Tag: sagra
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52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #16. Fantastic Feasts and Festivals
And then of course, there are annual and biannual commemorations for deities and patron saints throughout the region that include everything from making ritual breads for Saint Joseph and Saint Blaze and decorating the streets with linens and flowers for the Pentecost, for just two examples, to processions for feasts recognizing Easter, the Madonna, Christ,…
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October in Sicily
October in Sicily means harvest festivals and sagras celebrating the abundance of the season. Each Sunday of this month in the town of Zafferana Etnea, pictured, on the east slope of Etna, they host the 40th edition of Ottobrata Zafferanese, a culture and food festival celebrating the typical products of the volcanic region. Each Sunday…
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Sicily Is Blooming
Today marks the start of the 73rd Sagra del Mandorlo (Almond Blossom Festival) in Agrigento. Thanks to my cousin Filippo Buttitta for this photo, taken in 2016.
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Saint Martin in Noto
Each province of Sicily celebrates San Martino a bit differently. In Noto, they eat both sweet and savory crispelle, such as the ones pictured, photographed by Niki Masino of GelsominoImports.com, along with cooked wine.
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These Barrels Have a Nose
November 11 is La Festa di San Martino, or Saint Martin’s Day. It marks the first tasting of the new wine, also known as “novello.” September marked the grape harvest, when the grapes are picked, cleaned, and macerated (Yes, it’s true, wine makers used to stomp on them with their feet…) to make juice that…
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It Holds the Pasta
This Thursday, Aug. 11, the town of Salemi celebrates the 12th Edition of the Sagra della Busiata; That is, a culinary festival dedicated to the corkscrew-shaped, long pasta particular to Trapani province. In this photo, taken in May by Vincent Titone, I am attempting to make busiate. Our Sicilian hostesses in Castellammare del Golfo made…
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Melon Yellow
These beautiful yellow melons are now coming in to season in Sicily. These are so good! Sweet and juicy when ripened to “just right.” The town of Joppolo Giancaxio (Agrigento province) will celebrate their harvest of these melons with a sagra this coming weekend. Tastings of melon-based dishes will be enjoyed alongside arts and crafts…
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A Mighty Swordfish
In the fishing village of Pozzillo, near Acireale north of Catania, this weekend they are celebrating swordfish with the Sagra del Pesce Spada. Specifically, their specialty is eating a grilled fillet as part of a sandwich. The one pictured, from Il Capo market in Palermo, shows you just how mighty this fish is.
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Nothing Short about Maletto’s Cake
This weekend in Maletto, a town between Randazzo and Bronte on the north slope of Mount Etna, citizens celebrate the 31st annual Sagra della Fragola, or Strawberry Festival. Strawberries, like the ones pictured, are celebrated in all forms: strawberry cake, strawberry pastries, strawberry gelato, strawberry jams, strawberry risotto, strawberry … you get the idea! There’s…