Experience Sicily

Tag: sagra

  • Time to Taste the Wine

    The end of September marked the grape harvest and the start of the wine-making season. Once made, the grape juice is left to age for all different lengths of time, depending on the varietal. However, November 11, or Saint Martin’s Day, marks the first tasting of the new wine, also known as “novello.” In towns…

  • Prickly Jewels

    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 good description because their spines, both tiny and large, can penetrate your skin easily. Before eating them, you must remove the spines and then peal the…

  • Hit the Couscous

    At the end of September, the seaside resort town of San Vito Lo Capo hosts the annual International Couscous Fest. From September 18 to 27, 2015 thousands of Sicilians will fill the streets of the white-washed town to taste couscous recipes from an international representation of chefs, to watch cooking demonstrations, talk shows, and competitions,…

  • Let’s Get Wild

    In the spring, wild fennel grows throughout Sicily’s mountainous regions. It’s on the side of the road, in orchards under olive trees, in fields… It seems like everywhere you look, within a few meters, you’ll see it. When it’s young, it possesses a wonderful anise or liquorice scent and flavor. On Sunday, in the Madonie-mountain…

  • Say It, You’ll Like It

    Carciofo (or carciofi, plural) is one of my most favorite Italian words to say. It sounds and feels like when you are chewing, (Car-Chiey-Oh-Foh) which is why I like it. It means artichoke. And well, in Sicily, spring is artichoke season! Artichokes pervade every market right now, and you know what that means–there are artichoke…

  • Bloom and Song

    From February 12-22, 2015 the city of Agrigento celebrates the 70th Sagra del Mandorlo in Fiore (The Festival of the Blooming Almond Trees) and the 60th International Festival of Folklore. The “in Fiore” festival marks that spring is arriving and the almond trees are in bloom, while the folklore festival features performances of not only…

  • Chestnuts… in an Open Basket

    These two figurines from Palermo’s Museo Etnografico Giuseppe Pitrè are carrying traditional baskets filled with foodstuffs. The woman carries eggs, and the man, it’s hard to say. I’m going to venture to guess that perhaps he’s carrying chestnuts or “castagne.” This is the season for harvesting chestnuts–and like the olive festivals also celebrated in November,…

  • Celebrating Ricotta? Count me in!

    October in Sicily is packed with feasts and festivals celebrating local gastronomy. This weekend in Paternò on the southern slopes of Mount Etna, they are celebrating the 2nd annual Festival of Ricotta and Mostarda. Ricotta, pictured here, is a fresh cheese made with either sheep’s milk (most common in Sicily), cow’s milk, or goat’s milk.…

  • It’s a Symbiotic Relationship

    In the beginning of October, Ragusa celebrated the 20th annual “Ibla Buskers Festa di Artisti di Strada.” The Baroque city’s piazzas were full of musicians, circus performers, artists, and–probably most important, spectators. The Associazione Culturale Edrisi and ibla Buskers aims to illustrate the symbiotic relationship between performers and audience and the best street art in…