Agneddu e sucu e finiu u vattiu | Sicilian Sayings
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Today’s proverb has as protagonist one of the most loved meat for the great occasions by Sicilians, the Agneddu!
Agneddu e sucu e finiu u vattiu
Lamb and sauce and the baptism is over!
As much as a party or something important is eagerly awaited, then it ends and maybe even turns out disappointing. A phrase whose origins are unknown and probably was uttered by someone and from there it took off. It happens at many junctures in everyone’s life to experience that the anticipation is more electrifying than the event itself so I would say better to savor every moment and let things go as they will and then tell about it.
We owe the connection between food and baptism to the Normans. For them, in fact, it was a tradition to give large lunches for baptisms (a tradition that has remained so for us): the richer the banquet, the more prosperous the child’s life would be. If you think that today’s receptions are long, know that, back then, they lasted even days. At the end of those endless meals there was always agneddu e sucu (lamb and sauce): the animal had to be hunted and slaughtered by the father of the child or, when possible, by the firstborn. Agneddu e sucu was a symbol of health and prosperity. Today this Sicilian Saying is used to refer to the term of a party, an event or anything else that had multiple people participating. It can also refer to projects that didn’t turn out as well as hoped, despite having put in a lot of effort.
