SICILY: A CULTURAL GUIDE

Our island has three corners. It has three oceans—the Tyrrhenian, Ionian, and Mediterranean—and a coat of arms with three legs . We have three tribes of ancestors (the Sicani, Elymians, and Sicels) and three mountain ranges (Monti Peloritani, Nebrodi, and Madonie) that are a continuation of the Apennines. The Italian mainland is just 2 miles (3 km) away, across the narrowest point of the strait of Messina. Our volcano is roughly 11,000 ft (3,330 m) high and our cuisine has three main influences: cucina povera, cibo di strada, and cucina dei Monsù (more on those later). Our fava larga, the longest beans in Italy, are traditionally harvested with a three-tined fork. And there are three products that no Sicilian cook can do without: olive oil, salt, and wheat. My mother, who embodies Sicily for me, was born on the third. All good things about our island come in threes. Between black and white, there is a third realm of amazing and magical color—and that’s where you’ll find Sicily.

Just a decade ago, it wasn’t easy to publish a cookbook about Sicily. Back then, Italy was widely regarded overseas as consisting primarily of Tuscany plus a few of the larger, more glamorous cities, such as Venice, Milan, and Rome. When I presented my Sicilian cookbook to publishers, the consensus was that I should simply make it about Italian food. Nobody would be interested in Sicily, I was told, and it didn’t really matter whether the recipes were Italian or Sicilian. I was not to be persuaded and wrote and published my first book on Sicily regardless. Italy and Sicily are worlds apart, separated by almost 4,000 years of history. One of my favorite Sicilian chefs loves to tell his Italian colleagues that the islanders were already drinking from glasses, eating from plates, and going to the theater while the Italians were still clambering about in the trees. Unsurprisingly, the Italians themselves tell exactly the same story, but with the roles reversed ….

What is indisputable is that Sicily has always been a trading center and a melting pot for lots of different cultures, thanks largely to its strategic position in the Mediterranean. Sicily gathered new foods, knowledge, and architecture from visitors and invaders alike—and, inevitably, suffered a certain amount of destruction, too. The island has undergone relentless transformations and, from the ruin caused by each new regime, something new emerged. In this way, one of the most diverse cultural environments in Europe developed. This process continued unabated until the 19th century, then stopped at a time more or less coinciding with the unification of Italy. From then on, a weakened Sicily was afflicted by a serious disease: the Mafia. But this should not be confused with Sicilian culture. “Our identity is not the Mafia. The Mafia has just perverted it,” says Leoluca Orlando, the mayor of Palermo, the island’s capital city. A lot has changed in the decade since I published my first Sicilian cookbook, and not just in the recipe book business—in which Sicilian food and culture is now considered a worthy subject for close study—but on the island itself. Much of this can be credited to the mayor of Palermo, who has successfully persuaded islanders that they can reclaim their country through a renewed appreciation of its true culture. People are increasingly rediscovering their roots, thereby liberating themselves from the Hollywood folklore that is obsessed with the Mafia and threatens to infect the world’s view of the island.

A true scholar of Sicily knows that the island’s culture—the history of its chefs, food producers, culinary innovators, and restaurant owners—goes back much further than the 160 years that has captivated Hollywood. Now that their history and true origins are being properly researched, we often find links back to the Sicani, the Elymians, and the Sicels, the original inhabitants of Sicily who lived here even before the first Greek colonization in the 8th century bce.

The Sicani, who are thought to be Iberian in origin, inhabited central Sicily. The Elymians lived in the western region and are believed to have come from Troy, which is probably in present-day Turkey. The east of the island was settled by the Sicels, who historians think migrated from the Italian mainland, and after whom Sicily was ultimately named. (I deliberately describe this migrant status as hypothetical, because the Sicani refer to themselves in ancient texts as an indigenous people.) In the meantime, there are certainly plenty of native foods that are being rediscovered and cherished once more in Sicily. Ancient strains of grain are being used again to make pasta, bread, and traditionally brewed beers.

Sicilian pulses that were dying out have been resurrected and grown on a large scale once more, and there is a push to protect the island’s sesame from commercial genetic modification. Indigenous vines are being revived, rare ancient breeds of livestock are being farmed, and forgotten varieties of cheese—such as Tuma Persa, made by Salvatore Passalacqua from Castronovo di Sicilia—are enjoying a resurgence. Not to mention the renewed appreciation of manna, the medicinal white juice of the ash tree, which is being extracted and used as a sweetener in Sicilian pasticcerie.

Idealists and artisans are driving this new Sicilian love of its original culture, and ever-increasing numbers of the island’s inhabitants are joining them. There is street art all over the place, with murals and installations springing up everywhere. But this reacquaintance with the past does not reveal a desire to escape the vicissitudes of the present day, or of the future. On the contrary, modern Sicilians have a clear vision for themselves and their future, as articulated so beautifully by the Amore family.

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean. It covers an area of 9,974 sq miles (25,832 sq km), making it almost as big as Belgium. More than 5 million people live in Sicily. The capital, Palermo, has more than 1.25 million inhabitants, while the second-largest city, Catania, is home to more than 1.1 million people.

Constant invasions: the rulers of Sicily During ancient times, the sophisticated Sicani, Elymian,  and Sicel tribes lived peacefully in different parts of the island. The first trading posts were established by the Phoenicians in the west of the island. In the 8th century bce, the first Greek colony was established and, while the Greeks enriched the island with a new culture and economy, they also sought to oust the indigenous people. In 210 bce, the Romans arrived, making Sicily the breadbasket of Rome—and destroying almost all of its forests in the process. In the 5th century ce, the Vandals and Ostrogoths plundered the island; then, from 535, Sicily became part of Byzantium for 300 years. The Arabs conquered Sicily in 827, rebuilt it, and let it flourish. Their tolerance toward all the other religions on the island made them popular with the people.

In 1061, the Normans conquered Sicily and, in 1194, they were followed by the Hohenstaufen dynasty, originally from Germany. The French Anjou kings and the Spanish House of Aragon that followed them were oppressive regimes that neglected the island.

A devastating volcanic eruption occurred at Mount Etna in 1669, and an equally destructive earthquake brought further anguish in 1693. (Many areas that were destroyed in the southeast region of the island were rebuilt in Sicilian Baroque style and were declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 2002.)

