What ever you like to call them Grispelli or Crispelli are a yummy part of the Calabrese Christmas tradition.  Here, they are eaten at special events, not just Christmas, which I assume is because they are a reminder of the special things from “home”.  Yesterday was the Myrtleford Calabrese Club’s Christmas Party and it was a very well attended event with over 200 people there – some, like me, were not Italian but we enjoyed it just the same.  I asked the women doing all of the cooking and serving what they called these yummy, light, airy deep-fired savory doughnuts and it caused great controversy.  I tend to get a lot of hits on this blog from people looking for grispelli recipes so, if you are one of those people, get yourself a copy of this book:

It is all foods Calabrese style and has lots of great traditional recipes that are easy to follow – it also gives a little history too.