The Italian Christmas Season and Saint Lucy’s Day

At our Sicilian biscotti workshop last weekend, we had some discussion of the Christmas season in Italy. The season commenced this past Wednesday, December 8, with the Festa della Immacolata, a celebration of Mary and the immaculate conception. It will continue through Christmas and into the new year, finishing on the twelfth day of Christmas with the Festa dell'Epifania, the Feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany commemorates the day when the three wise men arrived at the manger bearing gifts. Italy's tradition associated with that day includes a witch known as La Befana who arrives on her broomstick during the night of January 5 and leaves presents for children – at least those who have been good.

Another holiday season event falls tomorrow, December 13, with the celebration, at least in certain parts of Italy, of the Giorno di Santa Lucia or Saint Lucy’s Day. (I prefer Lucia, since Lucy is a name I have trouble hearing without thinking of Peanuts.) Lucia was from Siracusa (Syracuse) on the southeast coast of Sicilia, and is the patron saint of the city. She was martyred in the 4th century after having the poor judgment of refusing to marry a vindictive pagan, and distributing her dowry to the poor.

Tomorrow, the day commemorating Santa Lucia’s martyrdom, there will be a procession in Siracusa in the late afternoon and evening with seventy bearers carrying an elaborate silver statue of the saint through the streets of the city.

The procession will start at the Duomo on the island of Ortygia in Siracusa’s harbor, and will proceed to the Church of Santa Lucia on the mainland, which is built on the site where Santa Lucia was martyred. Here is a video of the procession, and below two pictures from “Immaginario barocco,” the book which accompanied the exhibition of the work of the Sicilian photographer, Giuseppe Leone, that appeared at the Museo ItaloAmericano in San Francisco in 2008.

According to somewhat grisly legends associated with Santa Lucia, she either tore out her own eyes when her pagan suitor admired them, or they were gouged out by her captors prior to her execution. In any case, she is typically portrayed, as can be seen in the pictures at the beginning of this post, carrying two eyes on a plate, and she has become the patron saint for those who are blind or who suffer from eye disorders. This is reflected in the votive offerings that are left for the saint, as well as in various breads and cookies prepared in connection with her day.



However, perhaps the dish most closely associated with Santa Lucia is one which is prepared on her day in Palermo and has nothing to do with eyesight. According to legend, the people of Palermo were suffering from a famine when, on December 13, a mysterious ship appeared in the port loaded with wheat. The people were so hungry that rather than take the time to grind the wheat into flour, they simply cooked and ate it as it was. Ever since, to commemorate the saint’s intervention, on Santa Lucia’s day the people of Palermo have refrained from eating any dishes such as bread or pasta prepared with ground wheat, and have instead eaten boiled wheat berries, a dish called la cuccìa. Originally the boiled wheat was just eaten plain or with a bit of salt and olive oil added. More recently, in the best Palermitano tradition, the dish has evolved to more of a dessert prepared with ingredients such as ricotta cheese, candied fruit, honey and chocolate.

Another "Santa Lucia" that many American’s associate with Italy would be the song written in the 1800’s, and performed here by Enrico Caruso and here by Mario Lanza. I never knew to what the song refers, but have now learned that it relates to a boatman seeking customers in the Santa Lucia waterfront district (Borgo Santa Lucia) in Naples, as can be seen from the following lyrics from the first two verses.


Happy St. Lucy's Day!

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Sicilian Sweets for the Holidays

Since I started studying Italian, most of my formal “education” has been at the Istituto Italiano Scuola in San Francisco (now in its very attractive new quarters at Montgomery and Gold Streets). Recently, Diana Marano, one of the teachers from the school who is originally from Palermo and who loves cooking, has been arranging workshops to give students a chance to practice their Italian while learning something about Italian cuisine (is that a perfect class or what!!). Sadly I had missed the first two workshops that Diana had organized, so when I saw the announcement for a workshop to be held last Sunday focusing on holiday cookies, I immediately signed up.

I even stopped by Victoria Bakery in North Beach last week for some in depth pre-workshop biscotti reconnaissance.

