maccheroni recipes

.maccheroni

Many discussions about this term, and even insults and debates among scholars and researchers in the past. Each of them tried to get the primogeniture of this recipe in order to support their thesis or country. Many think the term “maccheroni” come from the Latin word “maccare” that means “to crack”; some others believe it comes from Maccus or Macco, who was one of the main character of very ancient Roman tales and also the progenitor of the modern Pulcinella: he was a glutton, always eating and making troubles. This gives the name to “maccu” (of broad beans) which is a typical and well know recipe from Sicily. It’s not enough. Some other researchers look for the meaning in the Greek culture: <<makron>> (long); <<makaria>> (dough of barley flour and soup); <<mageiros>> (cooker, from the verb “to knead”); and <<makar>> (blessed, holy, ma also the religious food offered to goddess). It is well known that in the past times (Middle Age) Sicilians were also called <<mangiamaccarruna>> (people who eat maccheroni, in dialect) for their habit to cook… and eat abundantly maccheroni. The most truthful and reliable proof about the primogeniture of Sicilian maccheroni. The Blessed William, the hermit, was born and lived in Scicli (Ragusa); died in 1247. The acts of beatification (Acta Beati Guillelmi Eremitae) describe a miracle who took place during his life. A man invited him to lunch and served him <<maccarones seu lagana cum pastilles>> (maccheroni with unidentified “tablets”), but he did a trick: he filled the maccheroni with mud instead of ricotta. Brother William blessed the food and started to eat: here the miracle took place: the mud changed into ricotta. Apart from any theological consideration, in this text we have a proof of the existence of maccheroni as a type of pasta which could be filled. It’s 1247, no further documents , till today, gives us other information. In the popular tradition the maccheroni are cooked and dressed with abundant cheese for women who have recently given birth to children, because it favours the milk. Never eat the maccheroni the first day in a new house: it’s considered unlucky.