Experience Sicily

Category: Sicilian language

  • Critical Consumption

    Speaking of shopping… When visiting Sicily, please patronize stores and restaurants that display the sign (pictured), Addiopizzo. When you do, you are supporting a business owner who refuses to pay “protection money” (i.e., extortion money) to organized crime. When you support such businesses, you are expressing an anti-mafia position and helping dis-empower criminal organizations that…

  • Sicilian Language Online 

    There is a restaurant in Santo Stefano di Camastra called “Tri quarti e na gazzusa,” which is an expression in Sicilian that means something like, Three quarter liters of wine and a soda… implying the conviviality of friends and family enjoying life together. But, don’t take my word for it (since I don’t speak Sicilian),…

  • A Home for Umberto 

    Charming homes like this one in Castellammare del Golfo prompt me to photograph them. Now, speaking of homes, here’s a proposition for you … EF, an organization that administers high school exchange years, is seeking a home for Umberto, a 17 year-old from Siracusa, Sicily. He arrives next week, and is seeking a host family…

  • Saint Joseph: Patron Saint of Fathers

    San Giuseppe, or Saint Joseph, is one of the most venerated saints south of Rome. The spouse of the Virgin Mary and the guardian-father of Jesus, he is regarded as the patron saint of fathers. In fact, in Italy, Saint Joseph’s Day, March 19, is also Father’s Day. Saint Joseph is regarded as the protector…

  • Our May 2016 Sicily Tour, Day 6: Etna Rosso or Etna Bianco?

    Put on your comfortable walking shoes and bundle up, because on Day 6 of our May 2016 Experience Sicily with Chef Melissa Muller tour, we’re going up the volcano! Not only will we have a nature-powered adventure with local experts who grew up on Etna, but we’ll also enjoy a lunch of typical cuisine from…

  • Sicily at University of Pennsylvania

    Yesterday and today I’m “in Sicily” … yet in Philadelphia, PA at University of Pennsylvania, discussing the complexities of this land we love with scholars from around the globe.

  • Speak Sicilian: Lesson 1

    This is “pani ca meusa maritato” because it has “furmaggiu” coupled with the “meusa.” That is, the spleen sandwich that is “married” because it has cheese coupled with with spleen. Now you’ve learned four words in Sicilian: 1. pani, 2. meusa, 3. maritato, and 4. furmaggiu.

  • Roasting on an Open Fire

    Chestnut season is in full swing. Sicilians who live in the Nebrodi Mountains in Messina Province enjoy this king of nuts in pasta dishes, sweets, or simply roasted on an open fire. They make chestnut flour from them in their mills, and of course, many towns celebrate its harvest with gastronomic festivals that include music,…

  • Seeking Poetry

    “He who seeks poetry should come to Sicily.” Yes, this is true. There is much poetry in Sicily–the land, the sea, the wind, the sun, and the people themselves. But the language too–Sicilian–is also poetic. And Sicilians have a strong tradition of poetry, literature, and song. Together, we’re going to learn more about it in…