From 1713 to 1720, the island was ruled by the dukes of Savoy and Piedmont; from 1720 to 1735, the Austrian Habsburgs took over; and from 1735 to 1860, it was under the control of the Spanish Bourbons. These three were not popular with the people of the island. In 1816, Sicily was united with Naples to form the Kingdom of Sicily. Unification with Italy came in 1861 and, sadly, Sicily was once again allowed to fall into a state of neglect. Up until the 20th century, there was a massive wave of emigration. In 1946, Sicily became an autonomous region with its own parliament. In 1986, the largest trial against organized crime took place and, in 2018, Italy chose Palermo as the country’s Capital of Culture.

Sicilian generosity

Despite their long history of exploitation, most Sicilians are exceptionally generous and will give even when they have nothing. If you visit Sicily, please don’t take advantage of this trait; all too often over the course of history, strangers have taken from the islanders without giving back. Even if someone absolutely refuses to accept money, Sicilians will still find a charming way of paying recompense, returning a favor in some other manner. Try to do the same.

Getting around

Being carless, I tested out buses, ferries, and trains all over the island. Even without a car, as a woman traveling alone, there is lots of great public transportation, as well as private bus companies, that are affordable and punctual.

LA MELANZANA

If you ask a Sicilian for their favorite dishes containing eggplants, you’ll be there for some time listening to the reply. Eggplants feature in many of the island’s most famous recipes, from caponata di melanzane (the sweet-and-sour salad) to succulent stuffed melanzane ripiene. Perhaps you’ll prefer luscious melanzane alla parmigiana layered with melting cheese or a comforting pasta alla Norma. From including in casseroles to being pickled under oil, the eggplant is king in Sicily.

A Sicilian kitchen without an eggplant is unthinkable. You might almost believe the vegetable was a native of Sicily, given how often it is used in the island’s recipes. The most widespread technique for preparing eggplants around the world is probably as stuffed eggplant halves, or perhaps served as a smoky puréed eggplant dip (baba ganoush). You might find it sliced, griddled, and served in a salad. But that’s about it. The Sicilians, meanwhile, have more than 80 recipes for this vegetable.

The eggplant is a master of versatility, with a fabulous savory yet sweet flavor. It can be used as a soft purée or as a firm meat substitute cooked in the same way as a pork chop (alla cotoletta). Contemporary Sicilian cooks experiment with it in all sorts of ways. Alongside risotto balls arancini alla Norma (inspired by the famous pasta alla Norma), you will also find more idiosyncratic creations, especially among the island’s restaurant menus. In his restaurant La Madia in Licata, for instance, the two-Michelin-starred chef Pino Cuttaia creates tubes made from perlina eggplants that are wrapped in crispy pasta and filled with cherry tomatoes and Ragusano cheese. Head chef Roberto Toro from the Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo in Taormina offers an interesting gnocchi made from eggplants rather than the traditional potatoes, served in a tomato sauce. And yet the eggplant doesn’t even come from Sicily, originating instead in southeast Asia, India, and China.

It was the Arabs who introduced it to Europe and, in the late 14th century, it caught the attention of the Sicilians for the first time. The eggplant was grown around the island and referred to by one of Sicily’s Carmelite orders of monks in their medicinal botanical survey. However, the eggplant was initially a failure on the island due to the fact that the people were prone to dying after eating it raw! That is how it acquired its vernacular name mela non sana, or “unhealthy apple,” which over the years has become melanzana. Along with other members of the nightshade family, such as potatoes, eggplant contains the toxin solanine, which is why it must not be eaten raw.

What has changed over time is the vegetable’s bitterness, which is barely, if at all, perceptible in newer varieties. In old cookbooks, readers were always instructed to sprinkle eggplants with salt before cooking to extract their bitter juices by osmosis. Nowadays, this process is only necessary if you want to keep the vegetable from soaking up too much oil when you fry it. (Otherwise, eggplants are notorious for soaking up oil like sponges.) However, through osmosis, eggplants not only lose water, but also some minerals. There are varieties that naturally absorb less oil and so are better for any dishes that require the eggplant to be fried. For these recipes, look around for the nera di Palermo or the sciacchitana (see right), both older varieties. There is an eggplant best suited to every recipe. The different varieties can be categorized into three basic shapes: round, oval, and cylindrical. Because eggplants turn brown when ripe—and the flesh inside becomes fibrous, too— you might be surprised to learn that they are harvested and eaten while still unripe.

PASTA ALLA NORMA

If there is a pasta dish that best represents Sicily, it is surely pasta alla Norma. This vegetarian summer recipe, originally from Catania, owes its appeal to just a few ingredients, which have to be of the finest quality. Most importantly, the way in which it is assembled is vital to its success. The comparison of an eggplant pasta dish with Bellini’s opera Norma was supposedly first made by Nino Martoglio, a poet, playwright, and gourmet from Catania, the home of the recipe. He is said to have exclaimed, “Chista è ‘na vera Norma!” (“That is a real Norma!”) after eating his first forkful.

If you have eaten pasta alla Norma outside Italy, you may well wonder what a rather ordinary dish made with short macaroni and bite-sized pieces of eggplant—chopped as though the cook was in a hurry—has to do with such an esteemed opera. The answer is nothing, because a dish made with macaroni and chopped eggplant is no Norma, but simply the household staple pasta con le melanzane. Though even in that humble dish, the eggplant shouldn’t be chopped. And, if we are being especially strict, macaroni with chopped eggplant should always be made with homemade macaroni.

You may have come across a more elaborate dish made with homemade cavatelli pasta, mozzarella, tomatoes, eggplants, caciocavallo or ricotta salata cheese, and basil. However, this is no Norma either, but a cavatelli al cartoccio from the region around Agrigento. A genuine Norma must be composed like an opera in three acts. What is lacking from the widely available fastfood version with its macaroni and chopped eggplant is this process of arrangement—the careful assembly and compilation. And this can only be achieved if you serve it on not one plate, but three.

An authentic Norma has one plate with spaghetti, tomato sauce, and eggplant strips torn by hand. A second plate holds fried slices of eggplant. The last plate contains grated ricotta salata (salted ricotta). Each person grabs one of the plates from the table before passing it on. You take sliced eggplant, place as many pieces as you want on your pasta, then sprinkle with ricotta cheese. Because short pasta pieces don’t go well with large disks of eggplant or even eggplant strips, it is essential to use spaghetti. (This is also far more elegant and befitting a dish named after an opera, as you can twirl them around your fork rather than having to stab them as you do with macaroni.) It is a mystery to me why the inauthentic version with its macaroni and chopped pieces of eggplant has become so widespread around the world. Luckily, I have never yet been served pasta alla Norma with macaroni and chopped eggplant in the province of Catania. Which is not to say that this inferior version cannot be found in Catania, too. More’s the pity ….

