Wheat. Hard durum wheat. To truly understand Sicily, one must understand that the act of cultivating grains on the island has probably been the main economic engine of the region for millenia. The Greeks started it, but the Romans made it their main business in Sicily. They had an empire to feed, after all. From…
Tag: grain
52 Reasons To Love Sicily | #1. Green Hillsides
From January to early May, Sicily’s hillsides and mountainsides are emerald green with waves of growing grain, fuschia with sweet Mediterranean clover (ask the sheep!), and golden with sinapis alba (white mustard) flowers. Palma di Montechiaro, Agrigento Province
Wheat Fields In Ragusa, Sicily
Stone walls mark the fields where the wheat harvest in the countryside of Ragusa province is now taking place.
Pine Cones, Palm Leaves, And Wheat
Live from Italy! Pine cones, palm leaves, and wheat–what do they mean? The past two days, I’ve been in Bari, a major city in the region of Puglia. While in Bari, I visited two of the major churches, the late 12th century Basilica of San Nicola and the late 13th century Cathedral of San Sabino….
Wheat
Wheat is one of the key elements to understanding Sicily. For millennia, wheat was Sicily’s main agricultural product and economic engine. The Greeks cultivated grain from the time they arrived on the island 700 years before the Common Era. Demeter, goddess of grain and the harvest, was central to eastern Sicilians’ religion because of her…
Tumminia, Sicily’s Ancient Grain
Tumminia (pictured at Molini del Ponte in Castelvetrano), also called Timilia, is an ancient grain variety cultivated in only a few locations in the Belice Valley in western Sicily. Once milled, it plays the role of principal ingredient in Castelvetrano’s Slow Food designated pane nero (black bread). Filippo Drago, owner of Molini del Ponte in Castelvetrano, makes…