The light of the large candles carried on the shoulders of passersby illuminates the darkness of the night in Catania. Hundreds of faithful followers flock to the streets of the old town as you hear the rising song of cloistered nuns approaching from the Benedictine monastery. From February 3rd to 5th every year, the magic of the festivities in honor of Saint Agatha, patron saint of the Etnean capital, starts all over again. A story of female courage, a story of a young girl of noble origins who suffered the martyrdom at the hands of the proconsul Quinziano in the year 251 – a martyrdom so fierce that her breasts were torn off for her refusal to deny her love of God.
History of Saint Agatha
From the memory of this sad but heroic episode comes one of the most representative recipes of Sicilian sweets: minne di sant'Agata, famous little cassatine with an unmistakable half-moon shape reminiscent of a girl's breast. "It's not just a dessert. Preparing minne represents for me a real act of gratitude and respect for the courage and determination of Santuzza.” The speaker is Giovanna Musumeci, a young and exuberant pastry chef from Catania who, together with her father Santo, runs the family pastry shop in Randazzo, one of the most beautiful villages in Etna. "Agata is, first of all, a woman who, in the third century, decides her own life with incredible strength and modernity. A woman who says no, even at the risk of her life. A woman who prefers martyrdom to abjuration. A woman who is not willing to fulfill the desires of a powerful man at the expense of her faith and her being. For me, this is an extraordinary example. And I like to celebrate it by baking one of my favorite desserts, le minne. Round and unique, and at the same time voluptuous and intense, endowed with a great personality.”
The Sicilian dessert
The main ingredients of this celestial manicaretto are ricotta cheese, marzipan and powdered sugar, that combine with a sort of feminine grace to create a subtle seduction that is difficult to resist. Definitely not suitable for people devoted to their diets, but anyway, as Giovanna likes to point out, "Minna is not a sweet for everyone.” According to tradition, minne should always be eaten in even numbers: two breasts means two sweets per person, a rule explained in the novel Il conto delle minne by Giuseppina Torregrossa – a book much beloved by Musumeci and mentioned several times during our meeting in the pastry shop. "There is a part of this novel that I particularly adore: it is when the grandmother teaches Agatina how to make minne and how to be female in a world of males, in which males rule, and while they confide in one another, they prepare minne – the dessert dedicated to Saint Agatha; dedicated to her martyrdom and to the violence of wanting to deprive a woman of her breast and her femininity. A strong feminine bond where the grandmother educates, admonishes and hands down the recipes for life around a table that remains, for us Sicilians, one of the most important places for the family.”
Very current and contemporary at the same time, despite the many centuries that have passed, this history of Santuzza remains an example of timeless courage and determination.
Before saying goodbye, Giovanna gives us her very personal recipe for minne. And we too can only shout loudly (and in dialect): "Viva sant'Aita!"
Giovanna Musumeci's Recipe for Minne di Sant'Agata, the Sicilian Dessert
For the marzipan:
4 ½ oz almonds
4 ½ oz sugar
1 ½ oz pasteurized egg whites
Blend almonds and sugar together for a very fine mixture. Pour the mixture into a bowl, adding the egg white and kneading until mixture is compact and malleable. Add some very fine pistachio flour or, alternatively, a few drops of green food coloring.
Pan di Spagna:
4 ½ oz sugar
4 ½ oz flour
4 eggs
Beat sugar and eggs until frothy. Add the sifted flour a little at a time using a spoon with light movements from bottom to top. Pour the mixture into a mold and cook for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit (180 degrees Celsius)
Ricotta filling:
10 oz sheep's milk ricotta cheese
3 oz sugar
2 ½ oz chocolate
1 oz citron, orange and candied pumpkin
Allow the ricotta cheese to drain excess liquid in a sieve. Mix it well in a bowl with the sugar and sieve the mixture again to obtain a fine cream. Let rest in the fridge for a couple of hours and add the chocolate chips and candied fruit.
Icing:
11 oz powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 pasteurized egg whites
Whip the egg whites using an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Once the mixture is semi-whipped, add the powdered sugar a little at a time. Finally, add the lemon juice until you have a white, shiny and frothy cream.
The Sicilian Desser Recipe
Line round molds with marzipan. Fill the mold cavity with the ricotta mixture. Close the mold with a sponge cake rod which, depending on taste, can be soaked with a wet sponge. Let rest in the fridge for a couple of hours. Turn out the minne by placing them on a cooling rack. Decorate with icing sugar. Garnish with a candied cherry.
Pasticceria Santo Musumeci, Piazza Santa Maria 5, Randazzo (Catania).