IL MARE

If you want to travel to Sicily, there is no avoiding the sea. And the oceans love Sicily so much that the island is embraced by three seas. To the north, there is the Tyrrhenian Sea; to the east lies the Ionian Sea; and to the south is the Mediterranean. Perhaps it was these three seas that lovingly molded Sicily into its triangular shape, giving the island its nickname Trinacria (“three-pointed”).

Salvatore likes to gesticulate while talking but, because he is driving today, his hands need to stay firmly on the wheel. His seawater production facilities and his home are both located in Graniti and, during the drive there, our conversation is about the sea. “The salt content in the Mediterranean is high, at about 1½ ounces (38 grams) of salt minerals per 31/2 cups (1 liter) of seawater, while the average for the world’s oceans is only around 1¼ ounces (35 grams).”

Why do we need to know this? Because this relatively high level of salt makes a big difference: Mediterranean king prawns taste better than shrimp or prawns from anywhere else, precisely because their inherent salt content is higher, Salvatore tells me. Together with four other partners in his Aquamaris business, he makes the most of the Mediterranean’s salt levels by marketing seawater to the food industry. Top chefs know this ingredient well and have been using it for a long time, but have kept it secret. They know about the special flavor it imparts. Seawater does not just consist of water and sodium chloride (salt), it also contains more than 50 other minerals. It also has been discovered that this specific composition works as a flavor enhancer, making seawater an even more effective form of seasoning than salt itself. By cooking with seawater, you achieve more flavor, getting the most out of fish, tomatoes, and meat. The use of seawater in cooking can also reduce the amount of salt you need to add to any recipe by up to 30 percent.

As well as the health benefits and flavor potential, Salvatore and his business partners were also motivated by tradition. Salvatore tells me that people are always exclaiming, “ ‘What is it with you and your seawater obsession!’ Why? Because even as a child, I was always having to fetch seawater for cooking.” In Sicily, freshwater is a precious commodity, so why would you add salt to freshwater when you’ve already got such a large amount of saltwater all around? People in coastal areas would always have cooked with seawater in the past, and fishermen would have prepared fish using seawater, though in those days, no one understood the mysterious properties of the minerals involved. Provided seawater is not heated above 212–230°F (100–110°C), it retains a proportion of iodine, which in regular salt is removed during the refinement process along with all its other minerals. The only alternative to seawater is unrefined salt—not sea salt flakes, but pure salt crystals, the chunks that are left behind during salt production. These are so hard that you can only use them after grating with a sharp blade, and they are also almost impossible to find on sale.

This gave Bruno Patanè, now the managing director at Aquamaris, the idea of reviving the art of cooking with seawater. His original idea was focused entirely on health. Bruno’s father Leonardo, a well-known heart surgeon from Catania, was brought on board and, together with a nutritional adviser, they carried out some initial research and analysis. Other business partners were sought, and that is how Salvatore and his family—the Testas—got involved. As one of Catania’s longest established fishing families, they were able to collect large quantities of seawater on their giant ships from depths of 33–44 yards (30–40 meters) and 14 nautical miles off the island’s coast. Salvatore was asked to work on product development and Beniamino Sciacca, a chemist, joined the team to work on the purification process. In 2018, the first seawater was sold. However, before it can be sold, the seawater collected by the fishing boats undergoes a laborious purification process. The preliminary analyses are conducted onboard the boats. First, the water is tested for heavy metals. If any are found, the water is dumped. (Regardless of the kind of contamination found, if the levels are too high, the water is simply discarded.)

On land, the “harvested water” is conveyed to silos by tankers. Here, it is immediately subjected to UV irradiation, which is the first stage in the sterilization process. Next, it is passed through a special resin filter to remove bromine. Even now, the water is not considered to be clean. It still has to pass through various other filters, the smallest of which is just 25 micrometers. Not only does any bacteria or sewage need to be removed, but microplastics are also an issue, and this poses a significant problem. It’s even more serious out at sea but, nonetheless, the microplastic causes the filters to become contaminated more quickly and results in a need to change them more frequently. Once the purification process is complete, the seawater is microbiologically pure and no longer contains any microplastic residues. Right at the end, the seawater undergoes additional sterilization treatment in a UV tunnel. Once it is packed into 1¾-pint (1-liter) bottles or 8¾-pint (5-liter) boxes, it undergoes a final sterilization process. Seawater is a precious commodity that humans would be able to use without processing and for free if we had not been so reckless in our conduct toward nature and the environment—actions which are now also having an impact on ourselves.

Professional chefs immediately became the company’s first customers. One of these was the outstanding young Sicilian chef Giovanni Santoro from Linguaglossa. He uses the water for baking bread and also for cooking chicken breasts, which he marinates for 12 hours in seawater before cooking them in a sous-vide machine. The result is a delicacy reminiscent of prosciutto crudo. Drinks such as gin or beer can also be made using seawater. (The beer, in particular, goes down very well.) Salvatore even preserves Datterini tomatoes in seawater; these simply need to be puréed and seasoned with a touch of pepper—perfect. He is also thinking about making a stock with seawater that would contain all those precious minerals. And he has plenty of other ideas, too ….

IL AGRODOLCE

In cooking, opposites are often paired together in order to create a third quality. Neither ingredient should be given more weight than the other; the goal is to achieve balance, because through this interplay, something quite new and different is created. Sicily is an island that is full of opposites in its nature and history. Perhaps that is why a very specific culinary trend has prevailed in Sicily—namely the incorporation of sweet and sour flavors in savory dishes, a style of cooking known in Italian as all’agrodolce.

This approach to combining flavors is known throughout Italy, such as in the renowned Venetian dish of sarde in saor (sardines marinated in vinegar). But the trend is even more pronounced in Sicily. No doubt this is partially due to the island’s numerous Arabic and Asian influences, and the Arabs do seem to have been the first to use and successfully master the agrodolce technique. Another factor in its popularity is surely the Sicilian heat. Acidity and sugar are both excellent preserving agents and, in the time before refrigeration was available, preserving food was even more important than its flavor. Acids, such as vinegar, kill off bacteria (which is also why you should wash your chopping boards with vinegar), while sugar—just like salt—draws out water from food, thus inhibiting the formation of mold. A lucky by-product is the deliciousness that the combination creates.

