Between devotion and tradition: the “minne di Sant'Agata”

In honour of Saint Agatha, the city's patron saint, Catania makes delicious little cassatas with a distinctive hemispherical shape that recalls a woman's breast; they are also known as the "minne" or "minnuzze" di Sant'Agata.

Sant'Agata cassatelle are small sponge cakes filled with ricotta cream, with a very sweet almond paste covering topped with a candied cherry. Their hemispherical shape alludes to the martyrdom of Saint Agatha, whose breasts were cut off on the orders of the Roman proconsul Quintianus after the young Christian virgin rejected him.

Their origins, however, go back to antiquity, even before devotion to the Saint. According to some scholars, the sweet recalls ancient breast-shaped desserts made for festivals linked to the cult of Isis, Mother Goddess of fertility, and Demeter, goddess of motherhood.

They are a real treat for the palate that you must try at least once in your life and, according to tradition, they should always be eaten in even numbers, like the two breasts.