Experience Sicily

Tag: sicily in new york

  • A Dagger? Eyes On A Plate? What Intrigue!

    A dagger? Eyes on a plate? What intrigue! (Continued from an earlier post…) Inspired by Sant’Agata of Catania before her, Lucia refused to participate in the activities of the brothel to which she was condemned. This of course, angered the madame, who called the Roman authorities to further punish the maiden. Somewhere in this mayhem,…

  • Let’s Light Up These Dark Days on Sunday With Santa Lucia

    At the dawn of the 4th century, practicing Christianity in the Roman-ruled city of Siracusa was illegal. Already though, inspired by nearby Catania’s Patron Saint, Sant’Agata, who lived just a few decades before (from 231 AD – 251 AD), the young and beautiful Lucia devoted herself to Christianity. In fact, she was known to enter…

  • Let’s Have A Ball On Sunday

    Sunday in NYC: Let’s eat rice balls!! Santa Lucia is the patron saint of grain, and as a result, arancine, or rice balls, are a significant element to celebrating the Feast of Santa Lucia. So much so, that in Palermo, her feast day is also the Sagra delle Arancine. Why rice balls (pictured)? To commemorate…

  • Two Chefs From Sicily Will Get To Your Heart Through Your Stomach

    These two lover boys, Chef Nino Elia and Giuseppe Sciurca — two chefs from Sicily, want to cook Valentine’s dinner for you on Saturday, February 16! Check out the updated prix-fixe menu for Experience Sicily’s Valentine’s Day Sicilian Style in New York City event. And don’t wait! This exclusive dinner is filling up. Register by…

  • Rice Balls, Glorious Rice Balls

    Before I continue with the significance of the December 13 Feast for Santa Lucia, let’s talk about the really serious stuff! That is, that Palermitani celebrate the Saint by eating arancine. Arancine (as they are known in Palermo, pictured right; Arancini, if you’re from the east side of Sicily, pictured left), are rice balls filled…

  • Santa Lucia Lunch Sun., Dec. 9 in New York City

    In Siracusa, Sicily last spring, I thanked Santa Lucia for guiding me through last winter–a particularly long and arduous one for me. Now, days from the winter solstice, I invite you to join me for our annual Experience Sicily luncheon celebrating the patroness of light, eyes, sight, and wheat on Sunday, Dec. 9 in New…

  • Explore A Remote Sicilian Town In New York City

    Corso Umberto I, Licodia Eubea, photographed in the 1940s … Please join me next Wed., Nov. 28 at 7PM in New York City for an evening of literature and old friends and new ones as we “explore” life in the remote Sicilian town of Licodia Eubea, Sicily. Author Natale Caruso, a native of the town,…

  • Cannoli Dusted With Personalities

    We ate a lot of scrumptious food today on the Cannoli Crawl in New York City, but what I’ll remember most are our expert hosts and the personalities we met along the way, like Giuseppe and Lucio, pictured, at Famous Ben’s Pizza of SoHo.

  • Let’s Have A Ball

    Let’s have a ball! A rice ball, that is! Join me, Allison Scola, owner of Experience Sicily, for a walking, shopping, and tasting tour in Greenwich Village, on the New York Cannoli Crawl! Register at https://experiencesicily.com/events/new-york-cannoli-crawl/ During this unique tour, you’ll savor some of the City’s finest cannoli, become a true cannoli connoisseur (sharpen your…