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Rating: Cuccìa: the apotheosis of culinary identity
“Per santa Lucia la iurnata allonga un cucciu di cucia, ni lu iurnu di Natali allonga un passu di cani”
INTRODUCTION
The foundation of this study is the analysis of the social and cultural aspect of the dish known as "cuccìa" and its anthropological variations within the Sicilian context. In particular, it starts from a historical framing of the dish and the festival that makes it a protagonist, from ancient times to the present day. This analysis provides an extremely varied picture that offers numerous insights on the social, cultural, and anthropological side.
The motivations for this writing are of a dual nature: the main motive lies in the deep relationship with our culture, whose importance and relevance we assert emphatically, and secondly, the interest in the socially symbolic value that the dish in question has, as clearly emerges from our field investigation.
The goal, indeed, is to provide the reader with a clear and in-depth view of what "La Cuccìa" represented yesterday and what it represents today, how this dish can affirm the diachronic development to which a specific culture is subjected daily, where, inevitably, food is a determining factor and an indisputable protagonist. To achieve this, a telematic survey was conducted using short interviews involving different individuals, which allowed us to draw a comparison that highlights different ways of understanding the same culture and the same dish.
CUCCIA AND RELIGION
Origin
Cuccia has always been considered the most important among all Italian devotional pastries, particularly in southern regions where areas like Sicily, Calabria, and Basilicata have suffered the influence of Greek hegemony in various fields, especially social, cultural, and religious, having been colonies in the 8th century BC.
The first testimony of cuccìa, in fact, is found in Greece where it was consumed as a ritual food concerning the Commemoration of the dead. Later, it spread following two directions, towards the countries of Eastern Europe that received the Greek Orthodox religion, and towards the regions of Southern Italy, where the custom extended to some saints' feasts and some secular celebrations of a pagan character.
Cuccia in Southern Italy: Calabria, Basilicata, and Sicily
In some areas of the Italian peninsula, it is linked to the figure of saints or commemorations such as in Tolve, Brindisi di Montagna, or Potenza where it is typical of the Commemoration of the Dead, thus assuming, according to the eastern custom, the aspect of a funeral meal. Raffaele Riviello reports in Costumanze, vita e pregiudizi del popolo potentino: «In all well-off families, a cauldron full of cuccìa (perhaps with spices), that is, a mixture of wheat, corn, and cooked legumes, was on the fire, to be given in alms to anyone who came to ask for charity at the door. And the poor filled their sacchetta several times to have enough for a week. Thus, the commemoration of the dead was a day of abundance and feast for the poor; for the believers, a remembrance of a pious legend; for the deceased, a fleeting glimpse of life, of peace, and of a brief pilgrimage in their homeland» […]
Near Potenza, more precisely in the municipality of Pignola, for example, it seems that cuccìa was once prepared exclusively with wheat, corn, chickpeas, lentils, and bitter vetch by some beggars, to be then distributed to the poor. Also, Giuseppe Pitrè, - a well-known and important researcher as well as a scholar of Sicilian folk traditions, a precursor of folkloric studies in Italy - writes that «until the last century (18th century, ed.), in Castronuovo, Montalbano etc., it was customary to perform penance in homage to St. Blaise by eating nothing but coccìa. The same was done - adds the folklorist - for St. Anthony Abbot, until 1793, in the «land of Burgio» by those who suffered from scabies.»
In Platì, in the province of Reggio Calabria, cuccìa appears at the feast of St. Nicholas. Muro Lucano. Picerno and Tito stand out instead for attributing to it the function of "preventive medicine", as it is believed that if consumed on May 1st, it prevents the penetration of gnats through the anus or genital orifices.
The custom of eating cuccìa for St. Anthony is also very strong in the Siracusa area, in Canicattini, Palazzolo, Solarino, Sortino, Priolo Gargallo. In this last town, to emphasize the patronage of the Saint over domestic animals, it is customary to throw the first ladleful to the sparrows, a symbolic gesture with which perhaps it is believed to relieve their effort in finding food during those harsh winter days. We should add that a modern scholar, Carmelo Trasselli, argues that, in Sicily, «originally cuccìa must have been the typical nourishment of the semi-nomadic pastoral family, who avoided carrying a centimolo».
In Sicily, the consumption of this productive activity is linked to the figure of Santa Lucia (while in some Sicilian towns it is linked to the cults of St. Blaise and St. Nicholas). The custom of eating cuccìa on December 13, the feast of St. Lucia, the protector of sight, is part of that complex of popular Christian rites and myths that cover all, or a good part of, the area.
