Santa Lucia Day, a traditional Sicilian holiday that many celebrate, is December 13th. To Felicia (Ciaramitaro) Mohan and many other Sicilians it is remembered as a day when her grandmother invited all of the kids to her house to eat the large pan of pudding simultaneously in an “eating race.”
Catholic traditions tell the legend of how there was a great hunger in Syracuse, Sicily, and the town’s people had gathered in the cathedral on her feast day, December 13th, to pray, and two ships loaded with wheat arrived, with her at the helm of one, dressed in white, with a halo of candles on her head. This is the explanation given for the cucci, or cooked wheat which is an ingredient in all her festival ‘s foods. Cuccia, a kind of sweet porridge is made with wheat berries, chocolate, sugar and milk. Each family has their own versions of this dish.
For Felicia’s grandmother’s version, additional ingredients of cornstarch, vanilla, salt and fresh ground cinnamon are added. Felicia strongly recommends that it is worthwhile to go to a specialty spice store and find the Italian cinnamon sticks and grind them yourself.
http://food.gloucestertimes.com/?video_key=kbDzyfRY
Good Morning Gloucester 
I never heard of the st lucia dessert. My mother-in-law Katie Ciolino always made great rice with the meat sauce! I don’t know the name for it. but always awesome. maybe frank can give us the name for the dish.
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FANTASTIC ! ” The Food Channel ” beckons…………..
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I don’t know what I like better – her recipes or her pots and utensils!
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Sweet food…..
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