A MUFFULETTA

The month of November begins with a very important feast, "All Saints", but the day more celebrated is the next November 2nd, the celebration of the dead, here called "the feast of the dead."

During this day, in Palermo, in the past, but the majority of people, still now, went to the cemetery to visit their relatives passed away.

They organized for the occasion a sort of picnic, carrying with them food to be consumed quickly outdoors.

Tradition has it that now, regardless of whether you go to the cemetery, in Palermo in the morning of this day, people eat " a muffuletta", round loaves with sesame seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, sardines (or anchovies), extra virgin olive oil , salt, pepper, oregano and vinegar.

"A muffulette" can be seasoned "cold", or you can first heat the oil in a pan with the sardines, to further flavor the whole.
Another version of the muffuletta is with oil, salt, pepper, oregano, anchovies in olive oil and fresh ricotta.

Traditions in November

In Palermo every month, we have a good reason to lay the table for a banquet!

The month’s of Novembre starts with the feast of “all Saints”, but the most important feast is the day after, the 2th of November, The celebration of the deads, that we call “la festa dei morti”.

In the past, during this day, in the morning the people of Palermo, went to the Cemetery and they taked with them “a muffuletta” a bread with oil of olives, anchovies, salt and pepper, to eat fast in the oper air.

During the day the people of Palermo eat many kind of sweet things, tetù, reginelle biscuit with sesame,

the fruit of Martorana (Marzipan),

and the “pupa a ciera”, puppet of sugar.

The families prepared a basket full of these sweet things and many toys, and the child believed that was a present of the deads.

In November is important too the “Festa di San Martino”.
In Palermo we use to eat the “biscotti di San Martino”, hard biscuitz with aniseed to soak in the wine “Moscato”., or the same biscuits with cheese and chocolate, or with jam and icing, sugared almond, in a perfect Barocco Siciliano style!

photos by Judy Witts and Igor Scalisi