The Myth of Saint Lucia
On December 13, in Sicily, Saint Lucia (Syracuse, 283 – Syracuse, 304), a Christian martyr under Diocletian and patroness of the city of Syracuse, her hometown according to hagiography, is remembered. Due to the derivation of her name from the Latin term "lux, lucis", the Saint has always had the patronage over "sight" (the light of the eyes). It has been erroneously thought that the Christian martyr was the protector of vision because during her life there was a moment, probably during the tortures she suffered, when she tore out her eyes.
It is said that Santa Lucia was of Sicilian origin, born in Syracuse into a noble, wealthy, and Christian family. She wished to dedicate her life to God and donate her riches to the poor, but during Diocletian's persecution, a Roman soldier tried to abduct her. Since the young woman resisted, the soldier reported her to the authorities because she was Christian, and so Lucia was arrested, tortured, and killed. Although these traditional stories do not have a reliable historical basis, her relationship with Syracuse, in addition to the existence of an early cult connected to her name, is well recognized. An inscription from the 4th century mentioning the death of a young girl named Euskia on the day of Santa Lucia, still exists in Syracuse. Lucia was venerated in Rome during the 6th century, as one of the most illustrious virgin martyrs that the Church celebrates. Her name is included in the canons of the Roman and Ambrosian rites and is found in the oldest Roman sacramentaries, in Greek liturgical books, and in the marble calendar of Naples. Churches have been dedicated to her in Rome, Naples, and even Venice. In England, two ancient churches were named in her honor, and certainly, the saint was known since the late 7th century. Saint Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne (feast is May 23), celebrated her in prose and verse, even if he relied on spurious sources.
Although the historical reality is different; in Sicily, the cult of Santa Lucia overlaps and replaces the pre-existing pagan cult of Demetra-Ceres (goddess of the harvests and thus of wheat) who in Christian times was replaced by Saint Lucia. The association of Lucia – Light – December 13 has its reason in a much older tradition, dating back to ancient pagan rituals that were celebrated to propitiate the subsequent arrival of the sun which would correspond to December 21, the winter solstice (indeed it is considered that gradually, from the day of Santa Lucia, the day becomes increasingly shorter and thus the light decreases, until the day of Christmas when the days begin to lengthen again).
In traditional iconography, Santa Lucia is depicted with ears of wheat in her left arm and in her right hand a cup with her eyes or sometimes a fire. Through an association of images and especially in the context that sees the main subjects as light (solar) and wheat which are naturally linked for life, the Christian saint could possibly be the Christian substitution of the figure of the goddess Demetra who was indeed depicted with ears of wheat and a torch in her hands and from whom apparently depended the return of solar light and thus the return of the abundance of harvests (the fact of obligatorily eating wheat and not pasta and meat must have been a propitiatory rite and a way to thank the Greek goddess).
In this regard, it is explainable why during the feast of Santa Lucia one eats precisely the "cuccìa".
Probably thanks to her name, which suggests light and purity (from Latin lux = Lucia), various legends about her were born. Among the best known are those of Syracuse and Palermo.
Santa Lucia in Syracuse
A legend tells that during one of the famines that afflicted Sicily in past centuries, the people of Syracuse, reaching the limit of survival, beseeched their patron saint. St. Lucia, not indifferent to the appeals for help from her fellow citizens, miraculously diverted some ships loaded with wheat into the port. The news spreads quickly, and everyone can thus bring home their ration. But so great is the hunger that the wheat is cooked in the simplest possible way. A similar miracle, which occurred in 1763, is documented in the Memories of Capodieci. The Syracusan annalist writes that on January 9 of that year, while the homily was being held in the Cathedral to commemorate the anniversary of the 1693 earthquake, the preacher said that to face the lack of food that had been afflicting the Noble city of Syracuse for months, St. Lucia could send a shipload of wheat. The miracle is promptly realized: the following day not one but five ships arrive in the port.
The historical fact has been handed down to us by Giuseppe Capodieci in the Memories of St. Lucia who noted: «This year (1763) saw a great famine until January 9, when the simulacrum of St. Lucia is usually displayed for the commemoration of the 1693 earthquake. While the usual sermon was being delivered, it came out of the preacher's mouth that St. Lucia could provide for her people by sending some shipload of wheat. In fact, the next day, a ship loaded with wheat arrives from the Orient in the port and in the evening, a ship, which had been chartered by the Senate, and then a Ragusan vessel, followed by three others, so that Syracuse, with this abundance that appears miraculous to all, can supply many other cities and towns of Sicily. The owner of one of these ships declared that he did not intend to enter this port but was compelled to do so by the winds and learned he was in Syracuse after dropping anchor; adding that, once he entered the port, he was cured of an eye ailment that had been troubling him for a while».
