The Rsa 'Istituto Geriatrico Siciliano' in Palermo is preparing to celebrate the Feast of the Dead.

As tradition dictates, at the beginning of November on the occasion of the commemoration of the dead, the guests of the facility made their basket of martorana fruit, the typical convent cake created by the Benedictine nuns of the Palermo monastery of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio, commonly known as the 'Martorana'.

The elderly people tried their hand at making pastries from royal pastry, creating oranges, artichokes and chestnuts from plaster moulds with the firm, smooth dough. They then painted the marzipan fruits and vegetables with food colours, as taught by the best Sicilian pastry chefs.

"Our guests, pastry chefs for a day, created colourful royal pastry cakes, small masterpieces," said Anna Montalbano and Vincenza De Miceli, heads of the educational service. "The pastry workshop is an educational opportunity to keep alive the link with one of the most famous Sicilian traditions in the world. As we approach the day of commemoration of the dead, it is important to remember the symbolic value of this ancient custom, because of its link with the history of our island".