Puglia — throughout the region, with variants in all provinces. Cartellate are among the oldest documented Christmas pastries of southern Italy — the rose form may pre-date Christianity, with associations to the solar celebrations of December in ancient southern Italian cultures. They are mentioned in 14th-century Pugliese sources.
Cartellate are the most ancient and characteristic Christmas pastry of Puglia: thin, rectangular strips of pasta-like dough (flour, wine, and olive oil) rolled into concentric rose shapes by folding the dough strip back and forth, then deep-fried in olive oil until crisp and golden, then dressed while still hot with vincotto (cooked grape must) or honey. The vincotto, with its dark sweetness and slight acidity, is absorbed into the flower-shaped pastry, pooling in the concentric grooves. They are prepared in enormous batches in Pugliese households in the weeks before Christmas and kept in ceramic jars. Their origin is possibly pre-Christian — the rose shape appears in ancient Mediterranean fertility and solar celebrations.
Cartellate dressed with vincotto are simultaneously crisp and sticky — the fried dough shatters at the first bite, but the vincotto has penetrated the folds and softened the interior layers. The vincotto's complex sweet-sour-grape flavour is the dominant note; the olive oil dough provides a clean, faintly savory base. They smell of Christmas in Puglia — hot olive oil, grape must, and warm dough.
The dough: 500g 00 flour, 100ml dry white wine (the classic Pugliese liquid for pastry), 100ml extra-virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt, and enough additional wine to form a smooth, workable dough. The olive oil is worked in directly — no water. Rest 30 minutes. Roll thin (2mm). Cut into strips 2.5cm wide and 20-25cm long. Use a pastry wheel with a fluted edge for the traditional zigzag edges. To shape: fold each strip back and forth (like a fan) at 3-4cm intervals, pressing the folds together at the centre — the result should be a loose rose shape. Fry in olive oil at 175°C until golden. Remove, drain briefly. Pour hot vincotto or warmed honey over generously.
Vincotto (cooked grape must, reduced to a syrup) is the traditional dressing — it has a complex sweet-sour flavour that honey alone doesn't replicate. Vincotto from Salento and Brindisi is the most traditional; it can be purchased from Pugliese specialty importers. The cartellate keep for 3-4 weeks in a sealed ceramic or glass container — they actually improve with time as the vincotto soaks fully into the pastry.
Dough too thick — thin dough creates the characteristic crisp, layered effect; thick dough produces a heavy pastry that doesn't absorb the vincotto properly. Not pressing the folds firmly enough — the rose shape opens during frying if insufficiently pressed. Pouring vincotto over cold cartellate — it must be applied hot; cold vincotto doesn't penetrate the folds.
Carol Field, The Italian Baker; Slow Food Editore, Puglia in Cucina