So vinegar and sugar function as excellent substitutes for a refrigerator. Sugar was first introduced to Sicily by the Arabs, but honey and dried fruit can also be used as sweeteners, which is why raisins are so frequently included in Sicilian recipes. Vinegar, usually white wine vinegar, can be substituted by using Sicily’s abundant citrus fruits. Oranges, mandarins, clementines, and even kumquats —not to mention pomegranates, apples, and in fact most fruits—naturally have a wonderful balance between sweetness and acidity. If this balance in the fruit is not right, the flavor suffers, so nature itself serves as a model for the agrodolce approach.

Sicilians just cannot resist this particular style of cooking and the way it encapsulates a natural phenomenon. The contrast between sweetness and acidity also works beautifully with game. One of the most popular meat dishes to showcase this culinary trick is the Sweet-sour Rabbit, coniglio all‘agrodolce.  In days gone by, meat would have been a rarity for the poorer inhabitants of the island, but a welcome exception to this was most wild game and offal. Probably the three most popular Sicilian all’agrodolce recipes are Caponata ; the aforementioned coniglio all‘agrodolce; and zucca all‘agrodolce, which is the most popular way to eat pumpkin on the island. The list of dishes in Sicily that are prepared all’agrodolce is never-ending.

In addition to sugar or honey, and vinegar or citrus juice, there is another typical Sicilian ingredient that is found in virtually all dishes prepared all’agrodolce: the caper, ideally from the islands of Pantelleria or Salina. So I paid a visit to Gaetano Marchetta in Salina, who produces capers there, in addition to Malvasia wine. He explained that there are three types of capers sold: very small ones; medium-sized varieties; and very large capers, in which the internal flower is already highly developed. Capers are the unopened flower buds and, naturally, the larger the caper is, the more developed this bud will be). Many people are under the impression that the smallest capers are the best quality, but in Salina, they don’t agree. Here, large capers are the most popular precisely because you can also taste the flower. You will also find i cucunci available. These are caperberries that only develop if you allow the flower to blossom, then wilt. Caper bushes grow in the unlikeliest of places, including cracks in walls and in between rocks. This is thanks to the lizards that are extremely fond of the plant and its fruit. The seeds get stuck to the lizards’ bodies and they then distribute them all over the island, particularly in sheltered places in stonework, which they love to scurry along.

IL MONSÙ

In his only novel, The Leopard, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa tells the story of an aristocratic Sicilian family during a time of great upheaval on the island. The book begins with the Garibaldi uprising in 1860 and describes the transformation this brought, including the rise of the bourgeoisie. As the plot unfolds, there is frequent mention of the meals eaten in noble households at the time. It tells of lavish and flamboyant dishes served in unusual combinations, conjured up by chefs who toiled night after night over their creations. These chefs, sweating away in their kitchens, were the superstars of the 18th and 19th centuries during the period of Bourbon rule on the island, which was 1734–1861, and during which Sicily and Naples were temporarily united as a single kingdom (“the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies”). The chefs working in the kitchens of aristocratic houses were referred to as Monsieur—at least, that’s what people attempted to call them, but Sicilians found the French word almost impossible to pronounce. And that’s how it ultimately became Monsù. The Neapolitans over on the Italian mainland had similar difficulties and ended up with their own Monzù class. Cucina dei Monsù was characterized by French influences because, at that time, the French reigned supreme when it came to matters of the kitchen. Acquiring a renowned Monsù as their chef came to be a hugely important status symbol for aristocratic families. Sometimes duels were even fought over the services of the most prized cooks. Chefs were elaborately courted and treated with the utmost respect. Anyone who took pride in their culinary skills at the time was obliged to cook French food, but a Monsù did not necessarily have to be French. It is said that the trend was started by Maria Carolina of Austria (Marie Antoinette’s sister) when she married King Ferdinand I, ruler of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, in 1768. She couldn’t stand the simple Neapolitan cuisine, so she asked her sister, who became Queen of France in 1774, to send over French chefs to produce more elegant fare. The less sophisticated Italian chefs she complained about were then trained to become Monsieurs by their French counterparts. However, this did not result in a sudden replacement of all Sicilian and Neapolitan cooking with French cuisine.

Instead, “French” food in the Two Sicilies became simpler and lighter, while the native southern Italian cuisine acquired a more sophisticated tone. It was this mingling of cultures that evolved into cucina dei Monsù, a completely new style of cooking combining the produce of the Two Sicilies with culinary techniques from France. And this food was not confined to aristocratic tables, but found its way to the plates of ordinary people as well. Over many years, cucina dei Monsù merged with the simple dishes of cucina povera. In turn, cucina povera sought inspiration from cucina dei Monsù and tried to imitate this aristocratic cuisine, but with more humble ingredients. This is why, in Sicily, we find traditional dishes such as le melanzane a quaglia (“eggplant in the style of quail”), in which eggplant is used as a substitute for expensive quail. Another island recipe again deploys the eggplant, this time coated in breadcrumbs in the guise of a cutlet.

A third example is sarde a beccafico, where sardines are rolled or folded with tails aloft to resemble the pricey little birds on which the nobility would have dined. Or there is the renowned falsomagro, a giant rolled roast. In its cucina dei Monsù form, it contained peas, ham, provolone, hard-boiled eggs, and ground meat; in falsomagro, these were replaced among the lower orders by cheaper alternatives, and sometimes the meat itself became a frittata. Even molded savory timballi and cakes, as well as all kinds of involtini, originate from cucina dei Monsù. So how did cucina povera come to be inspired by aristocratic cooking? Because it was ordinary people, of course, who were in service to the nobility. Domestic staff could see what was going on in the homes of the rich and what kind of food was being served. The exquisite aromas must have been incredibly enticing. No wonder there was a desire to devise versions of these dishes that could be enjoyed at home. This exchange of influences between the disparate social groups worked in the other direction, too. There’s no doubt that the servant girls would have chatted with the Monsù about their own culinary skills. Each Monsù in turn would have absorbed this knowledge, modifying it somewhat for use in his own creations. After all, a wise Monsù understood that his masters were ultimately still Sicilian and always would be. They loved the flavors of their homeland because that was what they had grown up with. No matter how refined French cuisine might be, it could never entirely replace the culinary memories of a Sicilian childhood.

When you look at things from this perspective, you cannot consider Sicilian cooking to be simply the cuisine of the poor. Italian cuisine in general is often pigeonholed as nothing more than the quick assembly of a few high-quality products, but this really isn’t the case. Sicily was and still is a veritable melting pot in all regards. Foreign cuisines— such as Greek, Roman, Norman, Arabic, Spanish, and that of many other cultures—have mingled with Sicilian cooking. In addition, recipes favored by poor farmers and fishermen influenced the dining habits of the wealthy aristocrats. Ultimately, three significant styles can be distinguished in Sicilian cuisine: cibo di strada, cucina povera, and cucina dei Monsù.

