Experience Sicily

Tag: natale

  • Sicilian Christmas Cookies

    Merry Christmas! Buon Natale! We at Experience Sicily wish you a joyful and safe celebration! Buccellati are very closely associated with Christmas in Sicily. They are pastries often stuffed with chopped dried figs, pumpkin jam, honey, raisins, almonds, orange rind, cinnamon, and Marsala wine. Both professional and home bakers make them. Cuccidati, pictured here, are…

  • The Nativity Scenes Of Caltagirone, Sicily

    Today, Saint Stephen’s Day, is a national holiday in Italy. Traditionally, Sicilians and Italians spend the day with family and friends visiting presepi di Natale, or nativity scenes, like this one pictured from Caltagirone, a city renowned for its ceramic presepi. In fact, the city is home to a museum of nativity scenes that boasts…

  • Wishes For A Joyful Christmas

    Wishing you and your loved ones a joyful and healthful Christmas! Auguri per un Natale pieno di gioia e buon salute! ~ Experience Sicily

  • Live Nativity Scenes In Sicily

    Many towns in Sicily annually create elaborate live nativity scenes like this one I saw in 2019 in Custonaci (Trapani Province). These dioramas featuring townspeople acting out iconic moments and everyday activities from past times create a sense of wonder. Presepe Vivente are a reason to visit Sicily during Christmas. 

  • Cuccidati: Sicilian Christmas Cookies

    Cuccidati, pictured, are traditional Sicilian cookies stuffed with dried fig filling. Associated with Christmas, both professional and home bakers make them, and some are more elaborately decorated than others. The filling is made with (This is a common recipe, but not all are exactly the same.) chopped dried figs, pumpkin jam, honey, raisins, almonds, orange…

  • Sicilian Style Panettone And Pandoro

    Although panettone and pandoro, Italian Christmas breads/cakes, originated in northern Italy, there are some outstanding ones made in Sicily: Specifically in Castelbuono (Palermo province) in the Madonie mountains and in Belpasso (Catania province) at the southern foot of Mount Etna. I can’t wait to open my panettone from Castelbuono (and heat it in the oven)…

  • Sicilian Christmas Cookies

    Pastries made with filling of chopped dried figs, pumpkin jam, honey, raisins, almonds, orange rind, cinnamon, and Marsala wine are closely associated with Christmas in Sicily. There is a larger, round, cake-like pastry called buccellato, which is also made in an elaborate cookie-sized version known as buccellati. Meanwhile, cuccidati, pictured here, are their sister. They…

  • Sicilian Christmas Cookies

    Oh, right about now, I want one of Maria and Angelo’s buccellati cookies, like this one I photographed in September when our Experience Sicily group visited their bakery in the mountain village north of Agrigento, Sant’Angelo Muxaro. Buccellati are very closely associated with Christmas in Sicily. They are pastries often stuffed with chopped dried figs,…

  • Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and a Zampogna Player

    Nativity scenes (presepe or presepio) in Sicily and Southern Italy don’t just illustrate the Holy Family, they also show the folk traditions of the people in the region. For example, at the presepe in Sant’Elia that Experience Sicily’s Filippo Buttitta photographed last week, the life-sized figures include this zampogna, or bagpipe player. Zampogne (plural for…