Every Christmas, two things will always be on our table: Sicilian sciacce and cubbaita. What is cubbaita, you may ask?
Cubbaita is a toasted sesame, almonds, and honey Sicilian brittle with hints of orange. It was originally an Arab specialty that Sicilians have since adopted. Like the making and slicing of sciacce, cubba’ita is serious business, and this year, I was part of the process.
My ancestors have been making cubbaita for generations, toasting the sesame seeds, almonds, and orange peel by hand. The whole process took a rather long time. Now, we have pre-toasted sesame seeds, almonds, and orange peel, cutting down the time. Nonetheless, the ingredients and process of making cubba’ita are straightforward.
The ingredients:
- sesame seeds
- toasted almonds
- honey
- sugar
- dried orange peel
- cinnamon
Cubbaita is eaten after our savory Christmas meal with espresso. I like to think of it as a segway into the main dessert spread. And it lasts for a long time (particularly in the refrigerator), so I’m definitely going to be stashing some in my dorm 🙂
Note: I doubled up the recipe for the pictures shown above.