The traditional cuccìa, Palermo typical dessert on December 13th. |
I am very happy to share with you the success of my first Sicilian dinner in London on the occasion of the festivity of St. Lucy or Santa Lucia as we call her, last friday December the 13th. Do you know why the festivity of Santa Lucia is such a big deal in Palermo city?
Mediterranean starter |
Our tradition imposes to avoid everything made of wheat like pasta, bread or biscuits, except the "cuccìa", a typical dessert made of boiled wheat in grains and mixed with ricotta cream, the classic filling for cannoli and cassata. For this reason real queens of the day are rice (particularly arancine), potatoe pies and panelle.
With some lovely guests from Uk, Australia and, of course Italy, we had shared our tradition and remembered the story of this incredible Sicilian Saint especially how she saved the people from Palermo from the famine, back in 1646.
Thanks to everybody for the fantastic night spent together and of course... W Santa Lucia! :-p