I use my camera like I'd use a notebook. I record little details and notes, things I've noticed or want to remember for later. I photograph small things that catch my eye, a particular design or pattern which seems unusual. It could be a texture that catches my eye or how the sunlight hits a…
Continue reading ➞ The story is always in the details
When people come to Sicily, they tend to go along the well-followed tourist road, sticking to the main cities like Palermo or Catania or visit coastal resort towns like Taormina or Cefalù, which are all beautiful and worthwhile. Still, the island offers many more unique experiences.I always advise people to go and explore smaller towns,…
Continue reading ➞ Exploring small Sicilian towns
During my first winter in Sicily, I visited La Pillera, an idyllic place near Montalbano, buried in the depths of the forests of the never-ending Nebrodi mountains. It is a place where time stops, and the outside world is forgotten. Here, amongst the hazelnut trees, a decomposing villa camouflaged in the folds of the sprawling…
Driving through the countryside outside Catania, under the shadow of Mount Etna between the lava rocks and the dark soil dotted with olives and pistachio trees. There is an introduced plant that thrives and has been claimed by Sicily the fico d’india literally the Indian fig. The prickly pear is a natural survivor of everything…
Continue reading ➞ Words from Sicily: Fichi d’India
There is something humbling about participating in a traditional olive harvest. Every couple of years, I get to help my husband, and his family gather olives to make oil for our own family. Everyone loves the taste of good high-quality oil, and I refuse to do without it. I grew up eating olives, and I’m…
Continue reading ➞ A humble olive harvest
The exotic prickly pear (fico d’india) is a delicacy in Sicily and thrives around the entire island. Known also as the Barbary fig (opuntia ficus-indica) it is a species of cactus cultivated throughout the world in arid and semiarid areas and is thought to be native to Mexico. It is best to taste them after…
Continue reading ➞ How to peel a fico d’india
The first and second of November in Sicily are sombre, holy and sad days dedicated to Saints and dead souls. A month of meteorological transition, which has been causing havoc all over Italy this year (2018) with extensive flooding in Veneto and Alto Adige. In the south, there is a flux between the hot scirocco…
Continue reading ➞ Sicily in November
Sicily is filled with many culinary delicacies throughout the year, but it seems to outdo itself for the summer holidays when everyone is out to have a good time and forget their diets. There are the usual pastries and the cliché gelati but two particular summer favourites which simply must not be missed by any…
Continue reading ➞ Summer decadence
Many of Sicily’s sweets and desserts were created inside convent walls. The image of nun’s innovating and mixing new decadent inventive creations from the Frutta Martorana, marzipan which is moulded into tiny sculptures to the tantalising ‘Minni di Sant Agata’, tiny little white Saint Agata breasts, ricotta filled sweets complete with little red cherry nipples.…
Continue reading ➞ Pasti I Mennula
La primavera Siciliana è triste perchè il tempo passa da giorni piovosi a giorni di forte sole. Il vento di Scirocco nasce dal deserto Africano e soffia a lungo durante tutte le stagioni. I fiori bianchi sugli alberi da frutto si mescolano con il grigio della passata stagione. La primavera è come un armistizio che…
Continue reading ➞ Carciofi affumicati e arrostiti
Quando il tempo comincia a scaldare la terra i primi frutti di primavera letteralmente saltano su dal nuovo fogliame. Fra i più pregati c’è l’asparago selvatico che cresce spontaneo e abbondante in tutta Italia. L’asparago è un membro della famiglia delle giglio ed è ricercato per i suoi teneri, succulenti e commestibili germogli. Gli asparagi…
Continue reading ➞ Asparagi di primavera
As the weather begins to warm the first fruits of spring literally ‘spring’ up from the new foliage. A favourite has to be wild asparagus which grows randomly and abundant throughout Italy. Asparagus is a member of the Lily family and is sought after for its tender, succulent, edible shoots. This plant has been cultivated for…
Continue reading ➞ Springtime Asparagus
A skeptic Valentine As for me I think I am in serious danger of falling flat on my face here, you see I’ve never been the romantic type. I’m the one who encouraged my brother and his former girlfriend many years ago on Valentine’s day to fake a wedding proposal to get a free meal…
Continue reading ➞ Searching for San Valentino
I grew up eating Panettone, every Christmas, at my Sicilian grandparents place it was traditional fare to cut slices, for afternoon tea, of this gigantic aromatic Christmas cake filled with sultanas, dried lemon and orange zest. Every year that Panettone deceived me with it’s light and fluffy appearance, I’d bite into it’s tall and slender…
Continue reading ➞ The humble Panettone
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
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