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St Lucy's Day

Saffron buns at dawn in Sweden, and in Sicily a day of rice and wheat with no bread or pasta.

Saint Lucy's Day (Lucia) procession. Sweden, 2007.
Photo: Fredrik Magnusson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is eaten for St Lucy's Day

St Lucy's Day falls in the darkest part of the northern winter. In Sweden a girl in a white dress with candles in her hair leads a procession and brings coffee, ginger biscuits and lussekatter, golden saffron buns shaped like an S with a raisin in each curl. In Sicily, where Lucy was born, the day recalls a famine that ended when a ship of grain arrived. People eat no bread or pasta. They eat cuccìa, boiled wheat with ricotta or chocolate, and arancine, fried rice balls.

The dishes

Ginger snapThin pepparkakor served with the buns.GloggNordic mulled wine with almonds and raisins.CuccìaBoiled wheat with ricotta, eaten in Sicily for the saint.AranciniRice balls, eaten in Palermo in place of bread.

Also part of it, and being written: Saffron bun (Lussekatt, the S-shaped bun of Swedish Lucia morning.).

About this page

Written by the Thali desk with AI assistance. Background: "Saint Lucy's Day" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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