Experience Sicily

Tag: cibo

  • Pasta with Sardines for Saint Joseph’s Day

    Among the main dishes eaten for Saint Joseph’s Day, or La Festa di San Giuseppe, is Pasta with Sardines, or Pasta con le sarde. The legend of how this dish came about is another post. So today, I’m just focusing on its relevance to the upcoming March 19th feast for Saint Joseph, which falls around…

  • Yes, Couscous.

    Seafood couscous is a staple dish of western Sicilian cuisine. This one, pictured, was one of tens of international recipes with different ingredients served at the September 2014 installation of the annual Couscous Fest in San Vito Lo Capo.

  • Ancient Sicilian Secret

    The cloistered Cistercian nuns of Agrigento’s Monastero di Santo Spirito, like many of their cloistered counterparts around Sicily, over the centuries have raised funds by selling baked goods. Pictured here is one of those goods–sweet couscous–for which the recipe is a secret. After eating it during our Experience Sicily tour in September, I can tell…

  • Sicily’s Hot Table

    If when in Sicily you are on the go and looking for something hearty to eat, stop into a “tavola calda” or rosticceria (Literally, “hot table” meaning cafeteria or rotisserie). There you will find “Pezzi di rosticceria” or according to my cousin Filippo, “Pezzi” for short. Pezzi (pieces) consist of pizzette (small pizzas), calzoni (pictured…

  • Warm Sfincione

    Warm sfincione, or “sfinciuni” in Sicilian, served directly from the street vendor is a real treat. Palermo-style (There are different recipes in each town.) is a flat bread with a sauce of tomatoes, anchovies, and Caciocavallo cheese baked into it with some oregono and breadcrumbs sprinkled on top. This one has a tomato slice baked…

  • They are Prickly

    In the early fall, Sicilians enjoy the tuna, or fruit, of the cultivated “ficudinnia” in Sicilian, or “fico d’india” in Italian. We call them prickly pears. In the early fall, Sicilians enjoy the tuna, or fruit, of the cultivated “ficudinnia” in Sicilian, or “fico d’india” in Italian. We call them prickly pears. “Prickly” is a…

  • Does It Make Me Palermitana?

    Today we were in Palermo, and we experienced StrEAT Tour Palermo. Here I am with our magnificent host and guide Marco. I am stuffed after eating arancine, panelle e cazzilli, sfincione, pane ca’ meusa (yes, I ate the infamous Palermitano spleen sandwich!!), and gelato con brioche, and drinking local “sangue” wine (blood). Oh, my. At…

  • Gigantic Green Beans?

    This long, light green summer vegetable is a type of zucchini squash that is very typical of Sicily. Sicilians call it “cucuzza longa.” They cut it up and fry it with breadcrumbs. They make a light pasta sauce with onions, tomatoes, and potatoes with it. They make soups with it. And they also make a…

  • Irish: Potato, Sicilians: Eggplant

    These “tunisine” eggplant are from Palermo’s historic Ballaro’ open-air market. Eggplant is a staple in Sicilian cuisine. The Irish have potatoes; Sicilians have eggplant, or “melanzane.” These, a breed that originated in Tunisia, are perfect for eggplant “alla parmigiana.”