Quaresimali siciliani A · Bis-cotto
Sicily’s true parallel to the cantuccio: almond Lenten logs baked, sliced, and baked again. The island’s answer — arrived at, apparently independently — to the same problem of keeping.
L’Atlante · Tavola N.° XIX di XX
Sicilia
Sesame from the Arab centuries, a Lenten log that answers the cantuccio, and a whole calendar of biscuits for the dead.
A · Bis-cotto B · Da inzuppo C · Cugino
N.° I Palermo · Quaresima
N.° II Palermo · PAT
Biscotti regina B · Da inzuppo
Sesame-crusted "queen’s biscuits," carrying the sesame of Arab Sicily on every surface. Milk in the morning, marsala after dark.
N.° III 11 novembre
Biscotti di San Martino B · Da inzuppo
Fennel-spiced rounds for Saint Martin’s day, the hard version made expressly to drown in moscato di Pantelleria.
N.° IV 2 novembre
Ossa di morto B · Da inzuppo
The "bones of the dead": sugar-crusted, clove-scented, and nearly inedible dry. Correct after ten seconds in moscato.
N.° V Palermo · i morti
Tetù B · Da inzuppo
Sugar- and cocoa-glazed biscuits of the days of the dead, eaten by the mixed handful from every Palermo tray.
N.° VI Erice · conventuale
Mustazzoli di Erice B · Da inzuppo
Vino cotto spice biscuits from Erice’s mountain convents, where the recipes stayed put for centuries.
Fonti di questa tavola
The atlas cites Italian primary and regional sources throughout. Claims resting on tradition rather than documents are phrased as claims; entries awaiting confirmation say so on their face.