Meet Giuseppe Sciurca, of Sciurca Sicilian Chef
Hailing from the village of Petralia Sottana in the province of Palermo, Sicily, chef Giuseppe Sciurca cultivated his passion for cooking from his mother Angela starting at a young age. Under her tutelage he mastered typical Sicilian dishes ranging from those sourced from her home in the Madonie Mountains to the coastal towns of the nearby Tyrrhenian Sea. After working in the restaurant industry for about five years, Sciurca opened his first establishment, La Lupa Ghiotta, in Termini Imerese. In 2014, he launched Napèe, a restaurant that not only fused typical Sicilian cuisine from the mountains and the sea with modern sensibilities, but also featured zero kilometer (i.e., hyper-local) ingredients. After representing the Madonie region at the 2015 EXPO in Milan, in 2016, Napèe played host to the actors and crew for the recording of the feature film “L’ora Legale” by Sicilian comedic duo Ficarra and Picone. Sciurca closed Napèe, and after a successful trip to the United States in 2017, he founded Cosmo Nature-Tourismo, Cultura e Ambiente, an company with the mission to promote Sicilian culture through food, wine, hands-on cooking experiences, fruit and vegetable cultivation in his garden, and countryside excursions.
Along with his partner and collaborator Valeria Signorino, Sciurca creates remarkable experiences for tourists to Sicily and Sicilians alike. Among many of his notable projects is revisiting the tradition of the Pupi di zucchero, expertly crafted sugar figures ritually eaten by children for generations for the Day of the Dead. Experience Sicily is thrilled to have Giuseppe Sciurca and Valeria Signorino on the team in both Sicily and New York. They have co-hosted our Stirring Sicily cooking and wine tours (2017, 2019, and 2022), our Valentine’s Day Sicilian Style (2019) and Carnevale with Two Chefs from Sicily (2020) dinner events presented in collaboration with chef Antonino Elia of Lititz, Pennsylvania, who we must graciously thank for introducing us. Sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date about our online and in-person events!