P
Italian · Puglia, Bari
Carteddate Pugliesi al Vincotto
Spiral-shaped fried pastry from Puglia made by rolling thin pasta dough (flour, olive oil, white wine) into strips, pinching at intervals to form a rosette shape, then deep-frying until golden and drizzling with warm vincotto (cooked grape must reduced to a syrup) or honey. Carteddate are traditional Christmas pastry in Puglia — their laborious shaping reflects the festive context. The dough must be rolled thin enough to be translucent; if too thick, the spirals become doughy inside. The vincotto's tartness balances the oil richness of the fried dough.
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I
The Market List
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For the dough
500 g
plain flour (tipo 00)
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
60 ml
extra-virgin olive oil
Your own market
120 ml
dry white wine
at room temperature
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
30 ml
anise liqueur (Sambuca)
optional; traditional in Bari province families
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For frying
1 litre
olive oil
for deep-frying
Your own market
For finishing
250 ml
vincotto
grape-must syrup; fig vincotto may be substituted
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
30 g
icing sugar
for dusting; optional
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Combine the flour, olive oil, white wine, and Sambuca in a bowl and work the mixture until a smooth, cohesive dough forms — the alcohol and fat together relax the dough quickly, so it will feel supple sooner than a water-based dough would. Wrap and rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, so the dough loses any residual tension and rolls to a thin sheet without snapping back. It is ready when it yields easily under a finger without springing back.
2
Roll the dough in successive passes through a pasta machine or with a rolling pin until it reaches 1–2 mm maximum, feeding it through each setting twice before advancing, so the gluten is eased rather than torn. Hold the sheet to the light: this is where the dish lives or dies — the sheet must be translucent, because any opacity means the dough is too thick and the spirals will be doughy at their centres after frying.
3
Using a fluted pastry wheel, cut the sheet into strips approximately 3 cm wide. Cut with a single, confident stroke rather than a sawing motion, so the serrated edges remain sharply defined and open — those ridges are what grip and hold the vincotto once the carteddate are dressed.
4
Beginning at one end of each strip, pinch the dough at regular intervals — every 3–4 cm — drawing each pinched point toward the centre to form a ruched channel, so the cavities remain open through frying and can later trap the vincotto. Roll the strip from one end, tightening slightly as you go, to produce a compact rosette, then set the formed carteddate on a lightly floured tray; the finished rosette should be firm enough to hold its shape when lifted but not so tightly wound that the centre layers are sealed shut.
5
Heat the olive oil in a wide, deep vessel to 170–175°C and fry the carteddate in small batches — no more than four or five at a time — so the oil temperature does not fall and the pastry crisps rather than steams and turns greasy. Fry, turning once, until the spirals are an even deep gold and the surface stiffens audibly when tapped, then remove with a spider or slotted spoon and drain on a rack.
6
Warm the vincotto in a small saucepan to 50–60°C — it should be fluid and fragrant but not boiling — so it runs freely into every fold rather than sitting in a thick glaze on the surface. Drizzle it generously over the carteddate while they are still warm, because cold pastry will not draw the syrup inward; the tartness of the vincotto should be clearly perceptible against the oil richness of the dough. Dust with icing sugar if desired.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Dough made with a single-estate Puglian extra-virgin olive oil of low acidity; vincotto sourced from a small producer using Primitivo or Negroamaro must reduced by long, slow cooking; fig vincotto of comparable artisan provenance for variation.
02
Estate — A good dry white wine with genuine acidity in the dough — Verdeca or Fiano. Commercial vincotto from a named Puglian producer. Tipo 00 flour milled for pasta.
03
Market — Any light, dry white wine. Supermarket vincotto or a dense grape-must reduction from a reliable Italian delicatessen. Standard tipo 00 or plain flour.
04
House — Neutral vegetable oil substituted for part of the olive oil in the dough; honey used in place of vincotto, warmed before application. Acceptable for an everyday batch but the tartness that defines the dish is absent.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. The rolled dough sheet is translucent when held to a light source — 1–2 mm, no more.
◇Sight. Fried carteddate are an even deep gold with no pale or raw-looking patches between the spiral layers.
◇Sound. The surface of a drained carteddata emits a faint crackle when tapped lightly — the crust has set.
◇Smell. Warm vincotto is fragrant and fluid at 50–60°C, its grape-must aroma clearly present before it is drizzled.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dough sheet must be rolled to translucency — 1–2 mm at most — or the spirals will be doughy at their centres and the pastry is lost.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Agave spirit
From British Columbia
SOV Wheated Rye Whisky
Sons of Vancouver Distillery · Metro Vancouver
Sons of Vancouver Distillery · North Vancouver →Whisky
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
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