Joy in Sicily

October 24, 2013

Her name is Joy (Gioia in Italian, pronounced Joy-ah). You’ll find her serving up gioia in the form of happy smiles and cocoa flowers in the corner bar on the main piazza of Santa Croce Camerina.

Not only that, the lone pensioner on the bar stool–an ancient farmer with a single tooth–wanted to buy my coffee.*

Can you see what I love about Sicily?

Sicilian Barista, copyright Jann Huizenga

*Couldn’t let him, though.

***

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Lunch with Alice

April 16, 2013

Alice hosted a luncheon yesterday.

Lunch under the Olives in Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

A 4-legged critter with eyelashes long as dreams, Alice set quite a charming table in the middle of her grassy field, under twirling olive trees.

table

Her human, Antonio, threw steaks on the grill. Not just any old steaks, but those of Massimiliano Castro, named best butcher in Sicily.  We devoured them like a pack of wild animals while Alice, a vegetarian, kept right on chomping her grass. Once in a while her boyfriend would bray from across the valley, and Alice would holler right back. He haw he haw he haw! It’s spring, and love is in the air.

For dessert, Antonio made cuccia, the traditional dessert eaten in Siracusa for Santa Lucia feast day–a heart-stopping concoction of grain, ricotta, honey, orange rind, and orange flower water. Head chef at his Donnalucata restaurant, Consiglio di Sicilia, Antonio plans to add the dessert to his menu. Reason enough to get on a plane and fly here all the way from Kansas.

Antonio Cicero with his cuccia, copyright Jann Huizenga

Chef Antonio Cicero with his cuccia

Among the guests joining Alice was Sicilian-born, Melbourne-based Marisa Raniolo Wilkins, author of the fabulous Sicilian Seafood Cooking. A gorgeous book created with love for all things Sicilian. Complimenti, Marisa!

Marisa Raniolo Wilkins, copyright Jann Huizenga

Thank you, Alice, for a wonderful afternoon in your field. You’re welcome at my table anytime.

Antonio Cicero, copyright Jann Huizenga

Chef Antonio with Alice

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If you are interested in having a similar lunch with Alice, either with cooking classes or a culinary tour (incuding a salami tasting with Massimiliano), drop me a line and I’ll put you in touch with Antonio and his wife Roberta.

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Massimiliano Castro, copyright Jann Huizenga

Massimiliano Castro, Sicily’s best butcher

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Tea Party in Sicily

April 9, 2013

My Roman friend Roberta–who has moved to Sicily–proposed that I host an afternoon tea.

Great idea, you say?

Ha. Consider this: Roberta works for Gambero Rosso, Italy’s gastronomic bible, which pitilessly rates and ranks food.  She’s reviewed fancy Michelin-starred restaurants all over Italy … and Paris … and London … and New York. She’s penned cookbooks and other food books and now runs a restaurant near the shore with her new Sicilian marito.

So the thought of feeding my food-goddess amica filled me with a kind of horror.

But I’d been fed at her table plenty of times, so it was time to step up and act like a Big Girl.

Whaddya serve at a tea party, anyway? Was Roberta expecting high tea or low tea? I was sure mine would be low–very, very low.

You eat breads and cakes, don’t you?  I can do that. I like to bake. I ran my usual repertoire through my head.

  1. Cranberry-nut loaf. (But there are no cranberries here!)
  2. Pumpkin tea loaf. (No canned pumpkin here!)
  3. Chocolate chip cookies. (No chocolate chips!)
  4. Blueberry-oatmeal muffins. (No blueberries or oatmeal!)
  5. Buttermilk biscuits. (No buttermilk here!)
  6. Etc, etc, etc Ach!

Every single thing I’d ever baked in my entire life contained a key ingredient that this isle lacks.

So to the Wide Web I went, trolling for lemony-orangey things. Because mountains of lemons and oranges we have.

Then I got to work squeezing lemons, chopping nuts, whipping eggs. It was warm enough to toss the doors wide open. Big furry bees circled the honey.

Baking
I made Tuscan lemon muffins using whole ricotta instead of skim (no such thing here), and more lemon zest than the recipe calls for.

Tuscan Lemon Muffins, photo copyright Jann Huizenga

And an orange-nut loaf.

Orange nut bread

And lemon meringue pots de creme, a NY Times recipe.

Lemon Meringue Pot de Creme, recipe from the NY Times, photo copyright Jann Huizenga

And raisin scones, totally unworthy of a photo.

You can just get a glimpse of them below–those things in the back that are flat and hard as hockey pucks. What self-defeating instinct made me put pucks on the table????? The fact that I had good mandarin marmalade and zagara honey to scoop on them was no excuse.

Tea time

I had a Plan called Prosecco. When my guests arrived, I would get them tipsy so they wouldn’t care what they were eating. I let the Moroccan mint tea steep and steep while we tossed back the sauce. We toasted the slaves of Milan and New York who do not know the perks of the free-lance life, and we toasted Sicily.

Moroccan mint tea, copyright Jann Huizenga

The orange-nut bread was unremarkable, but Roberta rushed to the rescue: She pulled a pastry bag of ricotta cream from her purse, like a rabbit from a hat. Abracadabra! The perfect spread!Ricotta cream

The Tuscan lemon muffins were good and moist, but Roberta reserved her praise for the lemon meringue pots de creme.

Roberta Corradin, copyright Jann Huizenga

Roberta Corradin

Hooray! I got the Gambero Rosso thumb-up!

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Wild in Sicily

March 16, 2013

Friends came over the other day, arms loaded with wild asparagus. A gorgeous gift! These stalks are damn hard to find–they play hide and seek with you. When you finally spot a lone spear (because they don’t grow in clumps), you have stick your arm into a beehive of prickers to get at them.

Wild Sicilian Asparagus, copyright Jann Huizenga

I have been loving the bouquet (they stay fresh in water). But now it’s time to say goodbye.

They are destined, tonight, for pasta con gli asparagi and frittata di asparagi.

Wild Sicilian Asparagus, copyright Jann Huizenga

Wild Sicilian Asparagus, copyright Jann Huizenga

Can’t wait!

Have a great weekend, and thanks for reading, amici.

***

Here’s a link to my story about the first time I stalked asparagus in Sicily. It may give you some insight into the lover-boy attitude of the Sicilian male.

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Ice at First Light

July 26, 2012

When I first came to Sicily I though it was just plain weird: who ever heard of shoveling ice into your mouth at dawn????

But now I think it’s brilliant. These soporific temperatures demand it.

Apparently, Sicily’s Arab conquerors (10th-11th centuries) were the first to blend snowflakes from Mount Etna with sweet fruit juices.

Look at all the flavors you can get nowadays!

Be sure to pair your breakfast granita with a big fat Sicilian brioscia or two.

Mulberry granita in Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Mulberry (gelsi) granita

Prickly pear granita, copyright Jann Huizenga

Prickly pear (fichi d’India) granita

Almond granita in Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Toasted almond (mandorla) granita

Lemon granita in Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Lemon (limone) granita, my fave

Chocolate granita in Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Chocolate (cioccolata) granita with cream and nuts (soooo decadent)

Roberta Corradin, copyright Jann Huizenga

My friend Roberta always mixes things up. Here she ordered almond granita mixed with ice coffee. Did you know you can create your own drinks in Italy and the barista will oblige? (Dipping bread into granita is the normal m.o. of islanders at breakfast.)

Read here how it is made.

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