Cannoli

[Kitty Reeves]

I love cannoli in any shape or form. Chocolate, strawberry or plain, that is just something delectable about cannoli. I got curious about the history of cannoli, so I looked it up.

Cannoli are Italian pastry desserts. The singular is cannolo (or in the Sicilian language cannolu, plural cannola), meaning "little tube", with the etymology stemming from the Latin "canna", or reed. Cannoli originated in Sicily and are a staple of Sicilian cuisine. They are also popular in Italian American cuisine. In Italy, they are commonly known as "cannoli siciliani", Sicilian cannoli.

Cannoli has been traced to the Arabs during the Emirate of Sicily, with a possible origin for the word and recipe deriving directly from qanawāt. These were deep fried dough tubes filled with various sweets, which were a popular pastry across the Islamic world at the time, from Al-Andalus to Iraq and including Sicily. Cannoli come from the Palermo and Messina areas and were historically prepared as a treat during Carnevale season, possibly as a fertility symbol; one legend assigns their origin to the harem of Caltanissetta. The dessert eventually became a year-round staple throughout Italy.

Do you like cannoli? What flavors? Chocolate? Strawberry? Plain? Or something else?

 

[Pessel]

I like the plain. But I think it's usually Vanilla flavored. The Cannoli filling is what really interests me. Chefs are using Cannoli fillings with other types of snacks, like donuts and pastries, and to let us know they and the term Cannoli to the name. Cannoli Croissant Donut, for example, actually exists.

 

[Joie d'Etre]

Oh this makes me so hungry. I would also go with vanilla flavour -- it's so light and smooth, though not overwhelmingly so! Though I don't think I ever saw a strawberry one. Interesting.

 

[Dina000]

I have never seen chocolate or strawberry flavored fillings before. My favorite is the plain, or vanilla, filled with mini chocolate chips! They are one of my favorite pastries.

 

[Hermann]

Plain with candy fruit.

 

[Kitty Reeves]

@everyone who had never seen strawberry filling before; Maybe it's only the bakery where I live who does it? It's a little bakery behind a famous restraint, and they sell freshly made raviolis and freshly made Italian pastries and cookies and such. The strawberry cannoli has strawberry flavored cream filling. The cream is literally pink! That and when they serve it in the restaurant, they chop up strawberries and sprinkle them over cannoli. It's really tasty!