One of the last places we thought we would encounter a regional Calabrian pastry was Pittsburgh, but here we are! I consider myself to be very conversant in Italian Dolci Tipici, but I am always delighted to learn of some new sweet. This past weekend when we were in Pittsburgh for a brief work trip, we encountered a Calabrian pastry, pintinchiusa, at the Enrico Biscotti Company (2022 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222). We have never been to Calabria, nor have we even seen this particular pastry available at all in the United States before. When doing a little digging we were interested to see that Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania had a significant contingent of Italians from Calabria who came over to work in mines and other heavy industry. M’s Calabrian side has roots in far Eastern Ohio, near Pittsburgh, and were probably part of this same wave of migration.
The name of this sweet treat appears to be spelled a myriad of ways between standard Italian and Calabrian (and even then, not terribly standard). We saw it spelled as Pitta ‘Mpigliata, Pitta ‘nchiusa, Pintinchuisa, among others. Pintinchuisa, as it is spelled at Enrico’s, is a flaky rolled rosette-shaped pastry filled with raisins, nuts, and warming spices like cinnamon. Enrico’s version also had coconut, which seems to be a special touch. Though different in appearance, in some ways Pintinchuisa reminds me of the traditional Sicilian Christmas cookie, cuccidati, also filled with nuts, citrus peel, and spices. Much like cuccidati, pintinchiusa are commonly eaten at Christmastime. This Christmas we might even consider adding it to our repertoire! You can find recipes for Pintinchuisa at Italian Food Forever, Great Italian Chefs, and Sonia Peronaci (in Italian).
Eating The World 