This weekend, San Cono in Catania province, which is considered the capital of the prickly pear, will celebrate the bounty of the season at the 34th Annual Sagra del Fico d’India. Cooking demonstrations, workshops about how to cut and eat the tuna (the proper name of the fruit), tastings, and live music are the focus…
Tag: fruit
Blooming Figs
Did you know that figs are like flowers, and they open up and “bloom” when the conditions are just right? Here’s a look. It’s fig season right now, and if you are lucky enough to be in Sicily over the next month, you can pick the figs right off the trees, clean them, and eat…
The Natural Habitat of Pomegranates
Pomegranates growing on the tree last month.
Orange Is In Season
An orange in my cousin’s garden. Eat up, it’s citrus season!
Pomegranates and the Cycle of Life and Death
Autumn marks the time of year when Persephone bids her mother Demeter goodbye, and she returns to the Underworld to join her husband Hades–an ancient myth that explains why we have seasons. Annually when Persephone descends into the depths of the Earth and winter comes upon us, she brings with her the seeds of the…
Feasting on Fichi d’India or Prickly Pears
I grew up eating fruit after every meal. Little did I know when I was a kid, that this practice came directly from my Sicilian heritage. I was reminded of that this past month in Sicily, when, after most of my meals, I enjoyed one of the two fruits in season–white melon and fichi d’India….
Citrus Next to Me
This is the first time I’ve been in Sicily in February, and I must say, it is a treat because it’s citrus season! The weather has been spring-like (which isn’t normal for January my cousin, Experience Sicily’s Filippo Buttitta, told me today). Sicily is a semi-tropical climate, and here in Palermo, the northern part of…
Evelina’s Pomegranates
It’s pomegranate season! Experience Sicily’s Evelina Buttitta, who took this photo, was so excited to share with us the bounty of the tree that she and her husband have cultivated in their garden. Pomegranates (melograni in Italian) are packed with juicy, ruby-red seeds, and for this reason, they have been a symbol of fertility for…
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…
A Smile that Can’t Be Beat
On Vulcano Island, one of the Eolian Islands off the northeast coast of Sicily, Rocco is ready to serve you.