Italian cooking, especially the cuisine of southern Italy, has developed into one of the most loved and imitated styles of food cooked and eaten around the world. French cuisine, on the other hand, has gradually diminished in significance and stature over time—at least when it comes to everyday cooking. Today’s Sicilian chefs are well aware of this and hope to avoid the same pitfalls. If you rest on your laurels and resist innovation, they think sooner or later you will suffer the same fate as the French. But this is unlikely to happen anytime soon. The evolution of Sicilian cuisine has been promoted for several years by an exciting group of new chefs who have internalized lessons learned from the Monsù. These chefs are especially aware that the traditional cooking of the island should neither be devalued nor forgotten. There are numerous products of exceptional quality on the island crying out for new interpretations, while inspiration can often be found by examining the past, too.

The island’s latest culinary stars include, among others: Ciccio Sultano, Patrizia di Benedetto, Martina Caruso, Vincenzo Candiano, Accursio Craparo, Pino Cuttaia, Massimo Mantarro, Natale Briguglio, Alberto Rizzo, Pietro D‘Agostino, Vladimiro Farina, Domenico Colonnetta, Francesco Patti, Francesco Mineo, Alfio Visalli, and Giovanni Santoro.

LA STRADA

Il cibo di strada is street food from the Sicilian capital, Palermo. It originally came about as food for the poor, but it is different from the traditional cuisine that was cooked at home by women for their families. It was made only to be sold. Palermo’s street food is distinctly Palermitano, and it exists in this form exclusively in Palermo. It is not a wider Italian tradition. I met up with Giorgio Flaccavento out on the street in front of the entrance to the Teatro Massimo di Palermo. Before Giorgio became a street food guide in Palermo, he worked in marketing in the publishing industry for 14 years, specializing in art and Sicilian tourism. In this role, he traveled the length and breadth of Sicily and,while on the road, he developed a passion for local food specialties and products, and he found that there was always something new to discover. After his career in publishing, he decided he wanted to work in tourism, so he applied for a guide license and got in touch with the founders of Palermo Street Food.

Palermo Street Food was created by a young couple: Salvatore and Danielle. He is 100 percent born-and-bred in Palermo, while she is American through and through. As a foreigner, Danielle had a definite instinct for what was unusual about Palermo’s food culture and an appreciation for those snacks that local residents take for granted. She knew how to identify exactly which aspects of the city’s cuisine deserved more attention. “It’s crazy that you have this street food culture that is completely ignored by the tourist industry,” she says. And that’s how Palermo’s first street food tour came into being.

Locals in search of il cibo di strada usually head to one of the three largest markets in Palermo old town: the Mercato Ballarò, Mercato della Vucciria, and Mercato del Capo. Nothing unusual is offered there—just simple, everyday food. This food has always existed in Palermo, long before “street food” was even a concept and well before it became so trendy. The only extraordinary thing for the food stall operators is the sudden attention they are now getting! But the recognition is great for business, because in the past, there were very few people who appreciated the value and the magic of these markets. One of those select few was the painter Renato Guttuso, who created his famous picture of a bustling market scene, Vucciria di Palermo, in 1974.

Many dishes contain offal, such as la stigghiola (lamb or kid goat intestine with onion and parsley, roasted on a spit) made by stigghiularu; pani ca meusa (bread with spleen and lung) made by meusaru; budelle di vitello (calf intestine); musso e carcagnolo (using meat from the cheek and heel); lingua (tongue); mammelle della mucca (cow’s udder); and even pene del vitello (calf’s penis). All of these dishes use innards and offal that are eaten here (and only here) in Palermo. Another specialty from Palermo is the slightly less alarming panelle e crocchè (chickpea slices and croquettes), a dish without any offal, which tourists (unsurprisingly) usually prefer!

This recipe has now been copied elsewhere in Sicily, and you may find it offered as an aperitivo, but you will only find it served as street food in Palermo. Some books incorrectly claim that panelle e crocchè is the quintessential Sicilian street food. But before all the street food hype, you would barely have encountered anyone in Catania who had eaten or heard of this dish. The same is true of the following recipes: la rascatura, which is made using the leftover dough from panelle e cazzilli, “cobbling” the bits together to make something new, because nothing should be wasted or thrown away; lo sfincione (focaccia Palermo style); la frittola (veal scraps that are cooked, then browned in lard) made by the frittularu; la quarume (made from various bits of beef tripe); il polpo (octopus) served as street food; and, of course, stuffed rice balls, which are well known in Catania but which take the feminine linguistic form here (arancine) and are round rather than cone-shaped .

As well as being the capital of Sicily, Palermo is also the capital of outdoor gastronomy. The city’s street food culture is incredibly diverse, and its traditions go back a long way. Many recipes have a history spanning centuries, as well as origins far beyond the capital city itself. For instance, the traditional dish pani ca meusa (bread with spleen and lung) is thought to go back to medieval times, when the Jews in Palermo worked as butchers, following Hebrew rituals. Their religion prohibited them from accepting money for meat that had been slaughtered in the Kosher tradition. However, the same did not apply to offal, so this was turned into a dish to be sold to their customers. Following the expulsion of the Jews in the 15th century, the recipe was initially forgotten, but it has been resurrected by the residents of Palermo.

Another factor in the widespread consumption of offal was the level of meat consumption by the island’s numerous aristocratic families. Even in the ancient days, slaughterhouse waste would have been discarded, so the poor took advantage of this out of sheer necessity. Many visitors who book a street food tour with Giorgio are surprised at how varied the food in Palermo is. It exceeds their expectations. But it is easier to understand this variety if you remember that Sicily is the product of numerous different rulers. What we see in the island’s food today is its multicultural inheritance from more than 10 different countries of provenance.

Sicily is a veritable melting pot, and not just in the kitchen. Each of its prevailing regimes has also left its own architectural traces. As a consequence, Giorgio tells me, food and architecture have a lot in common in Sicily. For a long time, Giorgio lived in London and Madrid. The supermarket shelves there looked similar to those in Palermo; they reminded him of his home in Sicily. But a huge number of products were imported, whereas in Palermo, you get everything fresh and from regional suppliers, because such a wonderful and varied array of food is produced right here.

