Pitta 'Mpigliata Calabrese di Natale
Cosenza and Sila, Calabria
One of the most extraordinary Christmas pastries in Italy: a coiled, rose-shaped pastry from the Sila and Cosenza areas of Calabria, filled with chopped figs, raisins, honey, walnuts, pine nuts, cinnamon, cloves, and candied citron. The pastry dough is enriched with lard, white wine, and olive oil. The filling is mounded in the centre of a pastry square, the corners folded in and sealed, then the whole is coiled into a rose shape before baking. The name means 'enwrapped' — the filling is imprisoned in the pastry.