November 2 is drawing near and in all bakeries in Sicily it is possible to buy the typical cookies for this day, “the bones of the dead.” They look like human bones, are hollow and hard to eat.
Today, after buying some, I asked the baker to tell me the secret to making them so hard and hollow. He said that he leavens dough for two days on a canvas to make it lose its moisture, and then he bakes them at a low temperature, about 140 degrees. During the process, they lose sugar and become hollow.
On November 2, children receive gifts from the dead. Obviously, this is a fiction, for parents actually buy the gifts and pretend that the dead brought them. This way, children are taught to respect and love the souls of those who are no longer with us.
November 2nd is a day of celebration in Sicily. The tradition of celebrating the dead dates back to the time of the Aztecs. On the other hand, being Sicily a Spanish possession like Mexico, it absorbed Spanish customs and traditions deriving from contacts with the Amerindians.
Ettore Grillo author of these books:
– November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
– Travels of the Mind
Ettore Grillo's Blog 
Great blog! We need to keep these traditions alive for our children.
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Reblogged this on Conversational Italian! and commented:
Our Italy – Learn a bit about how “The Day of the Dead” is celebrated in Sicily on November 2 each year from Ettore Grillo. He even has a short book about this holiday!
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