Carnival is one of the happiest celebrations of the year, to be celebrated surrounded by confetti and streamers, especially for the joy of children. Between a prank well organized by the little ones and a very sweet “chiacchiera” eaten in company, to make this day truly special, another typical dish of the local tradition certainly cannot be missed.

On Shrove Tuesday, in Praiano, on the Amalfi Coast, it is traditional to prepare the savory version of one of the most delicious Carnival desserts: Migliaccio.

Suitable as a tasty lunch, but also as an aperitif, this is the savory version of the well-known sweet migliaccio and is cooked on the Amalfi Coast on Shrove Tuesday. It is made of semolina, smoked sausage, different types of pasta, caciotta and provola, just like the other version, it is definitely irresistible: a rustic with a strong flavor and a fragrant aroma, which in appearance resembles a polenta pie or even a more classic pasta omelette.

Milleccio has medieval origins: the word derives from the Latin miliaccium. In that period, peasant women in the kitchen were ingenious in not wasting even a crumb of the little food they had, giving life to ever new and ingenious recipes, albeit “poor”, created mostly with leftovers from daily meals or even with what was left after the holidays.

In fact, this is exactly the case of migliaccio praianese: since nothing was to be wasted, they decided to make a mess with the leftovers of pasta and pork fat, thus giving life to an extravagant but excellent delicacy that was passed down from generation to generation, up to the present day. Initially it also included the use of pig’s blood, frowned upon and deemed “pagan” by the Church and therefore subsequently replaced by more common ingredients, such as sugar, cinnamon, flour and eggs. The name of this rustic dish, both in its sweet and savoury versions, comes from its