The guasteddra dolce nissena or guastedda is a typical dessert of the city of
Caltanissetta
Caltanissetta (Sicilian language, Sicilian: ''Cartanissètta)'' is an Italian comune with a population of 58,012 inhabitants, serving as the capital of the Province of Caltanissetta, free municipal consortium of Caltanissetta in Sicily.
The earl ...
tradition.
The word ''guastedda'' being a cacuminal or retroflex
phoneme
A phoneme () is any set of similar Phone (phonetics), speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible Phonetics, phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word fr ...
(
Voiced retroflex plosive
The voiced retroflex plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is d`. Like all the retroflex ...
) is written ''guastedda'' and pronounced ''guasteddra'', it is represented with the symbol
–in the
international phonetic alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standard written representation ...
(IPA); this phoneme is not present in the
Italian language
Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is ...
.
The guastedda with the ricotta filling becomes
raviola di ricotta nissena
The Nissena ricotta ravioli or Raviola di ricotta nissena is a fried dessert characteristic of the city of Caltanissetta, prepared with puff pastry and a ricotta filling; note that it should not be confused with the fried raviola from Catania, w ...
.
The dessert is the base of the Raviola di ricotta nissena, without having the ricotta filling.
This dessert is not included in the list of traditional Italian agri-food products.
The guastedde in Sicily are produced in many sweet and non-sweet variations, the nissena one however is a unicum typical of the city of Caltanissetta.
Ingredients
Soft wheat flour typically from majorca wheat,
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...
typically from
sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...
and strictly
lard
Lard is a Quasi-solid, semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering (animal products), rendering the adipose tissue, fatty tissue of a domestic pig, pig. as a fat for frying.
The guastedda normally has the diameter of the side of the ricotta raviola, being the disk that is folded on itself after the ricotta filling has been placed in the raviola.
For its production it is strictly necessary to use
lard
Lard is a Quasi-solid, semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering (animal products), rendering the adipose tissue, fatty tissue of a domestic pig, pig. as a
frying fat.
Once cooked, the dessert is brushed with melted honey similarly to the raviola di ricotta nissena.
Notes
* The lard prevents the preparation of the dessert in the summer due to the high temperatures.
See also
*
List of Italian desserts and pastries
This is a list of Italian cuisine, Italian desserts and Pastry, pastries. Italian cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BCE. Italian desserts have been heavily influenced ...
References
External links
* Salvatore Farina: ''Dolcezze di Sicilia. Arte cultura storia e tradizioni dei dolci e della pasticceria siciliana'' 2003, ISBN 88-8243-084-7
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Cuisine of Sicily
Italian confectionery
Italian pastries
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