Father is a Cookie Monster when Italian treats roll out

Hint: They make their appearance usually only once a year and don't hang around very long. Sometimes, they resemble smiley faces.

Called "cuccidoti," which means "cookie dots" in Italian, they are a staple dessert in Italian and Sicilian households around the holidays. In Frankfort, a retired priest is known as "the official cuccidot taster."

Cookie-tester

He even traveled halfway around the world to get the exact recipe.

"Cuccidoti are famous Sicilian and Italian holiday cookies," said Father Lamanna, pastor emeritus of the former St. Mary of Mt. Carmel Church in Frankfort, which is now part of Our Lady Queen of Apostles parish. "I love them!"

Although he has never baked a cuccidot, the 81-year-old priest knows quite a lot about them and proves it by saying: "They are made with either a fig or date filling and sometimes nuts, usually walnuts, not almonds. Almonds would go into a sweeter, lighter cookie."

Delivery man

"Of course, I made a sort of bargain with the women," he said. "I told them that before I could deliver the cookies, I would have to taste them to see if they were good.

"These just weren't any cookies; these were cuccidoti, made from cherished recipes handed down in the 'old country' for generations. These were special, and very delicious holiday cookies, made by loving mothers and grandmothers for their family members."

Cookie van

"In those days, families helped each other out," he explained. "If one family needed food and clothing because the husband was out of work, or they were newly arrived from southern Italy or Sicily, all the other families pitched in. It was the way they survived."

After a few years, the women were calling on him to not only deliver the cuccidoti but also to be their official taster. "Of course," he said with a laugh, "I was more than happy to accommodate them. I became known around the parish as 'Padre Cuccidoti.'"

In retirement, he continues to deliver the cookies during the annual bake sale.

Recipe from Italy

"I had occasion to travel to Rome," he recalled. "I decided to make a special trip to Calabria and the areas where my parents were from."

He also visited villages where some of his parishioners had lived before coming to the U.S. and hit "pay dirt," regarding the cuccidoti. "While visiting a little parish known as San Giusseppe Jato, outside of Palermo, Sicily, I actually was able to obtain an original recipe for cuccidoti," he revealed.

He brought it home to grateful bakers who were the daughters and granddaughters of those original immigrants.

Still on the road

"All I have to do is walk into the church and smell those cuccidoti baking," he said. "The aroma fills the whole church with a wonderful, homey smell. It never fails to make me hungry."

(11-28-02) [[In-content Ad]]