 gr of sugar;
25 gr of butter;
2 eggs;
limoncello (or another liquor);
a hint of salt;
1 vanillin sachet;
icing sugar
frying oil to taste

Preparation

Leave the butter out of the fridge for ten minutes, in order to make it softer. Make the well in the centre of the flour. Add the sugar, the butter, the eggs, the salt, the vanillin and a little liquor glass of limoncello.

Start to work the dough until it becomes homogenous. Sprinkle the surface of the worktop with some flour in order to prevent the dough to stick and do the same with the rolling pin.

Stretch the dough out with the rolling pin and cut it with a zigzag cutting wheel.

In a pan, fry your chiacchiere with abundant oil and leave them cool down on some paper towel.

1 kg of Antonio Amato flour
50 gr of sugar
1 glass of sweet wine
1 glass of corn oil
1 glass of orange, lemon and tangerine juice

Preparation

Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the other ingredients in it. Knead the mix and work it until you get a smooth and elastic dough.

Shape a ball, cover it with a cloth and leave it for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, work the dough for some other minutes, then extend it and make a very thin layer (you can use the rolling pin!).

Cut the layer into 8 cm length stripes, then cut them into many rectangles by using the cutting wheel.

Fry the chiacchiere, few at a time, in abundant hot oil, drain them with a perforated spoon and when they get brown, lay them down onto the paper towel. Leave them cool down and sprinkle some icing sugar on them.