Sicily, life is as sweet and colorful as the region’s traditional
frutti di Martorana, delightful fruit-shaped marzipan candies. This small island off of Italy’s southwestern coast pulses with a daily celebration of family, food, and culture. And there is much to rejoice in. The vibrant palette of the landscape – a mosaic of golden coastlines and wheat fields, fruit orchards, lush forests and vineyards, and brilliant wildflowers – inspires works of art, whether the artist is a writer, painter, or chef. And the legacy of the island’s many invaders throughout history – Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Spaniards – is a fascinating, multicultural cuisine that is hearty, exotic, aromatic, and, like the island itself, sometimes a bit mysterious.
With this rich, diverse history, a culinary tour of Sicily is an unparalleled cultural journey – and no single dish or flavor can define the cooking here. To the west in Palermo, feast on Arab-inspired vegetable couscous and roast lamb made with herbs and spices from one of the town’s jostling open-air markets. Venture down to the southern coast for poached fish, sautéed mussels, and raw clams so fresh they taste as though they were just plucked from the Mediterranean. After visiting the breathtaking Greco-Roman ruins on the shores of Taormina to the north, stroll one of its enchanting medieval side streets to a café for a refreshing granita al caffè con panna (iced coffee with whipped cream) and a cannoli.
Specialty Foods of Sicilia
On any given night, Sicilian families can be found passing around a heaping plate of caponata, a traditional antipasto made of eggplant, tomatoes, celery, olives, and capers. Fisherman used to devour this dish with seafood at the end of a long fishing day, but caponata has evolved into one of the most popular Sicilian dishes. The recipe varies and sometimes includes artichokes and even chocolate.
No contemporary Italian kitchen would be complete without a bottle of Marsala wine. But centuries ago, this cooking staple was created in the western Sicilian town of Marsala to challenge the Portuguese and Spanish monopoly on fortified wines such as Madeira and sherry. Today, marsala is used all over the world to enhance the flavor of a dish, create a sauce, or to be enjoyed as a dessert wine.
Produced in the province of Ragusa and several towns near Syracuse, Caciocavallo Ragusano (Cosacavaddu Rausanu in Sicilian dialect) is a traditional Sicilian cheese made by curdling cow’s milk inside a wooden container called a “tina,” cooking the curds, and then kneading or pulling them by hand. The name was inspired by the practice of tying cheese (cacio in Italian) two-by-two and hanging them so that they straddle (a cavallo in Italian) a wooden beam to age. The seasoned variety is used in many traditional Sicilian recipes, especially pasta and bean dishes.
It’s impossible to resist the spell of a Sicilian pastry shop window with its explosion of tantalizing colors and aromas. Among the vast array of Sicilian pastry products, the place of honor definitely goes to the cassata. Made of a tantalizing mixture of sponge cake, chocolate, sweetened ricotta, candied fruit, and nuts, the cassata is usually decorated with thick icing or marzipan and covered with brightly colored candied fruits. The ever-popular cannoli, fried pastry rolls with a delicious filling made from sweet ricotta, chocolate and candied fruits, were once a treat only at Carnival time, but now are enjoyed year-round. And no festival in Sicily would be complete without torrone, the mouthwatering honey-and-nuts nougat that is made in a wide range of varieties across the island.
