« What's the English for Feldbeifuss and Engelsüss? or, the problem with common names of plants | Main | What is squichanary pie? »
Saturday 03 December 2005
Cupata, cubbaita, cumpitto: is the name of these Italian sweets originally Arabic?
Italian cupate is defined thus by Fanfani: 'Sorta di pasta dolce di forma piuttosto sciacciata, fatta con miele o zucchero e mandorle e noci per lo piu pestate, a distesa fra due ostie; usata piu particolarmente a Siena'. Similar sweets, made with almonds, walnuts, sugar and/or honey, and lying somewhere in the conceptual region between nougat and peanut brittle, are made in other parts of Italy under such names as 'cubata', 'cupada', 'copeta', 'cupeta', 'cupaita', 'cubbaita' (Sicilian) and 'cumpitto' (Calabrian).
Do these names come from Arabic 'qubbaita', as is often claimed? I haven't been able to confirm that such an Arabic word exists. Do they come from Latin (e.g.) compistare 'to pound together', as is claimed for the Calabrian word? Do they have different origins, or are they all connected? The question is Gillian Riley's.