Sweet Coal and the Italian tradition of La Befana

Scarrafoni in Cucina - The Ugly Ducklings of Italian Cuisine is a podcast series by SBS Italian dedicated to the ugliest Italian delicacies. We're excited to say that season two of the series will launch on February 1. In the meantime, enjoy this special episode dedicated to the Italian holiday tradition of La Befana which is celebrated with sweet coal, or carbone di zucchero.

Coal nuggets made of sugar, an old and beloved Italian tradition reserved for all naughty children on 6 January.

In this episode of The Ugly Ducklings of Italian Cuisine

• Getting coal in your stocking is not necessarily a punishment.
• Hear the legend of how La Befana's annual journey started with a missed opportunity.
• Sweet coal can be prepared at home with a simple recipe.

Australian kids have Santa. In Italy they have Babbo Natale, but it doesn’t stop there. After just a few days comes La Befana and she’s just as popular.

The Befana is an old lady who brings sweets and gifts to Italian boys and girls on the night between January 5th and 6th.

There's always a little bit of fear that instead of candy and chocolate, La Befana will leave coal in your stockings hanging by the fireplace.

Raffaella D'Alonzo è la proprietaria di La Mortazza Café and Deli a Perth.

But the coal that La Befana brings isn't necessarily a punishment. Carbone della Befana are coal-coloured sweets made from egg whites, sugar and black food colouring.

Author Daniele Foti-Cuzzola wrote a book on La Befana. Arriverà la Befana a Fremantle? (Is the Befana coming to Fremantle?) is a bilingual story by Daniele and illustrator Daniela Pruiti Ciarello that celebrates Italo-Australian culture.

Daniele Foti-Cuzzola is the author of the bilingual book "Arriverà la Befana a Fremantle?", an Italian Australian take on the popular tradition. Credit: Daniele Foti-Cuzzola

In this special holiday episode of Ugly Ducklings, Daniele and Raffaella D’Alonzo from Perth's La Mortazza Cafè & Deli share their memories of Befana, recipes for carbone, and even come up with a suggestion for a new, uniquely-Australian Befana dessert. Listen using the player above.

It was so sugary we used to be so high all day. It's basically all sugar with a little colour. By sucking it you would make your teeth black and your tongue black.

Raffaella D’Alonzo

LISTEN TO

Sweet Coal and the Italian tradition of La Befana

SBS Italian

23:52English

Follow Scarrafoni in Cucina | The Ugly Ducklings of Italian Cuisine in the SBS Radio app or your favorite podcast app to catch up on season one and receive all upcoming episodes of season two.

Find a collection of recipes featured in the first series on the SBS Food website.

You can also listen to the Italian version of this episode here.

Hear from Chiara Cajelli, a food writer for dissapore.com and author of Per noi, per loro, a collection of recipes for humans and their four-legged friends. Chiara offers three recipes for carbone: one traditional, one modern and one for our dogs (a treat, not a punishment!).