Cartellate, also known in their dialectal version as cartiddhate, are typical Apulian Christmas sweets that can be tasted all year round, especially during Christmas. They are more typical of the Bari area but can be found as far as Salento. In Salento, these sweets are prepared together with another typical Christmas delicacy, the purceddhuzzi.

The Apulian cartellate are popular for several reasons: because they are a real sweet cuddle, crunchy, and if dipped in honey, mulled wine or figs syrup, they really have that extra “something” that other desserts perhaps do not have. But are the original recipe and ingredients always the same? How different are the cartellate from Lecce? And what is the recipe?