Cubbaita di Giugiulena

The name and origin of this Sicilian sweet are both Arab. Though many versions of it exist, I have chosen one from Tommaso d’Alba’s Cucina siciliana di derivazione araba (Sicilian Cooking of Arab Origin), which chronicles all Sicilian dishes with Arab ancestry. D’Alba suggests that cubbaita, alone among sweets, has retained the purity of its Arab origins, since it has never been subjected to the refinements of fancy cooking or cooks.