Cuccìa is a traditional, primarily
Sicilian dish containing boiled
wheatberries
A wheat berry, or wheatberry, is a whole wheat kernel, composed of the bran, germ, and endosperm, without the husk. Botanically, it is a type of fruit called a caryopsis. Wheat berries have a tan to reddish-brown color and are available as either ...
and sugar, which is eaten on December 13, the feast day of
Saint Lucy
Lucia of Syracuse (283–304), also called Saint Lucia ( la, Sancta Lucia) better known as Saint Lucy, was a Roman people, Roman Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, ...
, the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of
Syracuse. The dish is consumed in Sicily and in isolated pockets of
Southern Italy, as well as their communities abroad. It commemorates the relief from a food shortage in Sicily and the unexpected arrival of a cargo of
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
, which tradition says arrived in the port of
Palermo on
Saint Lucy
Lucia of Syracuse (283–304), also called Saint Lucia ( la, Sancta Lucia) better known as Saint Lucy, was a Roman people, Roman Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, ...
's Feast in 1646. According to custom, bread should not be eaten on December 13; ''cuccìa'' should be the only source of wheat, and the primary source of nourishment for the day.
Preparation and influences
''Cuccìa'' is prepared differently from family to family and in different regions. Some make cuccìa as soup, others as a
pudding. In
Kansas City, Missouri, many Sicilian-Americans prepare ''cuccìa'' as a
hot cereal. Most traditional preparations add
sugar,
butter
Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...
,
chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...
and
milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...
. Ceci beans (
chickpeas
The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram" or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are hi ...
) are also associated with the preparation of cuccìa, but more rarely, as are
almonds and
ricotta
Ricotta ( in Italian) is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after th ...
. Within the Italian context, the term ''cuccìa'' is uniquely Sicilian and unrelated to similarly spelled Italian words, hinting at foreign origins.
''Cuccìa'' may owe its origins to Sicily's
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
period (535-965 AD) since a variant, ''koliva'' (κόλυβα in
Byzantine Greek), is prepared in the Balkans. The most likely relative may be its most similar counterpart, ''
kutia
Kutia or kutya is a ceremonial grain dish with sweet gravy traditionally served by Eastern Orthodox Christians and Byzantine Catholic Christians predominantly in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia during the Christmas - Feast of Jordan holiday season ...
'', a dish served throughout Ukraine, Russia, and Poland, and made from wheat or barley, honey and poppyseed. As in Sicily, this dish is eaten only during the Christmas season, and its basic preparation (boiled wheat and
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
instead of sugar) remains strikingly similar.
See also
*
List of porridges
Porridge is a dish made by boiling ground, crushed, or chopped starchy plants (typically grains) in water, milk, or both, with optional flavorings, and is usually served hot in a bowl or dish. It may be served as a sweet or savory dish, depend ...
References
Roman Catholic Resources: Patron Saints: St. Lucy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuccia
Cuisine of Sicily
Palermitan cuisine
Sicilian-American cuisine
Porridges
Wheat dishes