Nowadays, Giorgio is increasingly being booked as a classic city tour guide in addition to his role as a food guide. This is because more and more visitors want to explore local flavors while admiring the city’s architectural attractions, both remnants of the city’s multicultural past.On these tours, you walk for up to 4 hours, sometimes in the blazing sun, through the tumultuous street markets. It is physically strenuous, particularly for the guide. But people absolutely love it, and when they finish, they are exhilarated by the diversity and wealth of information they’ve been given. It’s been 5 years since Giorgio started offering these tours. He hopes to be able to do this job forever, or for as long as his legs will let him ….

LA TERRA

Sicilians are surrounded by the sea but also connected with the earth. Liquid and solid elements come together on this island. This understanding of nature makes Sicilians excellent farmers, or terroni, literally “connected with the earth.” You would be right to think that this is a quality to be proud of. But terroni is also an insult, a slur, a denigration hurled in the face of southern Italians by their northern countrymen. Sicilians have gotten used to being considered second-class Italian citizens. In the (materially) rich north, they struggle to comprehend the paradoxical laws of nature, and that’s why many northerners cannot understand why Sicilians are so proud to be terroni. And their pride in the land is driving a return to the old ways; to a simpler time; and to cucina povera, literally “food of the poor.”

In Barrafranca, in the heart of the Sicilian hinterland, 24 miles (39 km) south west of Enna, you will find the home and workplace of the Amore family. They work with the earth and for the earth. They have gone back to the past in order to take a step forward toward Sicily’s future. And although this family farming business has existed for almost 60 years, they have formed a new, forward looking company. Its name is SeMiniAmo.

Three years ago, the business was taken over by Davide, the youngest member of the family, who is now 29. With his degree in economics, marketing, and commercial strategy, he has changed the company’s direction. He has opted for the cultivation of ancient Sicilian grain varieties (grani antichi Siciliani), which are becoming increasingly popular on the island. It all began with a desire to respect the land, and this led to the cultivation of varietals of wheat that are traditional to this area—types that existed before the economic boom and which were forced to give way to other cultivars with the advent of intensive farming.The old Sicilian grain varieties being harvested by this young company have wonderful names: Tumminia, Perciasacchi, Russello, and Maiorca. They also contain high-quality nutrients.

Why would you take what seems to be a step backward, choosing a path that involves more work and less money? Davide’s motivations are wide-ranging, as he explains: “The cultivation of old grains is not just a crucial factor for biodiversity, it’s also a question of quality. We know about this fabulous, healthy raw material, one of only very few. It has escaped genetic modification by humans, it is in harmony with natural cycles, and it thrives without the use of chemical fertilizers. Our grain has exceptional nutritional properties; the gluten is less tough and elastic, so it is easier for our digestive system to handle.” That all makes sense, but this grain is nowhere near as profitable as the other (over)cultivated varieties the western world has grown used to.

Davide explains, “We made a choice to grow ancient grains. For us, this was an ethical decision rather than a commercial one. It means we can respect nature and its biodiversity, plus it’s beneficial for human health. We use our ancient grains to produce pasta, which is extruded using bronze dies and dried slowly at low temperatures. Our flour is ground on natural stone. To retain the quality and authenticity of the ancient grains, the production process must preserve all the exceptional properties of this wheat, creating healthy products with an unmistakable flavor. It is gratifying to know that we are introducing families to genuine, healthy products which evoke the flavors of the past. And it’s even more pleasing that these products are being created with the greatest respect for the planet on which we live. Our entire approach is based on sustainable farming, an ethical business model, and high-quality products. And we believe this is the only possible choice if we want to face the future with a clear conscience. As we are fond of saying: there can be no future without the past.”

In addition to the four ancient wheat varieties that are used to make flour and pasta (penne, busiate, maccheroni, fusilli, and ditalini), the family also produces almonds, almond butter, and two kinds of chickpeas: black ceci neri and white ceci pascià. These are chickpeas with an intense flavor and a high proportion of minerals, best enjoyed with just some sea salt and fine olive oil (like all highquality products, to be honest). The family also produces black lentils from Leonforte. That’s where I head to find out more about the town’s renowned fava beans.

The town of Leonforte was founded in 1610 by Prince Nicolo Placido Branciforte and is located 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Enna. It is famous for the Granfonte (better known as the Fontana dei 24 Cannoli;  a wonderful cattle trough built in the Sicilian Baroque style. But the town is also known for its very large, flat fava beans. The fava larga di Leonforte have been included in the Slow Food movement’s Ark of Taste.

In the past, fava beans were cultivated in alternating cycles with wheat, and they have always been a traditional ingredient in kitchens in Leonforte. The fresh beans are harvested in late March or early April and are served raw, scattered with pecorino cheese, or cooked into frittedda or pitaggiu. Dried fava beans are available from mid-July, and these are used for the popular dish maccu. In contrast to other varieties, they do not require extensive soaking and they cook more quickly. The fava larga di Leonforte, also referred to by the town’s inhabitants as fava turca (Turkish bean), is the largest bean in Italy and, in the past, it would have been served alongside grains as “the poor person’s meat.” The high protein content in these fava beans can compensate for the lack of protein in a person’s diet from animal products. The beans also keep well as a dried product and travel well.

Almost all of the products that featured in cucina povera were fundamentally healthier than those found in the cuisine of the rich. This just wasn’t appreciated in the past, when people always aspired to mimic the culinary habits of the wealthy. Nowadays, we have a better understanding and are looking back to the past to reevaluate these valuable food treasures.

LA MONTAGNA

Mount Etna is always in the same place as yesterday yet always up to something new. Early morning offers a first glimpse of what today will hold. Sometimes it smokes and is good-natured enough to blow out really big smoke rings. Sometimes there’s coughing and spluttering. This can be so loud it rattles the doors and windows. The coughing is black and covers everything. Sometimes the mountain sighs and we hear heavy, rasping breathing, as if sickness has taken hold of it. And sometimes things get so hot that there is an inevitable explosion, with burning fragments spiraling into the air in a form of artistic display. We love every aspect of this mountain, but one day it will abandon us and head into the ocean. Forever.

Etna, as it is known in Italian, is referred to in Sicilian dialect as a muntagna (the mountain) or u mungibeddu. The Arabs called Etna Jabal al-burkān. Later, she was renamed Mons Gibel, which literally translates as “mountain mountain,” as mons is Latin for mountain and jebel is the same word in Arabic. Sicilians turned this into mungibeddu. And beddu also means beautiful in Sicilian. Etna lies in the east of Sicily, roughly 19 miles (30 km) from Catania, and is the most active—and highest—volcano in Europe. At the moment, the mountain is around 11,000 ft (3,330 m) high. In June 2013, Etna was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO. There are 48 such sites throughout Italy, with Sicily alone boasting six of them.