The account of the Syracusan analyst, who was fourteen years old at the time of the events described, stops here, but the legend, present and made its own by other Sicilian cities, goes further and adds that the ships were raided and everyone could bring home their portion of wheat, cooking it, for lack of ingredients, in the simplest way;
And since it was December 13, the population decided unanimously that from then on, only cuccìa and legumes would be eaten on that day each year.
Santa Lucia in Palermo
In the city of Palermo, the story is similar, every December 13 the Syracusan Virgin is celebrated, recalling an ancient event, which the Saint implored by the Palermitans fulfills by making a ship loaded with wheat arrive in the port.
The Palermitans, pressed by hunger for several months of famine, did not grind the wheat into flour but boiled it to feed themselves as quickly as possible, adding only a drizzle of oil, thus creating cuccia.
Since then, the Palermitans, especially in popular circles, annually remember the event with devotion, strictly refrain for the entire day from consuming flour products, either bread or pasta, preferring rice, legumes, and vegetables, these last two foods, as Pitrè reports, that on this day the Palermitan girls who ate them for veneration were not devoid of, and cuccìa could not be missing, this tradition was due to the preservation of beautiful eyes.
In Palermo, the "cuccìa", as it is consumed today, i.e., soaked and boiled wheat seasoned with ricotta and dark chocolate, was cooked in the ancient Benedictine nuns' monastery dedicated to St. Lucia in Palermo, on today's Via Ruggero Settimo. Unlike what has just been said, the sweet version was a privileged food, as the cost of the raw materials - especially sugar - made it inaccessible to the common people; in fact, it was prepared mainly for the clergy and the nobility by the nuns' hands.
Note how religious and cultural contaminations have inevitably led to the change of the original recipe over time with many variations, although the primary ingredient, wheat, considered a propitiatory food, symbol of life and fertility, has remained unchanged.
Divested of any religious sentiment, the feast of Santa Lucia is still an important event which in the folkloric substratum represents evidence of a purely vital character. When people were still subject to nature and thus worked for the land, the feast of Santa Lucia represented a crucial period so that the cycle of wheat could resume again, to which in some way the survival of farming families was tied.
Cuccìa as a bearer of meanings: the Pietraperzia Festival
On the day of Santa Lucia, which falls on December 13, in Pietraperzia, a town near Caltanissetta, the Pietraperzia Festival is celebrated. We had the opportunity to speak with and compare notes with the governor of the confraternity "lu Signuri di li Fasci" who is also responsible for the management and organization of the festival. The festival is not an ancient tradition but is rather similar indeed to a festival and first took place between 1993 and 1994, so it is about 25 years old. Initially, it did not have a markedly present meaning, but it acquired one over the years thanks to the consumption of this local food that added value to the locality and allowed the festival itself to acquire a previously absent meaning.
It all started at the initiative of the local priest who proposed sharing cuccìa to create a different moment after the procession. Initially, they began preparing about twenty kilos of wheat for the community to taste, until they reached preparing 150 kg for the entire community, which in the evening, following the procession, gathers in the square to sample and enjoy it. The version in question is the savory one, whose components are respectively 4/5 wheat and 1/5 chickpeas, simply seasoned with oil, salt, and pepper.
The festival is mainly divided into two moments: morning and evening; during the day (which runs from 5 in the morning to noon), the men take care of cooking the cuccìa, which involves cooking the wheat in large cauldrons; let us remember that whether it is savory or sweet, the preparation of cuccìa involves soaking the grain that is washed and rinsed several times before being cooked. In the evening, after the service, it is distributed to the faithful who are present, but not only, it is indeed of interest to the entire community that in the afternoon and evening visits the place to consume it or to place it in containers to save it to take to family or the sick, unable to attend the event. What makes the Pietraperzia Festival special is that the preparation of cuccìa is the responsibility of men, not women, who, alternating between a glass of wine and another, take turns preparing this typical dish. Mr. Giuseppe, governor of the confraternity, revealed to us, in fact, that the initiative started from the confraternity which is predominantly male, and thus it is still today. This is a very important moment for the confraternity members, who are involved in a collective participation that consists of continuously stirring the cauldrons to prevent the wheat from burning inside. It is a subtle but substantial gesture that allows us to understand how this food, and the preparation that underlies it, serves as a moment of communion, but above all, it is a form of social participation.
