Cuccidati

Last updated
Cuccidati
Cuccidatti fig cookie.jpeg
Alternative namesBuccellati, Italian fig cookie, Sicilian fig cookie
Type Cookie
Place of origin Italy
Region or state Sicily
Main ingredients Figs

Cuccidati (also known variously as buccellati, Italian fig cookies or Sicilian fig cookies) are fig-stuffed cookies originating in the Sicily region of Italy, traditionally served at Christmas time. [1] [2]

Contents

The outer cookie is pastry dough, covered with icing and typically topped with rainbow sprinkles. The filling generally consists of some combination of walnuts, dates, figs, honey, spices and orange or apricot jam. [3] The pastry is rolled around the filling, and rolls are either cut into short tubes, or curved around to form a "bracelet".

Variations

When ring-shaped these may be known as buccellati, meaning 'little bracelets', and are a diminutive form of buccellato , a larger fig-filled ring cake. The ingredients are as varied as the names the cookies are called by, apparently a function of the town or region in which they are made. Other towns call them nucciddati (nut cookies), zucciddati, ucciddati, vucciddati and, as in Serradifalco, pucciddati. That town's version includes ground figs and dates, nuts, and orange rinds.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cookie</span> Small, flat and sweetened baked food

A cookie or biscuit is a baked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat, and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, or nuts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dessert</span> Sweet course that concludes a meal

Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly savory to create desserts. In some parts of the world there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannoli</span> Italian ricotta-filled pastry

Cannoli is a Sicilian pastry consisting of a tube-shaped shell of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling containing ricotta cheese. Its size ranges from 9 to 20 centimetres. In mainland Italy, it is commonly known as cannolo siciliano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sicilian cuisine</span> Style of cooking on the island of Sicily

Sicilian cuisine is the style of cooking on the island of Sicily. It shows traces of all cultures that have existed on the island of Sicily over the last two millennia. Although its cuisine has much in common with Italian cuisine, Sicilian food also has Greek, Spanish, French, Jewish, Maghrebi, and Arab influences.

Albanian cuisine is a representative of the cuisine of the Mediterranean. It is also an example of the Mediterranean diet based on the importance of olive oil, fruits, vegetables and fish. The cooking traditions of the Albanian people are diverse in consequence of the environmental factors that are more importantly suitable for the cultivation of nearly every kind of herbs, vegetables and fruits. Olive oil is the most ancient and commonly used vegetable fat in Albanian cooking, produced since antiquity throughout the country particularly along the coasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheesecake</span> Cheese-based dessert

Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese, eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies, graham crackers, pastry, or sometimes sponge cake. Cheesecake may be baked or unbaked, and is usually refrigerated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granita</span> Italian dessert

Granita, in Italian also granita siciliana, is a semi-frozen dessert made from sugar, water and various flavorings. Originally from Sicily, it is available throughout Italy in varying forms. It is related to sorbet and Italian ice; however, throughout Sicily its consistency varies. Food writer Jeffrey Steingarten says that "the desired texture seems to vary from city to city" on the island; on the west coast and in Palermo, it is at its chunkiest, and in the east, it is nearly as smooth as sorbet. This is largely the result of different freezing techniques: the smoother types are produced in a gelato machine, while the coarser varieties are frozen with only occasional agitation, then scraped or shaved to produce separated crystals. Although its texture varies from coarse to smooth, it is always different from that of ice cream, which is creamier, and from that of sorbet, which is more compact; this makes granita distinct and unique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fig roll</span> Snack food

The fig roll or fig bar is a biscuit or cookie consisting of a rolled cake or pastry filled with fig paste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamantash</span> Ashkenazi Jewish pastry associated with Purim

A hamantash is an Ashkenazi Jewish triangular filled-pocket pastry associated with the Jewish holiday of Purim. The name refers to Haman, the villain in the Purim story. In Hebrew, hamantashen are also known as אוזני המן, meaning "Haman's ears". "Haman's ears" also refers to a Sephardic Purim pastry, "Orejas de Haman", thought to originate in Spain and Italy, that is made by frying twisted or rolled strips of dough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biscotti</span> Italian twice-baked almond biscuits

Biscotti is the Italian plural term for any type of biscuit or cookie. However, in English, biscotti is commonly used to refer specifically to cantucci, also known as biscotti di Prato or biscotti etruschi, which are Italian almond biscuits originating in the city of Prato, in Tuscany. These biscuits are twice-baked, oblong-shaped, dry, crunchy, and may be dipped in a drink, traditionally Vin Santo. Smaller biscotti may be known as biscottini or cantuccini. In Italy, the term biscotti encompasses a wide variety of biscuits and cookies of different shapes, sizes, flavours, and fillings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ma'amoul</span> Cookie with sweet filling

Ma'amoul is a filled butter cookie made with semolina flour. It is popular throughout the Arab world. The filling can be made with dried fruits like figs, dates, or nuts such as pistachios or walnuts, and occasionally almonds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Israel

Israeli cuisine primarily comprises dishes brought from the Jewish diaspora, and has more recently been defined by the development of a notable fusion cuisine characterized by the mixing of Jewish cuisine and Arab cuisine. It also blends together the culinary traditions of the various diaspora groups, namely those of Middle Eastern Jews with roots in Southwest Asia and North Africa, Sephardi Jews from Iberia, and Ashkenazi Jews from Central and Eastern Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knafeh</span> Middle Eastern dessert made of filo pastry

Knafeh is a traditional Arabic dessert, made with spun pastry called kataifi, soaked in a sweet, sugar-based syrup called attar, and typically layered with cheese, or with other ingredients such as clotted cream, pistachio or nuts, depending on the region. It is popular in the Middle East.

<i>Frittella</i> (doughnut) Type of Italian fried doughnut

Frittella is a type of Italian fried doughnut made from dough, typically with raisins, orange peels, or lemon peel in them. They are eaten in and around the Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Veneto regions; however, frittelle originated around the Giuliani areas of Trieste and Venice. Many variations are common, including custard and chocolate fillings. They are fried in oil until golden brown and sprinkled with sugar.
Frittelle are included in the British Museum Cookbook by Michelle Berriedale-Johnson and a book about Venice from 1879.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christmas in Italy</span> Christmas celebrations and traditions in Italy

Christmas in Italy begins on 8 December, with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the day on which traditionally the Christmas tree is mounted and ends on 6 January, of the following year with the Epiphany, and in some areas female puppets are burned on a pyre, to symbolize, along with the end of the Christmas period, the death of the old year and the beginning of a new one. 26 December, is also a public holiday in Italy. The Italian term Natale derives from the Latin natalis, which literally means 'birth', and the greetings in Italian are buon Natale and felice Natale.

References

  1. Parkinson, Anthony (2005-09-30). Italian Desserts. Lulu.com. pp. 89–. ISBN   9781411644649 . Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  2. Patent, Greg; McLean, Dave (2007-12-17). A Baker's Odyssey: Celebrating Time-Honored Recipes from America's Rich Immigrant Heritage. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 241–. ISBN   9780764572814 . Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  3. Joannie Zisk, “Cuccidati - Sicilian Fig Cookies”, The Today Show, 9 November 2015