It’s often strange to see how customs evolve, morph or change when traveling from Italy to the United States. Growing up in a mostly Sicilian household, with a touch of Calabrese tossed in for good measure, many of our superstitions, customs and delicacies were right off the boat. However, where we differ from the natives is the history behind them. As you can tell, it’s a bit like playing the childhood game of telephone to see how far off the mark a recipe, tradition, or holiday custom will deviate, as I explained here for my family’s version of the voostedda.

So, when I asked Nana about mollica (or modica, pronounced moo-deeg-yuh in Sicilian dialect), of course I got her creative story – Italians didn’t have a lot of money and when they couldn’t afford to buy grated cheese, they fried up bread crumbs to sprinkle on their pasta. That was Nana’s version. When I researched a bit more, I discovered another story – that being that Italians don’t sprinkle cheese on pasta dishes with fish in them (i.e. pasta finocchi sarde, or con le alici or con i calamari) so they created mollica as an alternative.

By now you must be saying “yuck” or “yum,” depending on your palate but Sicilians take their mollica seriously. Papa even had his own stash, which was mixed with crushed red pepper and the malocchio was bestowed upon anyone who left that jar empty.

Now, you can live large and use both grated cheese and mollica and forget that cholesterol may be an issue. The salty taste of the cheese and the crunchy taste of the mollica are true perfection for lopping up the extra sauce/gravy on your plate. And that whole “sauce v. gravy” argument is worthy of an article in itself (BTW – I have never, ever heard any Italian-American call it ragu!)

Mollica Recipe

Ingredients:
(amounts vary depending on how much leftover bread you have, but here is an idea)

>> Leftover bread
>> Dash of Salt
>> 2 tablespoons, Parsley flakes
>> 1 teaspoon, Garlic powder
>> 1 teaspoon, Oregano

Directions:

1. Bake the bread in the oven at 250° F for about 15 minutes, or until dried and crisp.
2. Crush it either in a food processor or blender and add seasoning.
3. Store in an airtight container.

Buon Appetito!

Thanks, Lisa. I love the idea of adding crushed red pepper flakes, a la Lisa’s nonno. Have you ever made mollica and if so, what do you add to your recipe?

Lisa Fantino is an award-winning journalist and attorney and the Italy travel consultant and creative force behind Wanderlust Women Travel and the recently launched Amalfi destination wedding site, Wanderlust Weddings. Her love of Amalfi has also inspired her to gather sterling silver jewelry and gifts inspired by the blues of the region at Amalfi Blu. She also writes travel features for MNUI travel insurance and blogs as Lady Litigator.

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Photos: Lisa Fantino and Fiordilatte via Flickr