About Càbude

Among the New Year's ceremonial breads in the Logudorese area is Su Càbude (from lat. caput), sometimes described as a big focaccia of semolina or fior di flour, oval or flat in shape, on which cuts were made to make them take the shape of a man with a carabiniere's hat and tailcoat. The circumference was cut out like a lace and the interior decorated with cuts and stampings obtained, by impression, with the Sardinian button and with the optional application of figures modeled with the same bread dough

Su càbude was prepared in the shepherds' families on New Year's Eve (in those with a different professional specialization, not infrequently for the Epiphany) and one was reserved for each male in the family. The dimensions were proportional to the recipient's age

During New Year's Eve or Epiphany lunch, it was on the breadwinner's bedside to be broken on the head of the youngest male child and distributed with greetings.

Thiesi, in the province of Sassari, the above-mentioned ritual bread, prepared for the same festive emergency as the year's cycle, was broken on the head of the male child. The decoration, obtained with a small knife, was called s'ispiga, or 'the spiga',

an omen symbol par excellence.

For the daughters, a very similar bread was made, but round in shape, called afesta.

If Càbude from the Logudorese area is described above all as a bread made of flour or semolina (among the first testimonies the folklorist Giuseppe Ferraro in 1894), it must be said that in some towns in the province of Sassari (Bonnannaro, Ittiri, Ittireddu, Nughedu San Nicolò, Ozieri) it is documented as a dessert stuffed with pistiddu (flavor condensed by cooking and with the addition of semolina and aromas). In Ozieri, the head of the family would break the cake on the head of his youngest son (in other countries, on the other hand, on the head of the eldest son), reciting the formula three times “Good luck to Mizas! ” 'Assets, prosperity by the thousands! '.

In Ittiri, the very preparation of Su Càbude was conceived as a ritual, during which “every precaution was taken to avoid breakage, a fact that would have distressed the landlady, interpreting it as a bad omen. The biggest and most important dessert had to be broken on the youngest son's head, taking care to let the crumbs fall on the brazier. In carrying out this operation, the head of the family recited a wishful phrase: “Cantas renzas ruen in su fogu, apemus annos de bona fortune! ” ('How many crumbs fall into the fire, we can have as many years of good luck! '). Among the best wishes pronounced at the time of consumption, the most common was: “A chent'annos a onde fagher càbudes mannos! ” ('To be able to do up to a hundred years of great càbudes! ').

Update

5/1/2025 - 01:04