Mpanatigghi

01 / ABOUT THE DISH

About the dish

Mpanatigghi are small crescent-shaped, thin-crusted cookies filled with a mixture of sugar, chocolate, almonds, lemon peel, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, and one slightly unusual ingredient – ground beef. The name mpanatigghi is probably derived from the Spanish word empanada , meaning wrapped in bread dough , as they were first brought to Sicily during the Spanish rule in the 16th century. Nowadays they are a specialty of the town of Modica in Sicily, and due to the fact that their name is almost unpronounceable to non-locals, mpanatigghi are usually ordered just by pointing a finger at them.