Angel wings are a traditional sweet crisp pastry made out of dough that has been shaped into thin twisted ribbons, deep frying, and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Common to many European cuisines, angel wings have been incorporated into other regional cuisines (such as American cuisine) by immigrant populations. They are most commonly eaten in the period just before Lent, often during Carnival and on Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent—not to be confused with "Fat Tuesday" (Mardi Gras), the day before the start of Lent (Ash Wednesday). There is a tradition in some countries for husbands to give angel wings to their wives on Friday the 13th in order to avoid bad luck.
Alternative names
In the various national cuisines, angel wings are referred to as:
-
Bashkir language: ҡош теле, qush tili ('bird tongue')
-
Belarusian: хрушчы, chruščy, or фаворкі, favorki
-
, favorki
-
Chilean Spanish: calzones rotos ('torn panties')
-
, kroštule
-
Czech language: boží milosti
-
Danish language: klejner
-
Greek language: δίπλες, diples (or thiples)
-
Italian language: chiacchiere ('chatter'), bugie ('lies'), cenci ('rags'), crostoli, frappe, galani, grostoli, sfrappole, nocche
-
Judeo-Spanish: fiyuelas, fazuelos
-
Latvian language: žagariņi ('twigs'), zaķauši ('rabbit ears')
- * Latgalian: žagareni
-
Lithuanian: žagarėliai ('twigs, sticks')
-
Maltese language: xkunvat
-
Norwegian: fattigmann ('poor man')
-
Tibetan cuisine: Khapse, Khapsey
-
Polish language: faworki, chruściki, chrusty
-
Portuguese: orelha de gato, cueca virada, filhós, coscorão, cavaquinho, crostoli
-
Romanian: minciunele, uscatele; regionally: cirighele
-
Russian language: хворост, khvorost ('twigs, sticks'), sometimes called "Russian twig cookies"
-
Russian-Canadian Doukhobor dialect: орешки, oreshki ('nuts')
-
Slovak language: fánka,
[ Slavic dictionary (Slovak). Retrieved June 5, 2010.] čeregi
-
Slovenian: flancati
-
Spanish language: pestiños
-
Swedish language: klenäter
-
Tatar language: кош теле, kush tili ('bird tongue')
-
Ukrainian: вергуни, verhuny
-
Uzbek language: qush tili ('bird tongue')
-
Yiddish: כרוסט
Variants
Bulgaria
In
Bulgaria, angel wings are called
kukurini, and are only found in
Bansko, south-east Bulgaria. They are typically sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Croatia and Slovenia
Kroštule are a traditional Croatian pastry from
Dalmatia and
Istria,
also popular in coastal
Slovenia as
hroštule. It is made from deep frying dough.
France
In France, the fried pastry are made in central-eastern France, including
Lyon and Saint-Étienne, and are closely related to
. Traditionally, Lyon
Lunch meat shops sold
bugnes just before
Lent, due to their high fat content. They are also made in the home as a way of using surplus cooking fat, which would be wasted during Lent. More recently, bakeries make them, respecting more or less the tradition of Lent.
French bugnes varieties include crunchy bugnes and soft bugnes. The crunchy variety, known as bugnes lyonnaises ('Lyon bugnes'), are cooked in very hot oil with the dough spread out thinly and knotted once or twice. The soft variety, sometimes known as "pillows", are made with a thicker dough, which is rarely knotted.
Hungary
Hungarian
csöröge are made from egg yolk, flour, a leavening agent, sugar, salt, and cognac or brandy. They are deep fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar. They are traditional at weddings.
Italy
Italian
chiacchiere are eaten at Carnival time. Their various regional names include:
frappe (a name shared with similar treats) in
Lazio;
sfrappole in
Emilia-Romagna;
bugie in
Genoa and
Piedmont;
cenci in
Tuscany; and
galani or
crostoli in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige, and
Veneto.
Fritte and many other regional names exist. Regional variations in the recipe include sprinkling with citrus zest, typically orange or lemon, or using anisette wine as the alcoholic base. It is very common in Italian families to make them at home. They often accompany the similarly famous
castagnole.
Lithuania
Žagarėliai are the equivalents of angel wings in Lithuania.
Žagarėliai (or "small sticks" in English) are delicate pastry dough cookies, deep fried in fat. It is best to use lard or oil for deep frying these cookies.
Skruzdėlynas translates as 'anthill' in English and is layers of fried dough strips, covered in honey and topped with poppy seeds. It is a typical dessert served during Lithuanian family celebrations.
Poland
Faworki and
chrusty are the plural forms of the words
faworek and
chrust respectively.
The Polish word faworki was the name reserved for colourful ribbons attached to either female or male clothing, especially ribbons given to medieval knights by their ladies. Etymologically the word faworki came to Poland from the French word faveur, meaning 'grace' or 'favour'.
The Polish word chrust means 'dry branches broken off trees' or 'brushwood'.[ chrust Polish online dictionary (Polish). Retrieved November 25, 2009.] Chruścik is a diminutive of chrust.
Ukraine
Verhuny are sweet cookies, fried in lard, which have the form of oblong strips.
Verhuny are a Ukrainian confectionery with non-yeast dough, which includes flour, butter, eggs, sugar and additives such as alcohol (rum, brandy or
horilka) or, in extreme cases, vinegar (vinegar sometimes together with alcohol). As substitute for butter, but more often as an additional component in
verhuny, milk products (milk, smetana i.e. sour cream, or cream) are added. Traditionally, Ukrainian
verhuny should only be fried in lard.
United States
In the United States, many ethnic bakeries in the cities of
Cleveland,
Chicago, Buffalo, and
Detroit make angel wings, and they are especially popular during the holidays of
Easter and
Christmas. During those holidays, some bakeries require people to pre-order their angel wings.
See also
-
List of fried dough foods
-
Maejap-gwa – a similarly shaped Korean pastry
