Holy Easter in Sicily is a true hymn to tradition. Easter festivities are deeply felt by Sicilians. There are so many events, sacred representations and religious processions that take place in the streets of large cities and small towns on the feast days, with the intention of commemorating the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Easter Sicilian tradition is especially in cuisine: dishes celebrating the end of Lent, followed by the delicious and typically Easter sweets. One of the tyical dish is “mpanate d’agnello”, particularly from the Messina area. It is a kind of stuffed savory pie, prepared with a dough similar to that of pizza and stuffed with lamb meat, tomato, onion, potatoes and herbs.
The best Easter dessert is cuddura cu l’ova, a kind of sweet cookie with countless shapes: hearts, bells, doves, baskets and dolls, decorated with colored hard-boiled eggs. This preparation requires a lot of patience and skill and is often an activity that involves the whole family, guided by the skilled hands of Sicilian grandmothers.
Another Easter dessert is cassata: a wonderful cake made of sweetened ricotta cheese with a layer of sponge cake and another of royal pastry and candied fruit as a garnish. In Ragusa, the famous cassatelle made of ricotta cheese are very common, sometimes flavored with cinnamon or added chocolate.
In Favara, in the Agrigento area, marzipan lamb is prepared. This is a royal paste made from almonds and pistachios in the shape of a lamb. It is customary to flavor it with lemon peel or vanilla, but for a touch of class it can be decorated with dark sugar, called la velata, for complete coverage.
These traditional recipes represent the cultural identity of Sicily, where Easter is a time of celebration and sharing, an occasion to gather with family and friends, enjoy typical dishes and watch art and culture performances in the streets of the town.
