Cuccia di Santa Lucia (Sicilian Wheat Berry and Ricotta Dessert)

Cuccia di Santa Lucia is a dessert from the Sicilian culinary tradition, long disputed between Syracuse and Palermo, which both claim this traditional dish as their own. It is made with boiled wheat berries flavored with ricotta, candied fruit, chocolate chips and a little cinnamon.

The story of this dessert begins one long-ago December 13, Saint Lucy’s Day (Saint Lucy is also the patron saint of Syracuse), when a ship loaded with wheat arrived in port and put an end to a long famine that had been afflicting the people. The wheat was cooked right away, without being ground into flour, and simply dressed with oil or with ricotta, vin cotto (cooked grape must) and candied fruit.
Since then, Sicilian Cuccìa has been a Saint Lucy’s Day institution throughout Sicily, and many devout people still fast all day on December 13, eating only a small bowl of cuccìa in the evening to give thanks for the grace received.

Wondering why it’s called “cuccìa”? Cuccìa comes from the noun “cocciu”, meaning grain, or from the verb “cucciari”, which roughly means “to eat one grain at a time” (referring, of course, to the wheat grain, the main ingredient of cuccìa).

Grandmothers originally made this dessert by soaking the wheat for 3 days and then cooking it for 8 hours… but today all this is unnecessary thanks to precooked wheat berries. If you want to bring a bit of Sicilian tradition to your table, Cuccìa is just what you’re looking for.