Cannoli, tubes of crunchy pastry filled with sweet ricotta cream, are a distinctly Sicilian specialty, dating
back to the Arab occupation of the island in the early Middle Ages.
Cannoli are indeed always fresh in Sicily. Entering a pastry shop you must necessarily ask for “cannoli filled
upon request”. As all Sicilians know, more than 15 minutes of ricotta in the shell, and the cannoli turn from
something magical into mush.
The ricotta must be only sheep’s milk, never cow because cow’s milk ricotta is light and sheep’s milk ricotta
is much creamier. The pastry shell? Flour, and add a bit red wine that has become vinegary, a little pure
alcohol, and a pinch of sugar. Take animal fat, lard, and cut it into little pieces, then work it into the flour
with the wine. Leave the dough to rest for a day.
And the frying? In lard. Using stainless steel tubes as the
pastry molds? No, no, the pastry is wrapped around sugar cane.
