With the flying dove arriving in Venice this saturday, (usually some famous person dressed in a bird suit) Carneval begins. Along with carneval comes the traditional pastries eaten this time of year- the frittelle and the galani.
The 'fritole' (in Venetian dialect) are the preferred treat- fried balls of dough similar to our zeppoli and covered in powdered sugar. They can be filled with zabaione, (which is a rum based cream) or regular cream. The traditional frittelle called the Veneziana, had nothing inside but the dough is itself is packed with raisins and sometimes other candied fruit.
The Venetian desert galani, which are called chiacchiere in Italian are also made from fried dough, but look more like fried flat srtips of pasta covered in powdered sugar. Unlike the soft, cake like frittelle, the galani are crunchy and brittle.
Both treats are typically served with a glass of prosecco, the sparkling wine grown in the hills near Venice. If you want to try these treats better hurry- they are only made in February!