Attendance has remained substantially constant and high, attended by both young and old, constituting a fairly varied and heterogeneous age group.
It seems, however, that today the festival has lost some of its religious significance, as it is not a particularly felt local festival. There is more interest on the part of the church in conducting the procession, but the community is more involved in the distribution of the cuccìa than in its symbolic religious value. But then why is it still held today? The answer is that the inhabitants of Pietraperzia love this day and enjoy consuming this food because it keeps the tradition alive and keeps people and families together, representing a true moment of aggregation, unity, and sharing ... basically, Mary Douglas stated that deeply rooted culinary traditions are among the most resistant to change. The tradition of cuccìa is born at home, it is a "family" dish but was, and still is, distributed to people; it is primarily intended for sharing with 'others', especially with the poor, who, in a community are figures not fully integrated into the social body. Ignazio Buttitta, in his book from which we have drawn many interesting and stimulating ideas, reminds us that "it is not random, nor can it only be explained by charitable motives and redistributive needs, that the poor are invited to the tables" (I. Buttitta, 2019 pages 76). The feast of Santa Lucia takes place in a time of the year with maximum scarcity, when winter stocks are depleted but the new harvest is near coming; and to ensure and guarantee an abundant harvest one must rely on divine intervention, favored by a food offering to the poor.
Thanks to the precious testimony of Mr. Giuseppe, we have understood how much "food and community are two inseparable aspects" as Carla Barzanò, a dietitian and expert in food education didactics, states. In a fascinating article, the journalist specifies that - We are biologically programmed to connect with the community and the surrounding environment. Just think that already in the development phase that precedes birth, during intrauterine life, we are able to recognize and memorize some characteristics of the food that the community we live in has selected, through the aromas and flavors transmitted by the maternal amniotic fluid. This transmission continues during breastfeeding and weaning, predisposing us to favor and appreciate the food around us -
Although a primary need, food becomes communication by which a group, indeed, transmits its ethnic, social, and cultural identity. We can therefore affirm that, contrary to what Valeria Trapani suggests, who states that "food generates communication but simultaneously erects barriers", in this case, the research, collection, and preparation of cuccìa, as evident from the conversation with Mr. Giuseppe, is an activity with strong symbolic, social, and cultural value that unites people and affirms the alliance between the participants.
Barrafranca
A similar situation is found in the town of Barrafranca in the province of Enna.
The Saint is celebrated with traditions over a century long, which find space in the popular traditions of the eve: namely December 12. Until the 1960s, the eve of the feast, after vespers, a procession with an effigy of the Saint hanging on a relic would come out of the church Maria SS. della Stella. After the Second Vatican Council, this procession, like many others, was abolished.
On the evening of December 12 the “burgia”, that is, bonfires, were and are burned. "“Burgio” derives from the dialect term 'mburgiare which denotes the act that farmers once did of storing straw for the winter. According to the elders, u burgiu represents the Saint burning in flames. In fact, an ancient tradition suggests that Lucia found herself amidst the burning flames and then, by miracle, remained unharmed. Symbols of purification, the bonfires have taken on a prominent role in religious festivals, a legacy of an ancient pagan thought that saw in their light and warmth, the means to crush the demons that infest human reality. Others, however, believe that the flames emitted by the bonfires recall the fires that the Syracusans lit, along the roads, to cook the wheat.
To know more, we had the pleasure and possibility of speaking with Mr. Giuseppe La Rosa, a native of Barrafranca who leads the AVIS association of Barrafranca, which has been distributing cuccìa for about 20 years during the feast of December 13: <<The burgia are nothing more than stacks of olive wood collected by the younger boys of the town. You start from a very wide round base that narrows to a very narrow apex which is covered with straw, and on top of this various objects or even food are placed.>>
From the testimony provided by Mr. La Rosa, we can see how in the past the burgia were a strong element of competition among the various neighborhoods of the town: << Each neighborhood built its own burgia that had to stand out for beauty and height, and in all neighborhoods, there was a lot of work especially among the boys who woke up at the break of dawn to secure the best wood. Many boys would do patrol rounds to protect the burgio, there were real squads to prevent attacks since usually the burgio was lit around 20:00. It would also happen that the neighboring quarters would form alliances >>
He also recalls how, beyond any competition, the construction and lighting of the burgi was a symbol of unity, cohesion, and participation: << In those days, when the burgia were lit, they created cohesion and the entire town participated in the lighting of the burgia and would remain there until late at night until it was extinguished. Years ago, when the burgia was carbonized and without gas or methane heaters, the so-called "scarfatura", heaters or bowls, were used to take all the charcoal to use for heating homes. Today, with methane pipes under the asphalt in urban centers, the construction of burgia is prohibited, there is only one area, the Grazia area, near the Church of Maria Santissima delle Grazie, where a burgio is set up near a soccer field.
