LINGUISTIC WINDOW
SPEZZANO ALBANESE
Where we are - History - Dresses - Churches - Important men - Language - Art and handicraft - Spezzano every month - Contacts
“Asparagus omelette”
Ingredients: a small bunch of asparagus, 4 eggs, olive oil, salt, pepper
Wash and cut the asparagus and boil them in salted water. Strain and brown in oil, then add the beaten eggs with salt and pepper. Serve hot.
This happened . . .
April 14 1635 Father Vincenzo Magnocavallo was born. In 1668 he was the first archpriest to celebrate mass with the newly adopted Latin rite in Spezzano.
April 24 1836 A very bad earthquake hits Calabria. Spezzano suffered no damage, so the statues of the Blessed Virgin were carried through the streets of the town.
April is a spring month rich in colours and
scents and the sun shines warmly after the cold winter. This is also
the most prolific month in nature. All the trees are in flower.
Wildlife revives and the flowers display their liveliest colours. The
newly opened rose, the almond trees, the mimosa and the green fields
all show off their splendour.
In April the Easter festivities are welcomed, and in our Arbërëshe community they have peculiar characteristics. On Easter Thursday, in the main churches the sepulchres are decorated with dishes full of ears of wheat adorned with coloured ribbons by the faithful, while in the afternoon the Washing of the Feet represents another sacred moment of the day.
On Good Friday, fasting underlines the feeling of suffering. In the evening, the event which attracts the attention of the whole community and of the tourists, is the Procession of the coffin with the body of Jesus carried by the faithful followed in the distance by the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows carried this time by the women who have made a vow. Women and men, divided in groups, sing the poignant religious songs "Kalijmere" that recreate Jesus’ Passion and the Blessed Virgin’s suffering.
On Sunday the Resurrection of Christ is celebrated. This is also the beginning of the main festivity in Spezzano dedicated to our patron saint.
Among the gastronomic specialities the presence of eggs, a symbol of life and good omens, is a constant tradition. They are used in the preparation of the typical cakes of the period: the "Kuljaç", bread in the form of a crown decorated with one or more hard boiled eggs. Or "Kucualli": bread sticks woven around eggs to represent a head. The ends are formed like feet.
(The news)
(Our lady's pain)
Traditional food
“Eastern Cakes”
Ingredients: 3 kg of flour, 1/2 lt of olive oil, 500 gr of sugar, 20 eggs, 1.5 kg of natural yeast, grated rind of 1 orange and 1 lemon.
Prepare the mixture with all the ingredients. Cover the dough and leave it to rise. Divide the dough. Roll out the dough on a pastry board and kneed it well. Form three lengths of dough about 3 or 4 cm long then weave them together into a rounded form. Decorate with some hard boiled eggs set in the cake. Leave to prove again. Before baking, brush the ring-shaped cakes with beaten egg.