Nonna Romana Sciddurlo’s Pugliese Christmas Fritters

“Se non facciamo le cartellate, non mi sembra che è Natale (If we don’t make cartellate, it doesn’t feel like Christmas),” my Nonna Romana declares every year the day after Thanksgiving. These traditional fritters are the most popular Christmas dessert from the region of Puglia, and my experiences learning to make them in my Nonna’s basement apartment in Brooklyn are some of my fondest childhood memories.