In Naples, they are called ‘e chiacchiere’ and we eat them by dipping them in the inevitable black pudding, which today is made of chocolate only, but in the past it also included pig’s blood, an abolished ingredient to which it owes its name.
In Roman times chiacchiere were called frictilia because they were fried in pork fat. It is believed they were prepared during the Saturnalia, festivities from which our Carnival originated. However they took the name we know it thanks to Queen Margherita of Savoy.
Legend has it that in Naples the Queen asked her trusted court cook Raffaele Esposito for a cake that would perfectly accompany the afternoon chats with her guests: from there the royal chef had the brilliant intuition that has come down to us.
Besides being called chiacchiere, these sweet fritters are also known as bugie, frappe, cioffe, strufoli or fiocchetti. Even within the same region, then, chiacchiere can be called with different names. An example? In Piedmont it is okay to call them risòle, gale or bugie; in Emilia they are called sfrappole, intrigoni or fried pizzas. In Venice, instead, chiacchiere are called galàni or crostòli.
