{"id":6053,"date":"2024-10-23T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-23T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lettera.corsica\/recipe-for-pain-des-morts-a-corsican-all-saints-day-tradition\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T13:37:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T13:37:25","slug":"recipe-for-pain-des-morts-a-corsican-all-saints-day-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lettera.corsica\/en\/recipe-for-pain-des-morts-a-corsican-all-saints-day-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"Recipe for “Pain des Morts,” a Corsican All Saints’ Day Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Corsica, during the Feast of All Saints, tradition calls for eating “bread of the dead”\u2014originally called “uga siccata” or “ugha seca\u00efa” in the Bonifacian dialect. It is a sweet bread made with raisins and walnuts. <\/p>\n\n

The bread of the dead is traditionally baked on the evening of All Saints\u2019 Day, the eve of All Souls\u2019 Day (November 2). Each family places \u201cu panu di i morti\u201d on the table as an offering to their deceased ancestors. In addition, families visit the cemetery to place flowers on the graves of their loved ones. <\/p>\n\n

Tradition calls for a second ritual during this festival: chestnuts must be placed on windowsills. They are then prepared in various ways: roasted chestnuts, chestnut bread, chestnut cake, etc. <\/p>\n\n

If you’re in Corsica for All Saints’ Day, I’m sure the scent wafting through the streets of the little Corsican villages on that day\u2014with all the cakes and breads of the dead\u2014will be an unforgettable experience. But until then, here’s my recipe. <\/p>\n\n

\"Corsican
As tradition dictates, we enjoy “Panu di i morti” at least once on All Saints’ Day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Ingredients: <\/h2>\n\n
    \n
  • 450 grams of flour<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 7 grams of yeast<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 90 grams of unsalted butter (softened)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 80 grams of sugar<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Salt (a pinch)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 3 eggs<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 1 beaten egg<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 150 milliliters of milk (warm)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 100 grams of raisins<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 90 grams of walnuts (chopped)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Lemon zest<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
    \"Making
    Why not try your hand at baking a Pain des Morts?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

    Preparation: <\/h2>\n\n

    Soak the raisins in water for about 30 minutes, then drain them.<\/p>\n\n

    Put the flour in a large bowl, make a well in the center, and add the sugar, butter, milk, yeast, and zest, then mix.<\/p>\n\n

    Add the salt and eggs, and mix gently.<\/p>\n\n

    Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it for about 10 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic.<\/p>\n\n

    Add the raisins and walnuts and knead until they are incorporated.<\/p>\n\n

    Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with a clean towel, and let it rest for 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes.<\/p>\n\n

    Brush the dough with the beaten egg and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.<\/p>\n\n

    Bake in a preheated oven at 180\u00b0C for 40\u201345 minutes.<\/p>\n\n

    Let the bread of the dead cool, and enjoy it… with respect.<\/p>\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More Than Just Bread: A Centuries-Old Tradition on the Island\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":true},"categories":[110],"tags":[179],"class_list":["post-6053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corsican-recipes","tag-pastry-shop","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lettera.corsica\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/recette-pain-des-morts-corse-eviskoura-1-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lettera.corsica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lettera.corsica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lettera.corsica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lettera.corsica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lettera.corsica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6053"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lettera.corsica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6058,"href":"https:\/\/www.lettera.corsica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6053\/revisions\/6058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lettera.corsica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lettera.corsica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lettera.corsica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lettera.corsica\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}