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…
Tag: wheat
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…
The Famine of 1646
In the days leading up to the Feast of Santa Lucia, December 13, many Sicilians refrain from eating pasta and only eat un-ground wheat grain, or “farro,” that is prepared as a dish called cuccìa. Devotees observe this ritual to remember the severe famine that struck Siracusa and Palermo in 1646. During that time of…
Light Up the Dark
Please mark your calendar to come celebrate our shared light in New York City on Sunday, Dec. 10 at 2PM at Cacio e Vino, where we’ll have a full luncheon with traditional Sicilian dishes for Santa Lucia, a presentation about the Patroness of Siracusa, and a short live concert of traditional Sicilian songs. Reservation and…
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…
Sit Back and Enjoy the Ride
As you travel between Modica, Scicli, and Ragusa in south eastern Sicily, take note of the wheat fields and the long, man-made stone walls.
Silver Girl
In the days leading up to the Feast of Santa Lucia, December 13, many Sicilians refrain from eating pasta and only eat un-ground wheat grain, or “farro,” that is prepared as a dish called cuccìa. Devotees observe this ritual to remember the severe famine that struck Siracusa and Palermo in 1646. During that time of…
Sowing is Sacred
November is a month dedicated to sowing wheat seeds. For agricultural communities like those in the center of Sicily, the work done now determines a successful crop later–and sustenance for the next year (This photo was taken in June, after the harvest.).
Why the Romans Loved Sicily
Sicily’s interior is rich with wheat.