Cannoli

Cannoli are crisp fried pastry tubes filled with sweetened ricotta and studded with candied fruit or chocolate. They're Sicily's signature fried dessert, and the shell and filling are kept apart until the last possible moment — a cannolo filled too early goes soft within the hour.

What it actually is

A thin sheet of pastry dough, often enriched with a little wine or vinegar, is wrapped around a metal tube and deep-fried until it blisters into a hard, hollow shell with a fine crackle. Once cooled and slid off the mould, it's piped full of sweetened ricotta — drained well beforehand so the filling stays thick rather than weeping into the shell — studded with candied fruit, pistachio or chocolate chips.

The shell-and-filling gap in time is the whole point of the dish: a proper cannolo is filled to order, so the shell is still audibly crisp when it's bitten, not softened by hours of sitting in the fridge.

How it's served

• Filled to order, never far in advance.
• Dusted with icing sugar, the ends sometimes dipped in chopped pistachio or chocolate.
• By the piece, as a standalone dessert or alongside other Sicilian pastries.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag gluten, egg and dairy; the shell and the ricotta filling carry all three.
• Say that they're filled fresh, to order, since that's the real point of difference from a pre-filled, softened version.
• Note the filling flavour — plain ricotta, chocolate chip, pistachio — since Sicilian kitchens genuinely vary it.
• Mention if you offer a smaller, bite-sized version, common for a dessert platter or tasting menu.