There is no mistake that Saint Joseph’s Day coincides with the spring equinox. In the Northern Hemisphere, the month of March marks a period of scarcity before the Earth yields new crops. The festivities of the Feast are linked to the land, vegetation, and the animal kingdom. It is a feast of thanksgiving for having…
Tag: eolo
In the Mountains with Melissa Muller
The mountains of Sicily are extraordinary. The sea often takes center stage, but once you’ve spent time in the heart of Sicily, you’ll become a confused lover–mountains or sea? Sea or mountains? Today, Melissa Muller with whom we are hosting our May 19-31, 2016 tour, “Experience Sicily with Chef Melissa Muller,” and I spent a…
Chef Melissa Muller Leads Us through Sicily
In Italy, and definitely in Sicily, citizens are most patriotic to the traditions and cultural practices followed within the sound of the church bell that they can hear, a concept called campanilismo. As a result, contrary to popular belief, only a handful places ritually eat seven kinds of fish on Christmas Eve. For example, in…
Silver Girl
In the days leading up to the Feast of Santa Lucia, December 13, many Sicilians refrain from eating pasta and only eat un-ground wheat grain, or “farro,” that is prepared as a dish called cuccìa. Devotees observe this ritual to remember the severe famine that struck Siracusa and Palermo in 1646. During that time of…
Save the Date for Santa Lucia: December 13 in NYC
As our daylight time gets shorter here in the northern hemisphere, we think about the importance of light, and in Sicily, that equates to the patron saint of light, eyes, sight, and wheat, Santa Lucia or Saint Lucy. December 13 is her feast day, and before the Gregorian calendar was installed, under the Roman calendar,…