Tag: cooking

  • Day 9 of 16 Days of Sicily | Get Dirty

    When I was a child, my mother always dressed me in dresses, and I used to get into a lot of trouble because I liked to climb on everything (still do), run around in the mud (still do), dance in puddles (yup), … you get the idea. I used to get my dresses pretty dirty.…

  • Today We Would Have Eaten Two Breakfasts

    If we were in Sicily… We would have started today with two breakfasts. The one with toast, eggs, and fresh fruit at your inn (On second thought, skip that one!), and then with this one, my favorite cannolo in the world coupled with your preferred coffee drink (Un caffè macchiato, perfavore.). This cannolo is like…

  • Working Man’s Sicilian Summer Recipes

    Thank you so much to everyone who joined me for the Cart Driver’s Pasta online event! It’s so wonderful to share Sicilian culture with you all who appreciate it so much. Your messages and photos make my heart sing! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the recipes. I look forward to when we can see…

  • White As Salt

    On first glance, you might think that my mom, Claire, is standing in front of a pile of snow; however, on second look, she’s standing in front of a pile of salt! Yes, that’s right, this is harvested sea salt in Nubia, Trapani on the side of one of the salt pans.  The Phoenicians were…

  • Stirring Sicily, Day 6: Hands-on Bread making 

    We are about to sit in the orchard and eat the fruits of our third Stirring Sicily class today: hands-on bread making! This is truly a marvelous experience… Cooking fresh, savory breads in a wood-burning (olive branches and sage are our kindling!) oven. I wish you could smell it. We are in heaven at Fontes…

  • Salt to Taste 

    I love when art and utility meet. Here’s my salt holder, which is over my stove in New York City, made by Palermo ceramica artist, Nino Parrucca. Of course, it’s filled with sea salt from Trapani! Just lift the door, and salt to taste. 

  • Stuffed Sardines Siciliana

    Sarde a beccafico, or stuffed sardines, is arguably my favorite “secondo,” or second dish. Tonight at Zest!, GoSicily: Sicilian Cooking Experience’s Annalisa Pompeo taught us how to make this signature Sicilian recipe. With assistance from beloved teacher Nino Elia, we learned how to make the stuffing mixture, prepare the fresh sardines, and fry them up.…

  • Passing on Love

    As we were reminded yesterday by Annalisa of GoSicily, Sicilian Cooking Experience, the traditions of food preparation and recipes are passed from one generation to the next. Grandmothers to mothers to daughters and sons… Here, Cacio e Vino’s owner, Giusto Priola, is showing one of our New York event’s guests how to make fresh cavatelli…

  • No Time to Paste! I mean, Waste!

    August is tomato season in Sicily, and as a result, there is no time to waste! Once the tomatoes are ripe, it’s time to make “estratto” or what we call in English, “tomato paste.” Once made, estratto is jarred and preserved to be used in sauces and stock throughout the year. Making estratto is a…