Madonna and child in Salemi.
Tag: salemi
Celebrate St. Joseph’s Day 2017 in New York City
One of my new favorite hidden corners of Sicily is Salemi in Trapani province. And in Salemi, one of the most fascinating off-the-beaten path things to do is visit the Museum of Ritual Bread. Gaspare Cammarata (pictured with me here) is the curator of this collection of bread loaves from all over Sicily that have…
Celebrate St. Joseph’s Day, March 12 & 19
March is fast approaching, and that means that St. Joseph’s Day, celebrated annually on March 19, will be here before we know it. This year, I’m thrilled to be hosting two events celebrating the guardian-father of Jesus and the protector of carpenters, toiling workers, and of course, fathers. Please mark your calendar for March 12 and…
Expecting Him …
These 16th century marble statues of the Virgin Mother and Saint Joseph came from the Church of Saint Stephen in Salemi, Trapani province. They are now housed in the town’s outstanding Museum of Sacred Art. The sculpture group of a nativity scene, which is attributed to Sicilian sculptor Antonello Gagini (1478-1536), is missing the Baby…
Cheese in Its Cave
Pecorino cheese aging in Salemi, Trapani province
Savoring Sicily, Day 3: Bread and Cheese Fill Us with Joy
We started Day 3 of our Savoring Sicily tour with a visit to a cheese farm where we ate vastedda DOP cheese as they were making it (Same farm as the other day. I can’t say enough about our hosts Salvatore and Baldo!). Vastedda is like mozzarella, but made with sheep’s milk and a slightly…
Stirring Sicily, Day 7: Sheep to Me with Love
This morning, we started our final day of Experience Sicily’s Stirring Sicily trip (in cooperation with Zest and GoSicily with help from Gelsomino Imports) with a visit to a sheep farm in Salemi. Five generations have raised sheep here, where they milk the animals and produce DOP status cheeses. They follow strict guidelines and raise…
The Earthquake of 1968
This week, with the tragic earthquake in central Italy shaking us all near and far, one who knows Sicilian history can’t but help think about the Belice Earthquake that occurred during the night of January 14 and 15, 1968 through early February 1968. It was before the Richter Scale measured tremors in Italy, so it’s…
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…
Break Bread with Me
Sicily’s folk traditions are fascinating and sacred. On Day 3 of September’s Savoring Sicily tour, in Salemi, we’ll learn about ritual bread-making across the island. We’ll get up close and personal with a few loaves and learn about their significance. Why a hammer? Why a ladder? Why flowers? Why do Sicilian’s bake bread as an…