Scrumptious Sicilia

Just over a week in Sicily means been thrown head first into the guts of raw, honest & incredibly fresh Italian cuisine. Much of the island’s cuisine encourages the use of fresh vegetables such as eggplant, peppers & tomatoes, and fish such as tuna, sea bream, sea bass, cuttlefish and the ever-impressive swordfish.



Sicilian cuisine as a whole shows traces of all of the cultures who at one point or another over the last 2 millennia have called the island their home. Although its cuisine has undoubtedly a predominant Italian base, Sicilian food also has Spanish, Greek & Arab influences.

Supermarkets in Sicily are usually devoid of any fresh produce whatsoever, with locals preferring to visit the daily markets to choose the freshest ingredients to take home.

The markets in Catania (Sicily’s 2nd largest city) are commonly known as the largest on the island. As Catania features a large port, the majority of produce for sale at this daily market is seafood with huge varieties of the catch of the day. Its outer edge is populated by vendors selling fruit, vegetables, delicatessens displaying all manner of cheeses (pecorino, parmesano reggiano, ricotta, mozzarella etc) and meats.

The hustle and bustle of the fish market

Sardines
Octopus
Sea Urchins



Swordfish (Pesce Spada) - the tail end is cut into thin steaks for crumbing and frying with a smidge of parsley and lemon. Yummmmm.


The Ortigya market, although on a smaller scale, is also worth a mention. It features a throng of shops offering a similar range of products for sale similar to Catania, however the stallholders definitely do not hold back in asking you to taste test some of their goods. Huge chunks of cheese of differing types and ages (with little plastic cups of vino blanco in between to help cleanse the palate – of course!), incredibly sweet & juicy cherry tomatoes, a lesson in where to find the best cut of prosciutto straight off the bone, sampling freshly made pesto and capsicum relish on bread… let’s just say we went a little AWOL with the market purchases and definitely did not need lunch after. However the fruits of out labour were dutifully transformed into a fantastic rooftop terrace antipasti spread.

Proscuitto off the bone



Amaaazing tomatoes



Mozzarella
Ricotta


Our market buys...


... turned into antipasti with a view (credit must go to Amy & Alana for amazing presentation, and to Matt for doing the dishes!)

A common Sicilian primi (1st course dish) is Pasta all Norma. This is a regional dish from the Catania area and features some of the fresh produce grown in the region. The basis of the sauce is tomato, basil, eggplant and ricotta.


So simple & tasty that I even tried to have a go in making (although in true backpacker style in using what I had, mine unfortunately excluded the basil & ricotta but included marinated local olives and tuna!)



Another area the Sicilians seem to know a thing or two about is street food – and it seems everything delicious available on the street tends to end in an ‘I’.

Cannoli – not to be confused with the pasta dish Cannelloni, these are biscuit pastry tubes, filled with sweet ricotta cheese (ever-so-slightly flavoured with cinnamon) and decorated on each end with candied fruit of some sort.


Aranchini – hardly need an introduction I’m sure. The Ionian coast (eastern coast of Sicily) serves them in a large conical shape, the most common flavour available is ragu – with portions of melt-in-your-mouth beef, Bolognese sauce with vegetables and to top it off chunks of melted cheese scattered throughout. A meal in itself!



Gelati – De.Lic.Ious. Trying to limit myself to one per day which I know sounds a bit OTT but when in Rome... or Sicily! Gelaterias advertising ‘produzione propria’ are the ones to go for – meaning the gelati was made on the premises. A somewhat different but very common way of eating gelati in Italy is in a brioche (sweetened bread) roll. Not bad!





Granita – (I know doesn’t end with an ‘I’ but close enough) is a semi frozen dessert of sugar, water and flavourings originally from the island. Granita is closely related to sorbet and very refreshing in the summer heat.

Coffee granita

I now head to Naples (the birthplace of pizza) and the Amalfi Coast to sample some Southern Italian deliciousness, and then to Rome to hopefully get a cross section between the north and the south.
Until next time, ciao! x