reginella

My last name is also the name of a town in Sicily, not far from Palermo. Because of the name, I have always felt a special connection with the island. My first visit dates back to 1980 and, soon after my arrival in Palermo, I tasted amazing cookies called reginelle. 

The word reginella literally means little queen: reginelle is the plural. You really never use the singular form, because as soon as you taste one of those delicacies, you want some more. Reginelle are thumb-shaped, slightly bigger than thumb-sized and covered with sesame seeds. To ensure complete coverage, the cookies are rolled in the seeds before being baked. Sesamo is called cimino in Palermo and reginelle are also called 'nciminati, sesamized (I just made up this word).

Update #1: I brought back some reginelle from my recent visit to Palermo (October 2007). I bought them at the Pasticceria Fratelli Magrì in Via Isidoro Carini 42. They were delicious and when I ate the last one I was almost in tears, which means I really must try and make them at home.

Update #2: this is my rendition of these cookies.

[This post is dedicated to Paz.]

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

reginella

or launch the reginella audio file [mp3].

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Comments

[Paz]

A post dedicated to me?! *Jumping up and down, excited!* Awesome!

I've never been to Sicily and would like to visit -- especially the town of which you speak. And I know exactly what I will taste when I get there! Reginella, which are sesamized. LOL! I love the made up word. heh heh heh! ;-)

Grazie,
Paz

[Simona Carini]

I like when I get ideas from other people: it provides a sort of context to my posts. I mentioned Carini to you and then I remembered how I went crazy about reginelle the first time I visited. I loved all the food I ate there and in time I will describe other delicacies of the Sicilian cuisine.

[Paz]

Looking forward to your descriptions.
Paz

[Lisa]

Those sound glorious! I love hearing about Sicily and Sicilian foods; my mother's family was from there, though I'm not sure which city or town.

[anna maria]

As soon as I saw the word "Reginelle" I thought of the beautiful Neapolitan song "Reginella" :
Reginè, quanno stive cu' mico
nun magnave ca' pane e cerase,
nuie campavamo 'e vase e che vase..."

[Simona Carini]

I was trying to find an English translation of the lyrics of Reginella and found a video on YouTube of Lucio Dalla and Nino d'Angelo singing it together (sort of): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI3TFOII11g&mode=related&search=

[nik]

Yum, yum, yum and yum! That's exactly what my Nana's sesame seed cookies looked like! She used to make them for every holiday, along with rainbow loaf cookies and cucidati, arancini, braciole and spedini. Oh those were the days! :)
I did find a recipe for the cookies if you're interested from the PBS show "Ciao Italia"...
http://www.ciaoitalia.com/seasons/19/1909/biscotti-regina

[Simona Carini]

Dear Nik, thank you so much for your comment and for the link. I can understand how you have sweet memories of your Nana making all those goodies from her native island. You reminded me that making reginelle has been on my to-do list for years and it's time I did it. Cuccidati are on my list as well. I am participating in a virtual culinary tour of Italy and when we get to Sicily, I'll present my version of reginelle.

[Annette (Antonetta)]

HELLO SIMONA CARINI? I DON'T KNOW IF THIS SIGHT IS STILL OPEN? I AM LOOKING FOR THE
RECIPE FOR ST. JOSEPH'S MACARONE OR SPEGGHETI? I KNOW THE DATE OF CELBRATION HAS PASSED, BUT I CAME UPON YOU & YOUR RECEIPES, & I WAS HOPING SOMEONE HAD THEM FROM ITALY, I AM HOPING FROM SICILY? EVEN FROM NORTHERN ITALY WOULD BE WONDERFUL. I AM SO SORRY WHEN WE TRAVELED TO SICILY & NORTHERN ITALY WE DID NOT BRING ANY RECEIPES BACK. SHAME ON US!
THANK YOU, GOD BLESS YOU! ANNETTE

[Simona Carini]

Dear Annette, thank you for stopping by. My blog is very much alive :) I read your question with interest. I grew up in Central Italy and in my family we didn't have a traditional pasta recipe for St. Joseph (though we celebrated the day since my father's name was Giuseppe and in Italy that's also Father's Day. Your question made me curious and I did some research for you. In Sicily there are several traditional dishes tied to St. Joseph, one of which is the pasta dish you asked about. As I don't have a family member to ask for details, I looked on the web and found many recipes, all slightly different as is often the case with traditional dishes. I think this is a good one http://www.palermoatavola.com/wp/?p=1915 but it is in Italian. A good version in English is the one for the Barilla site http://www.academiabarilla.com/italian-recipes/sicilia/pasta-with-sardines.aspx
Note that the original recipe uses only pine nuts, which are relatively easy to find in Italy and not as expensive as in the US, while the Barilla recipe uses some pine nuts and some almonds. Also, the wild fennel is not a common ingredient here: if you look at the Tips section in this recipe on the NY Times https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1004-pasta-with-fennel-and-sardines
you will find useful suggestions on how to deal with this ingredient and also how to prepare fresh sardines. Note that the NY Times recipe allows the use of canned sardines and uses comparatively more anchovies: personally I would not do either of these things (that is, I would look for fresh sardines and would use less anchovies). Hope this helps.