But Etna is not just a UNESCO site; it is also a paradise for biodiversity, with a magical atmosphere that is impossible to resist. You will find melting snowflakes among the sharp lava rocks. Dense woodland alternates with desert areas packed with volcanic rocks, which are covered in snow in winter. Oak and chestnut forests are joined by beech and birch trees. Then there are vineyards, olive groves, orchards, and hazelnut trees, not to mention pistachio groves in the west. The volcanic deposits make the land around Etna extremely fertile, so it is ideal for all kinds of farming. Everything that grows here is of very high quality.

And there is quite an array of produce grown around Etna. It is known for its hazelnuts, walnuts, prickly pears, strawberries from Maletto, pistachios from Bronte, cherries, peaches (pesca tabacchiera), small aromatic yellow apples (cola, gelato, and cola-gelato), and fall pears such as ucciardona and spinella, which are ideal varieties for cooking.

This volcanic region is also home to an incredible number of animals, such as porcupines, wild cats, pine martens, foxes, rabbits, and hares, not to mention smaller creatures such as weasels, hedgehogs, and countless species of bats. There are lots of birds as well, especially birds of prey: sparrowhawks, buzzards, kestrels, peregrine falcons, golden eagles, and nocturnal birds such as barn owls and brown owls. At higher levels, you will also find partridges and wheatears. Scurrying around on the ground are various kinds of snakes, spiders, and lizards, while the air hums with a variety of insects: butterflies, crickets, grasshoppers, cicadas, and bees. Every single one of these is a vital contributor to the healthy ecosystem of the mountain.

The Gatto selvatico dell‘Etna is a wild, striped species of cat from the Etna region. And the Argentata dell‘Etna is another lovely animal: a very special species of goat with long hair, which gets its name from the gray-white-silver hues in its luxurious coat. These goats look as though they are constantly laughing and have a worldly, wise expression.

Local cheeses are produced from their milk, which is particularly rich in protein. One of these cheesemakers is Giuseppe Camuglia, a young man from Castiglione di Sicilia. He works with his father Salvatore in the area close to the wonderful valley landscape around the Alcantara river, making traditional Sicilian cheeses at their dairy Azienda Alcantara. He produces a huge variety of cheeses, including Caprino dei Nebrodi, a mature cheese made from unpasteurized goat milk. Giuseppe makes this cheese using milk from the Argentata goats and also the black goats Capra nere dei Nebrodi. He gets his milk from Nunzio Caruso, who breeds all of these wonderful species of goat at the Azienda Acquavena, located in the remote mountain landscape around Bronte.

LA MANDORLA

In 1872, in his compendium on the almond (Manuale della coltivazione del mandorlo in Sicilia), botanist Giuseppe Bianca listed 752 varieties of almond found in Sicily. The most common—Fascionello, Pizzuta d’Avola, and Romana—are predominantly cultivated in the southeastern province of Syracuse. Just like people on a piazza. You’ll find other species here, too, such as olive trees, just as you might find a person from another country in the town square. Nowadays, this kind of arrangement is rare. Here a Fascionello, there a Pizzuta, and a bit farther on a Romana, all mixed up together. Admittedly, it makes harvesting a bit harder work, but the compensation is that you get this stunning view throughout the year,” says Concetto enthusiastically of his orchard. He explains his devotion to this approach: “They’re not standing there like soldiers in rank and file, all the same age, all the same variety, all compelled to be productive. If my plants are tired, they can simply be unproductive and are allowed to rest. But when they are inclined to produce, they do exactly that, and the quality is absolutely outstanding! Now I’ll let you try an almond. You’ll declare, ‘That is an incredible almond!’”

This year’s harvest has been excellent. The nuts here are collected from August until late September, still using the laborious manual approach where the trees are struck with very long canes. After harvesting, the almonds are removed from their green shells and laid out to dry in the sun. Concetto produces all three kinds of almonds, but the Romana is his favorite and the one he chooses to distribute himself in his own packaging. The other two varieties are sold on directly to distributors, still in their brown shells.

“If you remove an almond from its shell today and don’t eat it for another 2 months, during that time, the nut absorbs flavors and scents from its surroundings. Depending on the environment and storage, this may be suboptimal. You only get that original flavor if you crack them open to eat straight away,” says Concetto. So should you always buy almonds in their shells? “Ideally yes, but over time, the shell becomes so hard that it can’t be removed with standard domestic tools. You will need a hard stone and a really heavy-duty mallet.”

The Romana bears the name of a family from the town of Avola, which was supposedly involved in the nut variety’s cultivation and dissemination. This is the almond that bears the finest fruit when it comes to taste, appearance, and texture. It is the nut of choice for Sicilian pasticcerie and—thanks to its slightly bitter flavor—it is also ideal for savory dishes. This is also the almond that was included in the Slow Food Ark of Taste around 20 years ago (under its alternative name, Mandorla di Noto; see right). This ancient, resistant almond has just one flaw: the shape of its kernel. Because the shell nearly always contains two almonds, they are irregular in shape. The rather crumpled kernels cannot be used for sugared almonds—or confetti, as they are known here—which are popular for festivities. As a result, this variety has been rather neglected—maybe even discriminated against—in recent years. However, lately, it has been in demand again because it has such an excellent flavor. The Pizzuta, meanwhile, is considered the queen of almonds, largely thanks to its elegant shape. Consequently, this is the almond of choice for making confetti. The Fascionello lies somewhere between the two. Its shape is as regular and appealing as the Pizzuta, so it is also used for confetti, and it has a robust flavor similar to that of the Romana.

Every almond tree is derived from the bitter almond (Prunus dulcis var. amara). These seeds are sown in seedbeds for their first year, and that’s where they stay, safe and sound for the whole seasonal cycle. After that time, when they have learned to survive, the little bitter almond shoots are transferred to an orchard to join the other trees. After 2 years, once they have become well-established, the desired variety of almond—whether Romana, Pizzuta, or Fascionello—is grafted onto the tree.

In addition to the three best-known varieties of almond, Concetto also grows a large number of almost unknown, ancient species for himself—for instance, Chiricupara (which has a kernel similar to an apricot, except slightly larger), Scacciunara (a very flat almond), Miuzza (a very small nut), Cuore (a rare, heart-shaped variety), and Rappitieddo (which forms very small kernels that develop closely packed together). These varieties are still in danger of being lost—both the names and the plants—unless the younger generation can somehow keep them alive.