Regarding the distribution of cuccia, AVIS has to be credited since, from its foundation in 2002, it has brought energy and vitality among the townspeople: << attendance has increased in recent years and the event is highly felt and respected. Until a few years ago, it was disappearing because older people were no longer willing to carry on and pass down the tradition. Since 2002, Avis has picked up and revitalized this tradition; the first years were the most difficult; people looked at it with suspicion and hostility so much that a lot of cuccia was thrown away, yet Avis volunteers never stopped, and with perseverance and determination, the association has become the promoter of this event which today is one of the most anticipated throughout the year. Always thanks to Avis, over time, other associations have emerged that have imitated its actions, even if their distribution is the most participated as it is reserved for the whole town and not just the members>>
Avis has been able to blend the old with the new, keeping the substance of the festival intact: << the tradition has remained more or less unchanged, AVIS volunteers prepare the cuccia directly in the square, in large "cadaruna” whose ingredient has been previously blessed by the priest, while a huge stand, fitted with tables and benches, warmly welcomes those who want to taste it, and also offers home distribution. The preparation of cuccia involves cooking the wheat with bay leaves, and legumes are also prepared for those who want to accompany the cuccia. Everything is realized at the expense of AVIS. The event is celebrated in a festive atmosphere to create that sense of unity within the community>>
Finally, towards the evening, the parish group of the church of Maria SS. della Stella sets up, in front of the churchyard or in Piazza Fratelli Messina, a sacred representation of the life of Saint Lucia. The aim is to make the life of the Sicilian Saint known by staging a recital in which the protagonists are ordinary men and women, united by the Christian sense of brotherhood. The texts are from the hagiography of the Saint, the scenography, costumes, and all the organization is cared for by the parish family group who, with love, voluntarily lend their work.
CONCLUSION
Having reached the end of our cultural journey, we can affirm with certainty that "cuccìa" configures, therefore, as a social act and constitutes a fundamental symbol for the identity of our community. The sharing of the meal in itself, beyond clearly taking on a ritual significance, is above all a form of social and familial integration and allows us to fully understand how much food is a matter of local belonging. We find it fascinating that in some parts culinary traditions are still alive, especially in a society where individuals are increasingly unaware of the origin of food and food has become an "opaque" object. In cuccìa, moreover, we find the celebration of the concept of "Slow Food" as an overall approach to life that involves the pleasure of a less hectic pace of life, making room for moments of joy in respect of culinary traditions, like those shared by the confraternity members of Pietraperzia on the day of Santa Lucia.
Although a primary need, food becomes communication by which a group indeed transmits its ethnic, social, and cultural identity. As I. Buttitta states, important information about the value system surrounding a community can be gathered through the culinary practices of festive days. Food cannot be separated from the cultural context because it is an integral part of it. The act of eating has a biological value, as it pertains to the vital dimension of sustenance, but it is above all a sharing of knowledge and discourse. (see I. Buttitta 2019 pages 19-20)
In the dish of cuccìa, these symbolic values are asserted, thanks to which relationships between people and the sacred dimension of festivities are affirmed and consolidated. It is no coincidence that the feast of Santa Lucia falls in December, a critical period of the year in the heart of winter. Cuccìa originated as a savory dish based on legumes and is inevitably linked to the chthonic dimension, as Buttitta reports, it is testified that, in the folklore domain, the consumption of boiled legumes is a recurring feature of ceremonies related to the dead (see I.Buttitta 2019 pages 82). Legumes represented the traditional food of the dead, and their consumption was dedicated to their memory, aiming to gain their favor. Probably, cuccìa, in ancient times, originated from the desire to gain the favor of the Saint, who could thus ensure protection to the community from the terrible storms believed to originate on December 13 (see I.Buttitta 2019 pages 40). Let us also remember how the consumption of cuccìa on December 13, in the past, entirely excluded the consumption of other farinaceous foods, precisely because, as Buttitta states, << "the prohibition on the consumption of milled flour products on certain dates is actually the obligation to eat with the dead" >> (Buttitta 2019 pages 82).
A simple dish that we savor at our tables every year, enjoying it with our loved ones, has proven to be a bearer of intrinsic anthropological meanings that have allowed us to observe festive phenomena in a completely new way, allowing us to broaden our visions and become more aware of our cultural and culinary identity.
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