The Sicilian cannolo: a masterpiece of Italian pastry.

Sicily has a great and ancient tradition regarding pastry. Among its specialties, the Sicilian Cannolo is certainly among the best known and appreciated desserts. Today the Sicilian Cannolo is among the best known traditional Italian sweets all over the world and has received the recognition of traditional agri-food product (PAT), as well as honored some time ago by a symbolic and fun “Sicilian space program” that saw it launched into space with a probe balloon as an emblem of Sicily all over the world. An origin, that of the Sicilian cannolo, which is lost in the times, that certain stories go back to the Arab reworking of an ancient Roman recipe (of which there are traces in Cicero), bringing it back to the nuns of a cloistered convent or to the women of the lord's harem of the ancient city of Caltanissetta, then spread by the confectioners of Palermo in the recipe that we know today and those of Messina who have made a variant with ricotta and chocolate filling. Its name derives from its tube shape, given by the use that was made until not long ago of the river reeds around which the dough was rolled, today replaced by tin rods not welded. A wafer (the so-called “zest” or “scorcia”, traditionally fried in lard) about fifteen centimeters long (but also twenty, especially in Piana degli Albanesi, where every year the traditional “Sagra del Cannolo " occurs) and with a diameter of four to five centimeters, filled with a compound based on sweetened sheep's ricotta (in some areas of Sicily with cow's ricotta, with a more delicate taste) to which various ingredients can be added and decorated at the ends with grains of almonds or pistachios (used especially in the easternmost area of Sicily), chocolate chips (used especially in the Palermo tradition), then dusted with powdered sugar. In order to enjoy it in perfect condition it is important that they are filled just before serving them so that the wafer of the cannolo remains crispy. For this reason in our packages the ricotta is separated from the waffle. Inside the package there are piping bags that allow you to fill the cannolo at the moment