The workshop was held at Diana’s apartment in North Beach which she and her husband, Salvo, generously opened up to the class for the afternoon. In addition to Diana and Salvo, Diletta Torlasco, the Scuola's Executive Director, joined us to provide additional support.

It appears that Sicilians really enjoy expressing themselves in the dolci area, perhaps in part because of the multitude of culinary traditions represented on the island as a result of the variety of groups from around the Mediterranean who controlled the island at one time or another. In particular the Arabs seem to have introduced some key ingredients and left a strong impression.

There may not be as many Sicilian biscotti and other dolci as there are stars in the sky, but the numbers must be pretty close, especially when you add in the special treats prepared in connection with the island's many religious festivals, including Christmas. Even the same type of biscotti seems to have innumerable variations from town to town (and perhaps from grandmother to grandmother within each town).

Upon our arrival at Diana’s place she gave us handouts with recipes based on guidance she had received from her grandmother in Palermo (in both Italian and English – plus a glossary of related culinary terms!) for the three biscotti we were going to be making that afternoon – namely:

~ Biscotti di Mandorle
~ Pasticciotti
~ Buccellatini

We also found laid out on the serving board some beautiful examples of two of the biscotti we would prepare – the Biscotti di Mandorle and the Pasticciotti pictured below.

Diana had also baked a beautiful Buccellato – a pastry ring (ciambella) which is the “fullscale version” of the Buccellatini that we would be making.

The Biscotti di Mandorle (almond cookies) were the easiest of the three biscotti to make – a happy situation since it proved to be my favorite. It is basically ground almonds mixed with egg whites, sugar and flavorings. The only real chore was peeling the almonds before they were ground, a task made much easier by a trick Diana showed us to boil the nuts briefly to loosen the skins.

The Pasticciotti were basic cookies with an orange marmalade and chocolate filling. They seemed like they should be relatively simple, but turned out to be a bit more of a struggle to make.

The Buccellatini were also basic cookies with a long narrow shape and a very tasty filling of dried figs, nuts, raisins, marmalade, chocolate, Marsala and spices. They had the same filling as the Buccellato pictured above (Buccellatini being the diminutive form of Buccellato), although the Buccellato obviously takes considerably more work. Here is a very good video (in Italian, but easily understandable) showing Giuseppe Deiana, a pastry chef in Palermo, making a Buccellato, including the crimping work (pizzicatura) needed to create the pattern (ricamo) in the dough.

After all the baking was done, we retired to the dining room where Diana and Diletta served the treats which we enjoyed with tea and coffee, as well as some Hauner “Malvasia di Lipari Passito” from the Aeolian Islands off the northeast coast of Sicily:



Here is a shot of my plate showing the various sweets (and yes, I ate them all!).

It was a fun workshop, especially since we were speaking almost nothing but Italian for the entire time. Here is a shot of our very patient maestre, Diana (on the left) and Diletta.

I am looking forward to the next workshop in the new year. Diana said we may be making arancini, the very tasty Siclian fried riceballs stuffed with meat sauce! One of my favorite dishes.

Thanks again to Diana, Diletta and Salvo and, of course, Diana's nonna. Buon Natale to all!

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Birthdays and Tiles – A San Francisco/Sicily Connection

This past weekend we celebrated Nancy’s birthday. Happily the entire clan was able to make it home, including the newlyweds, Andrew and Connie, fresh from their recent elopement to Buenos Aires.

Our evening started with a round of drinks at Wellingtons, our favorite Sausalito wine bar...

...then proceeded into San Francisco for a wonderful dinner at Boulevard, one of Nancy's favorite restaurants...


...and finally ended up with a tropical flair at the Tonga Room in the Fairmont atop Nob Hill!

During our trip to Sicily last year Nancy and I had seen a set of beautiful tiles ("piastrelle") at the Baglio Oneto Resort on the outskirts of Marsala depicting various animals.

After we got back to California I did some sleuthing around and finally, just a couple of weeks before Nancy's birthday, tracked down the maker of the tiles - a well-known Sicilian ceramicist named Giaccomo Alessi who lives in the town of Caltagirone in the middle of Sicily.

Through the assistance of Tiziana Manzetti, one of the founders of thatsArte.com, a distributor of Italian art work, I was able to get the exact Alessi tiles we had seen in Sicily just in time for Nancy's birthday. Thanks again Tiziana!

