Tag: food
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Passing It On to the Next Generation
Today in Connecticut, USA, I presented a lecture and tasting of the foods of Sicily, and talked about the feasts associated with the foods. Pictured is the cuccìa we prepared for the event. After they stuffed and ate their own cannoli, among other foods, 75 Italian language students joined me and my dance partner, Pete,…
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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…
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Pasta from Scratch
Here’s a way you can really impress your friends: Invite them over for dinner and in front of their eyes, make pasta from scratch! Furthermore, you can say, “I learned how to do this from a local mamma in Sicily.” Oh, yeeeaaah. That’s right, we’ll spend the evening of Day 4 of Experience Sicily’s September…
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Daily Bread
For Sicilians, a daily ritual is going to the panificio (a bakery) or the fornaio (a bakery with a serious oven) to purchase your bread for lunch and/or dinner. There’s nothing like fresh bread — like this batch I photographed in Bagheria. Mmmm….
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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…
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Summertime Delight: Gelu di mulune
During summer, and especially at Ferragosto (August 15), Sicilians eat gelu di mulune or, in Italian, gelo d’ anguria, a watermelon custard that is served chilled, in little cups. Ideal for a hot summer day, this one was made by my cousin Tanina. She decorated it with jasmine flowers.
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Arancina: I Shouldn’t Have, But I Did
Last week, I featured the Catania-style arancino. Well, this evening upon returning to Bagheria, since I had yet to have a Palermo-style arancina on this trip, I indulged. Here you can see that an arancina is truly shaped and sized like an orange, but isn’t one! Hence the name… arancina. It’s not an orange, but…
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Catania’s Rice Balls
I’ve told you about the Palermo-style arancina–a breaded and fried rice ball with a center of peas, caciocavallo cheese, and beef ragu that looks like an orange. Important to note: the end of the word is an A. ArancinA. Well, in Catania, on the east side of Sicily, they have a similar recipe, but with…
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Jumping Tastebuds
I’ve known about zibibbo wine, which is a Marsala-like, dark wine I’ve drank in local trattorie and bars in Palermo, but last night at a special dinner hosted by Italy’s Best Foods importer Gustiamo, I had some of this zibibbo syrup, or what they call an elixir, in my welcome aperitivo. Oh my, my tastebuds…