There is a certain amount of confusion between the Mandorla di Noto and the Mandorla d‘Avola. Originally, just a single variety was designated as Mandorla d‘Avola, namely the highly regarded Pizzuta, also known as Pizzuta d‘Avola. In the past, this almond was marketed by traders from the town of Avola as being the best for confetti. (Unfortunately, almonds in Sicily have been routinely judged solely in terms of their suitability for confetti.) Even though most of the almonds were grown in Noto and the surrounding area, as they still are today, they were sold as Mandorla Pizzuta d‘Avola. So every almond variety in Avola was called a Mandorla d‘Avola—hence the confusion. It means Mandorla d‘Avola also refers to the Romana variety, even though this has had Slow Food protected status as La Mandorla di Noto for 20 years.

The added “Noto” designation only came about because, at the time when Slow Food first included the almond in its Ark, 70 percent of almond producers came from Noto and its surroundings. Before this, almonds from the region were simply referred to as La Corrente d‘Avola and included any number of different varieties. To put it simply: both Mandorla di Noto and Mandorla d‘Avola ultimately refer to the same three varieties of almond.

IL CHIOSCO

Green mandarin and lemon (mandarino verde e limone), or “Lemon lemon” (limone limone), or even tamarind and lemon (tamarindo e limone)—all of these drinks are sold on every corner by street vendors in Sicily. They are extremely colorful, very fruity syrups mixed with freshly squeezed citrus juice and topped up with sparkling water. If Palermo is a byword for street food, then Catania can boast the same for beverages, or “street drinks.” At the heart of every piazza principale, unassuming and reserved but colorfully stocked and ready for action, they stand on the pavement and wait. In a matter of seconds, out of nowhere, a crowd of people forms. This throng can disperse as quickly as it assembled. People don’t linger for long, so everything needs to be done quickly. Fast service, dexterity, expertise, and great quality, all at incredibly low prices.

These institutions are originally from Catania. The name can seem a little unceremonious: chiosco. But these are far more than mere “kiosks.” These little buildings, with their protruding roofs, are in fact vibrant street bars. The finest chioschi were built in the Liberty Style (Catania is not just a Baroque town; it also offers plenty of Art Nouveau delights) and are designed with a rectangular or octagonal floor plan. You may not be able to buy a newspaper here, but you will find the healthiest drink in the world. It is also the best-selling drink in summer and consists of just three natural ingredients, mixed together in a few swift steps by the vendor to create the renowned seltz limone e sale.

A bit of sea salt, two lemons (the juice squeezed by hand using a wonderful brass press, which is still manufactured by true master craftsmen), mixed with highly carbonated water that shoots out of a tap—that’s all you need for this classic drink made in Catania, the queen of the chioschi. It is also nonalcoholic, like all the other popular drinks sold at chioschi, the ultimate outdoor meeting places for Catania’s residents. Gaudy-colored syrups catch the eye, often stored in ornate glass bottles next to piles of oranges and lemons.

As well as seltz limone e sale, you can order the south Italian favorite frappè (fruit mixed with milk), your favorite caffè, misto frutto (puréed fruits combined with the ubiquitous soda), and drinks mixed with your choice of syrup. These can be made from tart red or green mandarins, sweet pineapples, refreshing watermelons and oranges, astringent green bananas, strawberries, mint, orzata (almond syrup), or even tamarind. Depending on the chiosco, there may even be granita on offer. The kiosks, known slightly confusingly as o ciospu in the Catanian dialect, evolved from the ancient occupation of the water vendor, the acquaioli. This street trader would sell drinking water on the street, which he had collected from a well or spring and transported in large terracotta containers to be offered to passersby on market day or at street festivals. Sometimes this would be flavored with a dash of lemon juice in Catania. In Palermo, on the other hand, the acquaioli sold acqua e zammù (water with anise), which was a legacy of the Arab rulers.

Just as seltz limone e sale is quintessentially Catanian, the term “seltzer” is recognized around the world. The ancient Romans called sparkling, dancing water aqua saltare. The word saltare became selters, and now this term is used in many languages as the unofficial term for carbonated mineral water.

IL VINO

“Respect the earth and her equilibrium. Respect the vineyard by cultivating it wisely and farming sensitively. Respect the fermentation process by using indigenous yeasts. Respect the wine as if it was a person, bringing its own world, its own history, its own atmosphere.” (Arianna Occhipinti)

A renewed appreciation of native vine varieties will not only prevent them from disappearing, it will also enrich the world of wine in numerous different ways. This has recently been demonstrated with great success in Sicily with the grape variety Nero d‘Avola. But that was only the beginning in terms of painstakingly transforming the island’s vinicultural landscape.

Viniculture and wine making have left their mark on the regions around Mount Etna since ancient times. The vineyards benefit immensely from the special microclimate around Etna and have been developed on small and medium terraces carved into the hillsides. Since 1968, the wines produced here—bianco superiore, bianco, rosso, and rosato—have been authorized to use the Etna DOC registered designation of origin. The Etna region encompasses 21 municipalities. The region’s indigenous vines are Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio (both red wine varieties) and Carricante and Minnella (both white wine varieties).

In addition to these varieties from Etna, Sicily’s other important native grape varieties include Catarratto (white), Frappato (red), Grecanico (white), Grillo (white), Inzolia / Ansonica (white), Albanello (white), Alicante / Guarnaccia (red), Corinto (red), Damaschino (white), Malvasia di Lipari (white), Moscato bianco (white), Moscato d‘Alessandria / Zibibbo (white), Nocera (red), and Perricone (red). There are also countless ancient varieties of vine, making up a seemingly endless list which has not yet been fully defined.

Over the last couple of years, a new and very welcome trend has emerged in the world of wine. Previously, global wine stocks consisted almost entirely of just a few varieties of vine, namely the “classic” French varieties such as Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. These are varieties that have gradually spread from France for use in wine production globally. But many regions have long since cultivated other, equally excellent grapes for wine.These include a number of native Italian varieties, especially from the south of the country.

A special find from the time of the ancient Greeks shows just how far back Sicilian viniculture goes. The discovery was made at the archaeological site of Kamarina, located in the present-day province of Ragusa, and includes the depiction of a landscape full of vines. In fact, interestingly, it shows a woman running a wine business. Just 10 miles Cerasuolo di Vittoria is produced, the only Sicilian wine to bear the DOCG seal (issued since 2005). And it is also home to the most successful vintner in the new generation of Sicilian winemakers. And like her ancient ancestor nearby, she, too, is a woman.

Written by Cettina Vicenzino in "The Sicily Cookbook",DK USA, 2020, excerpts. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.