On the holiday of all saints day (night from October 31 to November 1), when the dousers come to visit their relatives, it is very difficult to put the Sicilian bambini (children) to sleep. At first glance, such visits should not be a reason for wakefulness, but these night guests bring sweets and gifts, which makes them terribly attractive in the eyes of children. Just as the little French want to see Pera Noel (Santa Claus), so Sicilian boys and girls want to find out how their generous ancestors look like. In truth, most often it is parents who hide small gifts for babies. In the morning, when children go in search, they especially like to bite a very hard sweet cookies. They also like Pupi di Zuccaro – small dolls, knights or sugar dancers. To make them, sugar is poured into special forms, figures are dried, and then painted manually. In Italy, especially South, it is not customary to give gifts on Christmas, as in Central and Northern Europe; This November night, which in the Anglo -Saxon countries is called Halloween, gives a chance to make children pleasant. Santa Claus is not particularly known in the southern parts. Even if gifts are given here, then this does not happen on December 24, but on January 6, on the holiday of Epiphanius. And not at all a middle -aged man with a white beard in a red coat brings gifts (although in the north there is his own Santa Claus – Babbo Natal), and the sorceress Bofan. Instead of bringing gifts on a sleigh, she attaches them to the broom, on which it flies. There is another hero who brings joy to children – Topolino. This is a little mouse that no one has ever seen, it appears only at night and is interested in falling milk teeth. Before going to bed, the child puts the tooth on the windowsill and falls asleep sweetly. The next day, he finds a gift that Pololino left in exchange for a tooth. This custom is common in many regions of Italy and France.
Delicious sugar figures – Pupi di zuccaro