Etna erupted last night! (NB This is an old photo.) Here she is from Bronte on the western slope with glorious pistachio trees in the foreground. Pistachios love the mineral and saline rich volcanic soil of Mamma Etna. It makes them taste so good! That’s why Sicilians invented pistachio pesto to go on pasta! Learn…
Category: Nature
Let’s Make Pistachio Pesto Together Online
Next Saturday, Learn to Make Pistachio Pesto, Cavatelli Pasta, and Sicilian Orange Salad online! Pistachio nuts (which are actually seeds) come from a tree that was brought to Italy from Syria during ancient Roman times. The trees, which have the peak production of their fruit at about 20 years of age, like dry climates with…
That Goat With Spiral Horns In Sicily
Distinguished by their spiral, tall horns and long hair, this rare breed of goat, called capra girgentana, is valuable for its milk that possesses an equal amount of fat to protein. The name girgentana recalls the old Sicilian name of the city of Agrigento, Girgenti. During the mid-twentieth century, throughout southwestern Sicily, girgentana goats numbered…
Little Suns Hang On Sicily’s Trees
This time of the year, oranges and lemons hang on the trees in Sicily like little suns. It’s still early in the citrus season, but with patience the results will be sweet.
Stop The Car, Take A Photo In Sicily
Sometimes, you just should stop the car and take a photo. #somewhereinsicily
Share With Me Your Sicily Travel Dreams
Share with me your Sicily dreams. Today is Small Business Saturday, and according to the emails I’ve received from other tourism companies, I’m supposed to be selling. I’m supposed to be offering deals on upcoming Experience Sicily tours and illustrating to you the benefits of why I should be your trip curator. But I don’t…
In Ragusa It’s Like Spring
Somewhere in Ragusa Province… Where I am in now the northeastern United States, it’s fall right now, and everything is turning towards its winter mode. By contrast, in southeastern Sicily, it’s like spring. After the dry days of summer and June and July’s wheat harvest, this time of year the fields are starting to regenerate…
The Beginnings Of Etna In Aci Trezza
Gli Scogli dei Ciclopi, the Rocks of the Cyclops, are basalt (volcanic) rocks that protrude from the sea at Aci Trezza, a fishing community on Sicily’s east coast, north of Catania. Local legend says that these are boulders from Mt. Etna, thrown here, into the sea, at Homer’s hero, Odysseus, after he and his men…
Western Sicily’s Salt Pans
The salt pans of Nubia, near Trapani along Sicily’s west coast are renowned by cooks throughout the world for the delicious sea salt Sicilians have harvested from here for centuries. The tuna fishing industry, which has existed here since Phoenician times (c. 800 BCE), prompted the development of the salt pans because salt is an…
Beware And Be Kind To The Mandrake Plant
Beware! Attenti! Mandrake (pictured), or Mandragora, is a perennial plant that grows in the Mediterranean. You’ll find them throughout Sicily in the fall and spring. They have long roots with a very short stem. When pulled from the earth, the plant and roots together resemble the human body–both men and women. The mandrake has medicinal…