The History of Cannoli - todayinternationalnews.com

So now let’s talk about another very popular one. Cannoli are Italian pastries that are very well known in the United States, as well as all over the world.   These pastries are part of the Prodotti  Agroalimentari Tradizionali list, which is the official approval list for the most typical Italian edible products.

The History of Cannoli

This list is for food and the UNESCO list is for protected geographical sites. The first thing that must be made clear is that the word cannoli is plural. So, asking for one cannoli is a contradiction. This is just the same as when people ask for a biscotti,  as this is also a plural word that means cookies,   the singular being biscotti.

So we would not ask for a cannoli any more than we would ask for cookies. In fact, the singular word is cannolo, so you should be using this word when ordering only one of these pastries. With that understood, let’s learn about cannoli,   their history, features, and preparation. Cannoli may be very well known, but their history is not. Nothing is absolutely certain, so  we have to look to legends and suppositions.

We do know that this particular dessert is very old,  although it went through variations that probably looked a little different from what we know today.  The name comes from the Latin canna which refers to a reed from the river.

These pastries look like little pieces of reed, and reeds were also used to roll the dough which constitutes the outer shell of this pastry. The very first relevant historical reference is attributed to the Latin writer Marcus  Tullius Cicero, who during a trip to Sicily in the year 70 BCE was captivated by a “tubus farinarius dulcissimō eduliō ex lacte fartus”, meaning a tube made with flour filled with very sweet stuffing made with milk.

This already sounds pretty close,   but it’s not exactly what we picture today.  The Sicilian origin seems certain, though.   Many believe that in order to get something like the current dessert, we need to consider the Arab conquest of this very desirable island. This brings us to the 9th century,   the times when the ancient city of Caltanissetta fell under the Saracens, and was called Qal’at al Nissa, which means “castle of women”.

One legend says that the concubines of the Emir,   who were spending much of their free time in the kitchen cooking new recipes for him, came up with this recipe utilizing items that were common in their culture. If you are skeptical of this legend, perhaps we can consider the other legend,  which says that it was probably the nuns of the city’s monastery who were responsible. After all, pastry-making was common in monasteries.

Goodies were made for the poor, or to raise money to feed the poor. The pastries were originally created to be eaten at Carnevala, right before Mardi Gras and  Lent, but now they can be enjoyed all year long.  Now let’s talk about the dessert itself. This pastry has two components. First, there is the outer shell. This is called scorza, which in  Italian means bark.

It’s a crunchy outer shell made with flour, sugar, a touch of Marsala wine,  and cinnamon, in order to give it the well-known dark color. The pastry has to be kneaded well,  and when done properly it will result in small bubbles in the shell when the pastries get fried.  The dough will be rolled thin with the help of a rolling pin, small circles will be cut out, and they will be rolled around tubes.

The History of Cannoli

Originally the tubes were natural reeds, though in modern times these were replaced by wood dowels or stainless steel cylinders. These will be deep fried, and then comes the tricky part. The shell must be removed from the tube, with great care to prevent the shell from breaking. In fact,   this is precisely the reason why cannoli are not readily available everywhere in Italy.  

Bakers outside of Sicily consider this procedure too tedious and complicated.  Now let’s talk about the other component, the filling. This must be made only with ricotta and no other cheese. There can be no substitutions whatsoever. In Sicily, they use sheep’s milk, which is sweeter and more digestible.