Easter in Sicily

All about lamb, real and not so real!

As many of you know, I now divide my time between Trapani in Sicily and London, actually spending more time in Sicily, mainly because of the balmy weather and my sea view but also because I have all my books there and work very well in my newish home. I always try to be there for Easter, for the marzipan lambs, the real baby ones as well as the misteri procession, one of the most amazing I have been to — one year I won a competition for best picture of the procession and the prize was a weekend in Trapani!!! But this is for another post.

The not so real lambs are made with marzipan or pasta di mandorla or pasta reale as it is known there. Some are baked but most are left raw as it were. The one in the picture above is from Maria Grammatico in Erice, possibly the most famous pastry shop in Sicily because of the book written by her and Mary Taylor Simeti, Bitter Almonds, that tells her story and gives her recipes. Maria is the only one according to Mary who makes her lambs lying down rather than seated her mini ones are seated. The lambs are made in special moulds first then they are all busy pinching the marzipan by hand to emulate their wool, and inside there is citron jam. I always buy at least one for Easter, which I serve at the end of Easter lunch, then I spend the next two or three weeks slowly hacking at it until I finish it, saving the head for last.

It actually took less than a week to get to less than half but we were five at Easter lunch and I did share bits of it since. You can see the citron jam inside it but there is none in the head — only the body is filled with the jam. Maria also makes the most beautiful marzipan hearts, usually for Xmas but she had some there this time and I also bought a mini one. Long ago, Mary introduced me to them by bringing me one to London for my 60th birthday party, which I had labelled ‘A foot in the Grave’. I was going to have it in a cemetery but ended up having it in Zaha’s gallery (she was a dear friend) and unlike her and her untimely tragic passing, I am still here a dozen years later. The picture of me holding Maria’s heart next to Mary is by Sophie Minchilli.

There is another pasticceria that makes spectacular Easter lambs but it is in Favara. Theirs are seated, and they are filled with pistachio and decorated in a more elaborate way. They are delicious though but Favara is too far for me to go for a marzipan lamb; and the one time when a friend sent me one, it arrived lopsided so I didn’t want to take the risk of having it sent by courier. Here is what it looks like.

And if after seeing these gorgeous creatures, you are up to trying your hand at making an Easter lamb, even if it is a little after Easter, here’s Maria’s recipe as written by Mary in Bitter Almonds. You will need to get a mould though.

Pasta di Mandorla

Sugar first came to Europe Through Sicily: when the Arabs occupied the island in the ninth century, they introduced the cultivation of sugarcane, and in the following centuries their confectionery — comfits, candied fruits, quince and almond pastes — became extremely popular with the European nobility. Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Sicily exported almond paste, which was a luxury item conferring great status (in the fourteenth century a marzipan torte cost more than a brace of peacocks!), and the island remains famous to this day for its production.

In making marzipan, or pasta reale as it is also called, it is important to grind the almonds yourself, rather than using pre-ground almond flour, which dries out quickly and loses its essential oils. Maria describes making almond paste at the San Carlo by cooking a syrup of water and sugar and then adding the ground almonds, a complicated process that was necessary because all but the preliminary grinding had to be done by hand. The advent of food processors and electric mixers has simplified things considerably.

2 cups (300 g) whole blanched almonds

2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar

1/3 cup (80 ml) water

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

In a meat grinder or a food processor, grind the almonds with about 2 tablespoons of the sugar until very fine, almost powdery.

In a food processor or in an electric mixer, combine the nuts, the rest of the sugar, the water, vanilla, and almond extract, if using. Process or mix until the paste is very smooth. Remove to a marble slab or other cold work surface dusted with confectioner’s sugar and knead briefly by hand. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Marzipan will keep almost indefinitely in the refrigerator.

©Maria Grammatico & Mary Taylor Simeti