Caltagirone is a beautiful city which has long been famous for the production of pottery, particularly maiolica and terra-cotta wares.

Like many of the towns in that area of Sicily – the Val di Noto – it is built on a hill. There is a long staircase - la Scala di Santa Maria del Monte –originally built in 1608, that links the lower city, where the Cathedral is located, to the upper city, where the government had its buildings. The steps were rebuilt in 1953 at which time each riser was decorated with majolica tiles to celebrate the city's ceramic heritage. Each year the steps are the centerpiece of both a Festival of Flowers and a Festival of Lights. Giacomo Alessi’s shop is at the bottom of the stairs.

In doing my research I also learned that San Francisco has its very own set of tiled stairs, located on Moraga Street between 15th and 16th Avenues, that were developed as a community project and dedicated in August 2005 at a ceremony attended by Professor Francesco Pignataro, the Mayor of Caltagirone (on the right below).

A close up of some of the tiles is at the very beginning of this post. The two tiled stairs are a very nice connection between San Francisco and Caltagirone.

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"Castelvetrano Olives" - Nocellara del Belice

A couple of years ago I was wandering through the Whole Foods store in San Rafael when I noted a tub full of vivid green olives with a sign reading "CastelVetrano - Italy - golden green, mild and nutty with a tiny pit."

I tried them and they soon became our family's favorite olive.

I found that Castelvetrano is a town on the western end of the island of Sicily in the province of Trapani. It is in a valley formed by the Belice River (the "Valle del Belice") which flows southwest across that part of the island for approximately 50 miles. The Valle del Belice was the epicenter of a devastating earthquake that hit Sicily in 1968.

Although the olives are grown in and around Castelvetrano, they are in fact an olive cultivar called "Noccellara del Belice."

On our recent trip to Sicily in September I had hoped to visit Castelvetrano and see the olive orchards. Unfortunately we were not able to do so as we traveled south of the city along the coast, stopping at the Greek archaeological site of Selinunte which is located very close to where the river Belice runs into the sea. We enjoyed a tour of the site after which we had a great lunch at a casual restaurant named Lido Zabbara da Jojo in nearby Marinella, located on one of the most beautiful beaches we saw on the island.

Our lunch included some of the rare "pane nero (black bread) di Castelvetrano," a very tasty local bread the Slow Foods organization is helping to preserve.

Castelvetrano and its olives was also mentioned briefly in an article about Sicily in the most recent issue (January 2009) of Conde Nast Traveler. The article focuses on an estate on the outskirts of Castelvetrano named Antica Tenuta dei Principi Pignatelli (the Ancient Estate of Prince Pignatelli) which is owned by Becchina & Company. The estate produces olive oil (using only the Nocellara del Belice olives) under the Olio Verde label. It also operates as an agroturismo for visitors.
According to one account I read about Becchina’s Olio Verde: “A few things set Becchina apart. First, they pick their olives earlier in the season, around late October, for a more intense, fruity taste. While this limits the quantity, it improves quality. Secondly, instead of using a machine to shake the olives down, which leads to bruising and effects taste, Becchina hires individuals to pick each olive by hand. Each olive is then gently placed in a sack that hangs around the picker’s neck. In order to keep the olives within reach, Becchina goes through the pain of keeping the trees short enough to be in arms reach. Finally, Becchina invented a machine that removes the leaves, snails and dirt that many olive oil companies simply grind up into oil. The company also refuses to spray chemicals on its trees.”

I also came across two very informative posts regarding the estate, the first a report on a visit in 2004, and the second a post on the Lucy’s Kitchen Notebook blog reporting on a cooking tour led by Judy Witts Francini (of Divina Cucina in Florence and author of Over a Tuscan Stove blog, one of my favorites) which used the estate’s facilities.

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Viaggio in Sicilia -- Our September 2008 Trip to Persephone's Island

In September 2008 Nancy and I joined a tour group organized by the Museo ItaloAmericano in San Francisco on a 12-day tour of the island of Sicliy. Much more about that trip may be found at the website Viaggio in Sicilia.

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