Saint Lucy’s pudding (Cuccia)
Portions: Serves approximately 10 to 12
Ingredients:
- 1.25 kg/2½ lb whole wheat berries
- Small pinch of salt
Preparation:
Soak the whole wheat berries in cold water for 2 or 3 days, changing the water twice a day. The day before serving, drain the wheat, place in a large saucepan, cover with fresh water, add the salt, and simmer for 6 to 8 hours, or until quite tender. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and leave it overnight. The next morning drain the wheat thoroughly and serve it in a large bowl, adding one of the following:
- Whit vino cotto
Ingredients:
- 450 ml/16 fl oz vino cotto
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preparation:
The provident Sicilian housewife prepares her winter’s supply of vino cotto in September, during the grape harvest. To do so she takes clarified white grape juice (see recipe for mostarda), and boils it down until it is reduced to one-third of its original volume. Heat the vino cotto in a saucepan until it is warm and pour it over the drained wheat berries. Mix well, heap in a large serving dish, and sprinkle with cinnamon.
- With ricotta cream
Ingredients:
- 1.25 kg/2½ lb fresh ricotta
- 675 g/1½ lb sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 125 g/4 oz plain chocolate pieces
- 50 g/2 oz diced zuccata or candied citron
Preparation:
Ingredients:
- 90 g/3½ oz corn flour
- 1.1 litres/2 pints milk
- 225 g/8 oz sugar
- 1 twist of lemon peel
- 125 g/4 oz plain chocolate pieces
- 50 g/2 oz diced zuccata or candied citron
Preparation:
In a small bowl, dissolve the corn flour in a small quantity of milk, taking care to smooth out any lumps. Pour this into a saucepan together with the remaining milk, the sugar, and the lemon peel. Cook over a very low heat until thick, stirring constantly and taking care that the milk does not boil. Remove from the heat, take out the lemon peel, and pour the mixture over the drained wheat berries, mixing well. Allow to cool before adding the chocolate and the candied fruit. The trick with cuccìa, I have been told, is to make it at the right moment and in the right quantity so as to avoid having to refrigerate it at any point, as the cold will toughen the wheat berries irrevocably. The right quantity is difficult to determine: most Sicilians feel that since cuccìa, like Christmas, comes only once a year, one should make a lot. I am inclined to think that the quantities that I have given will satisfy the appetites of ten to twelve non-Sicilians. Although Homer didn’t specify which vegetables Odysseus saw growing in the gardens of Alcinoüs, we can safely assume that together with legumes and onions, both the cabbage and the squash families were represented, as well as artichokes and cardoons, which according to Pliny originated in Sicily. All of these vegetables occupy a sizable part of any modern Sicilian garden, and are often prepared in ways similar to those suggested by Apicius. He gives various recipes for fresh fava beans, which have quite a different taste from the dried ones used to make maccu. The contemporary apotheosis of the fresh fava bean is in frittedda, which also requires baby artichokes and new peas, plus many willing hands for the shelling. There are those who make frittedda any time of year, using frozen vegetables, but the results are inferior, and in any case I feel that frittedda should be a celebration of spring.
