Angel wings

Angel wings are a traditional sweet crisp pastry made out of dough that has been shaped into thin twisted ribbons, deep-fried, 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.

In the various national cuisines, angel wings are referred to as:

In Bulgaria, angel wings are called kukurini, and are only found in Bansko, southwestern Bulgaria. They are typically sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Kroštule are a traditional Croatian pastry from Dalmatia and Istria, also popular in coastal Slovenia as hroštule. It is made from deep frying dough.

In France, the fried pastry are made in central-eastern France, including Lyon and Saint-Étienne, and are closely related to beignets. Traditionally, Lyon cold meat shops sold bugnes just before Lent, due to their high fat content.^{[citation needed]} 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.

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.

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.