Pitta 'Nchiusa Calabrese
Calabria (interior and hill towns)
Calabria's ancient filled Christmas pastry — a sealed tart of short pastry encasing a filling of dried figs, raisins, walnuts, almonds, honey, vincotto (cooked grape must), cinnamon, cloves, and 'nduja for the occasional savoury variant. The sealed pitta (from the same Greek word that gives us Pitta bread — 'flat baked thing') is decorated with pastry cuts or impressions before baking, and the dried fruit filling develops an almost jam-like consistency during baking as the honey and vincotto caramelise. A Christmas and feast-day preparation found across the Calabrian interior.