Cupeta

Cupeta or copeta (originating from Arabic "qubbayt", literally meaning preserved sweet) is a dessert made from honey, dissolved sugar and diced almonds.

Cupeta
Region or stateCalabria

Cupeta is usually consumed during the Christmas period in the Italian regions of Calabria, Campania, Apulia, and Sicily, as well as in Ponente Ligure where on the other hand it is prepared all-year-long.[1]

Preparation method
Ingredients used to make Cupeta

Cupeta is made from a liquified mixture of almonds, honey and sugar; which is then either left to solidify or consumed in a semi-liquid form. The specific recipe, which may include additional ingredients, varies from region to region and may present differences depending family traditions.

The preparation method is similar to the one used for giurgiulena, which however differs in the addition of sesame seeds.[2]

Cupeta was awarded the recognition of being a Prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale calabrese,[3] campano and pugliese (Traditional product of Calabria, Campania and Apulia).

Variants

In Campania copeta[4] is produced in the provinces of Avellino, Benevento and Salerno and is considered a white, compact, torrone flavoured with hazelnuts, almonds and pistachios.

In the province of Rieti (Latium) and in the region of Abruzzo, copeta is prepared with honey and diced walnuts, and is usually soft and in the shape of a square rather than being crunchy and rectangular; it is usually served on laurus nobilis leaves used as a container and preserver.[5][6]

History

The word Cupeta is of Latin[7] or Arabic origins.[8] The first explicit record of its existence in Italy dates back to 1287.[9][10]

The dessert was part of the wedding feast of Bona Sforza and Sigismund I the Old in 1517.[11]

Etymology
Croccante di mandorle

Several sources (including official Italian ministerial ones),[12][13] state that the name comes from the latin word cupedia, however, this is an incorrect etymological attribution made by Matteo Camera in 1838.[14] The similar latin terms cupedia and copadia respectively mean "sweat treats" and "meat pieces".[14]

The name 'cupeta' on the other hand comes from the arabic word qubbayt, literally meaning "sweet preserve",[15] and was documented for the first time in a document from Palermo of 1287, where a cubaydario cited (a producer of cubaita, a dessert made of apples, almonds, toasted cheakpeas and sesami seeds).[9][10]

The name is then mentioned by Giambattista Basile (Naples 600s) twice, in the Lo cunto de li cunti overo lo trattamento de peccerille and in the Le cinco figlie, as well as by Giulio Cesare Cortese in the Micco Passaro nnammorato.[14]

See also

References
  1. "La "cupeta" croccante o torrone?". saperesapori.it.
  2. "La cubbaita o giuggiulena". www.siciliaonline.it.
  3. dei Prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali del Ministero delle politiche agricole alimentari e forestali
  4. "COPETA". agricoltura.regione.campania.it.
  5. Lara Consalvi, La Copeta Archived 19 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Alta Valle del Velino
  6. REGIONE LAZIO - Dipartimento Sviluppo Agricolo e Mondo Rurale - Ufficio Speciale per lo Sviluppo Agricolo e Mondo Rurale, Copeta - SCHEDA DI INDIVIDUAZIONE PRODOTTI TRADIZIONALI Archived 11 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Nocca, Giuseppe (2022). Il divin torrone. Ali Ribelli Edizioni. ISBN 9788833469751.
  8. Vocabolario delle parole del dialetto napoletano, che più si discostano dal dialetto toscano, con alcune ricerche etimologiche sulle medesime degli Accademici Filopatridi, 2 voll., Napoli, presso Giuseppe-Maria Porcelli, 1789: vol. 1, pag. 121, sub voce copeta.
  9. Dionisius A. Agius, Siculo Arabic, Routledge, 2010, pag. 252.
  10. Sebastiano Rizza. "Cupeta: storia di un dolce enigma". digilander.libero.it.
  11. Sada, Luigi Sada (1975). Ars coquinaria barensis al banchetto nuziale di Bona Sforza nel 1517. Bari: Centro librario (terza edizioni). p. 43.
  12. "COPETA". www.agricoltura.regione.campania.it.
  13. "TORRONE DI BENEVENTO". www.agricoltura.regione.campania.it.
  14. Armando Polito. "La "cupeta tosta": fatti e misfatti". www.fondazioneterradotranto.it.
  15. F. Corriente, A Dictionary of Andalusi Arabic, Brill, 1997, pagg. 411 e 412 sub vocibus QBṬ, QBÐ e QBḌ.

Bibliography
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