“Leave the gun, take the cannoli,” is one of the most famous lines in The Godfather, which includes a litany of memorable lines. Ubiquitous in Sicilian and southern Italian neighborhoods, and in Sicily, it is not surprising that cannoli makes an appearance in the movie that features Sicilian-Americans, and whose opening scene revolves around a wedding banquet.
There is more than just cannoli that has an organized crime connection, though.
Elena Kostioukovitch’s Why Italians Love to Talk About Food – much like a contemporary version of The Food of Italy by Waverley Root that was published in 1971 – recounts the connection between the most elaborate and famous Sicilian dessert and the Mafia in Sicily. It is from an article written by a Mafia prosecutor entitled, “Marilyn Monroe e la cassata siciliana.”
At the end of the meal, it, the cassata, arrives at the table greeted by cries of wonder: I’ll leave you to imagine how magnificent mafia cassata is. Once the cassata has been savored, the unsuspected designated victim is surrounded by friends who, acting affectionately, without rancor, nothing person for heaven’s sake, choke off the last mouthful in his throat by tightening the noose around his neck.
The fact that the two most well known desserts from Sicily might be linked to dirty deeds and death might not be surprising. Sicilians of all ages, even children, devour the dessert ossa dei morti (“bones of the dead”) for All Souls’ Day each year, after all.
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