The Grecanica area occupies a small part of the immense province of Reggio Calabria, between a piece of the Ionian coast and the Aspromonte massif. It is a very particular cultural identity which attempts to describe itself through its own idiom (Greek-Calabrian), particular crafts, some rites and its gastronomic traditions.
They are not made very often now however, buffeddhi are sweets that are part of the Greek-Calabrian gastronomic heritage and they were prepared for Christmas. The long preparation of these sweets is divided into two phases: the filling is made one day in advance using cooked sweet potatoes, which are combined with honey, cinnamon, cloves, mandarin peel and cooked must. The second phase, on the other hand, is the one dedicated to making the puff pastry and the assembly of the buffeddhi. The dough is made from flour, egg, oil, sugar and wine; after the dough is mixed it is then spread like a sheet with a thickness of about one centimetre. Small circles (with a diameter of 10 centimetres) are made from the pastry using a glass that has filling inside of it, these circles are then sealed giving them their typical crescent shape. Finally, the buffeddhi are fried in an abundant amount of oil. Given the many hours of work required to prepare these sweets, neighbours usually helped each other to make them.
They were prepared for Christmas, consumed at the end of lunch or dinner and were very popular, even with small children, given that the taste of the buffeddhi is slightly sweet.
Today, finding some of the ingredients for the preparation of buffeddhi is not easy, in fact almost no one prepares cooked must anymore and sweet potatoes – which are used to feed pigs – have been replaced by other foods. Furthermore, young people have little interest in preparing these "challenging" desserts, and they therefore have a preference for more modern pastries.
The research activities necessary for the reporting of this product in the Ark of Taste online catalogue were financed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, Directorate General of the Tertiary Sector and Corporate Social Responsibility – notice n ° 1/2018 "Slow Food in action: communities protagonists of change ", pursuant to Article 72 of the Tertiary Sector Code, referred to in Legislative Decree No. 117/2017
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