Pumpkin & Cheese Coiled Pastries

Boyos de kalavasa – rodanchas

For the Sephardim of Rhodes Island the Rosh Hashanah table is unimaginable without our iconic array of savory pastries, desayuno.

Pumpkin or butternut filo-like coiled pastries, boyos de kalavasa, are delectable with a medley of Greek cheese and warming spices of cinnamon and cloves. The distinctive coil or ‘rose’ shape, like the Turkish gül böreği, is said to have been symbolic of the ‘Island of Roses’, Isola de les Rose as the Italians called this beautiful island during their occupation from 1912.

Boyos de kalavasa, also known as rodanchas, are traditionally offered at the New Year table with toasted chopped almonds in the filling and dusted with confectioner’s sugar and cinnamon to auger a sweet year.

If making this age-old recipe with yeast seems daunting, for a quick and easier version you can use store-bought filo.

I hope you enjoy boyos de kalavasa at your festive New Year table. Kome kon gana – bon appetit!