Mpanatigghi

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.