Without the luxury of a twelve-month gourmet tour, I’d like to offer you a brief appetizer of my own little piece of Italy, Sicily whose cuisine shows off its history and location at the centre of the Mediterranean. The most important thing to remember is that all Italians take food very seriously and sustenance is officially…
Continue reading ➞ A tasteful introduction to Sicilian food
I have been dipping into Distant Drumlin a blog by Karolyn Cooper for quite a while now as there is a fascinating journey behind it and Karolyn has led me into the world of many other excellent international expat experiences and bloggers. The creator of Distant Drumlin returned to the UK after living in India…
Continue reading ➞ Blogging around the world with Karolyn from Distant Drumlin
There is nothing to it, every window in Sicily has a view.
There are literally hundreds of museums in Sicily as humanity has made its home here since prehistoric times. You can get lost in amongst the limitless exhibitions of ancient Greek artefacts, fossils and ceramics and risk museum burnout. The best way to avoid exorbitant museum visitation is to select a few which spark a particular…
Continue reading ➞ Sicily’s most intriguing museums
This summer I photographed this Sicilian Oregano drying in the sun. Oregano grows wild in amongst the Mediterranean scrub of Sicily and is gathered and saved to add flavor to meats and other dishes. As I was taking this photo I was struck by the rustic almost dirty look of the rocks and the herbs,…
Continue reading ➞ Postcards from Sicily: Oregano
Sicilian maccheroni, are the ultimate feast. Served with rich Bolognese sauces for every occasion from birthdays to Christmas to New Year. Not for the faint hearted ... your waistline will suffer for them but your taste buds will be in heaven. Maccheroni season is just around the corner ...
I recently got an email from a woman who was contemplating moving to Sicily from the US as she desired a change in her life and felt connected to her Sicilian heritage. She was looking for some advice and here is what I said to her: Thanks so much for your email, I feel privileged…
Continue reading ➞ Don’t quite move to Sicily, yet …
There is no doubt that expat blogs from Florence are probably the most popular around, there are literally hundreds of them, but there are few which are able to make themselves stand out and original like Tiana Kai in Florence. Tiana combines her love of travel with her curiosity and knack with photography to explore Tuscany,…
Continue reading ➞ Blogging around the world with Tiana Kai in Florence
Fruit and vegetables always seem more sensuous in Sicily, their colours are more intense, flavors fulsome and form expansive. Our tomatoes this year were an illustration of Sicilian agricultural fertility, they were abundant and delicious too.
November is a sombre time in Sicily, traditionally it’s not all jack o lanterns and candy rather its about taking flowers to the cemetery and lighting artificial lights instead of candles in memory of the dead. All souls and dearly held saints are prayed for in religious services in the Roman Catholic church and the…
Continue reading ➞ Flowers and lights for our ancestors
Each wild Porcini mushroom is a thing of beauty, individual works of spontaneous sculpture which nature gives us. Actually you have to hunt them down or else they are destined to decay and break down back into the earth. The other day my eldest niece accused me of being lazy and not wanting…
Continue reading ➞ Beautiful Sicilian Porcini mushrooms
I snapped this shot at the Piazza Armerina markets. This particularly bored girl waiting for her father holding on to various riding paraphernalia. It is an image which summarises my summer’s day near Enna the heat, dust and rustic surrounds were enough to make anyone swoon and pout.
When you visit Italy and you settle into your accommodation whether it be a five-star hotel or small bed and breakfast I suggest the first thing you do is open your windows or go high up on to a terrace and discover the rooftops around you. There is something magical about the irregular shape…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian rooftops
Piazza Armerina in the province of Enna deep in the bellybutton of Sicily is still filled with traditions which are slowly disappearing in other parts of Sicily. Visiting the agricultural markets (or fairs) used to give you the opportunity to see animals and products from all around the islands, however this market no longer…
Continue reading ➞ Postcards from Sicily: Piazza Armerina market stalls
I’ve been asked several times about the dangers of the Mount Etna volcano in Sicily. Over the past decade Etna has been relatively active opening several new openings in spectacular lava flowing fountains and fire works, but the province of Messina is distant enough to hear the stories and watch the news without being directly…
Continue reading ➞ Towns cradled by Etna
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