chiacchiere

They are a treat for carnival time, the descendants of the frictilia made in ancient Rome for Saturnalia. Every country in Europe has a different name for them. Italy, of course, has at least forty. Chiacchiere is popular in much of south. The name translates as 'chatty' and the Neapolitans like to say it's because they were invented for a party for Queen Margherita. Here they are sometimes accompanied by a sanguinaccio dolce sauce.

In other parts of Italy, they can be bugie, busie, cioffe, cróstoli, gale, gasse, gróstoli, sfrappe, frappe, sfrappole, cenci, fiocchetti, guanti, maraviglias, merveilles, cunchiell, sfinci or stracci and on and on.

Whatever the name, it's a simple strip of flat, light dough, deep-fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

In the U.S. they might be called 'angel wings', or chrusciki, their name in Polish.