Sicilian products
Among the island's many quality products, it's impossible not to mention ricotta. Very fresh, it can be used to top stuffed pastas and pizzas as well as desserts. There's also caciocavallo, a string cheese similar to provolone. Produced in the province of Ragusa, it is highly regarded. Pecorino, made from sheep's milk, is of Sardinian origin, but is also produced in Lazio and Sicily. The black pigs of the Nebrodes make excellent cured meats such as prosciutto and salami.
The strong currents that run along the coast of southern Sicily and into the Strait of Messina are rich in plankton, attracting a wide variety of species including tuna(tonno) and swordfish(pesce spada), whose firm flesh is highly prized. Not forgetting sea bream(sarago/mormona), grouper(cernia), sardines(sarde), anchovies(acciughe), cuttlefish(seppia), octopus(polpo) and langoustines(scampi).
The minuta variety of olive oil from the Nebrodes valley is famous, but there are also other quality products such as Terraliva Nocellara extra virgin olive oil from Etna or Bronte pistachio, grown at the foot of the volcano, not forgetting Noto almonds. On the fruit side, citrus fruits take center stage, with several varieties of delicately bitter blood oranges(sanguinello, tarocco, moro). Sicilians also love prickly pears or fico d'India, the fruit of a cactus with red, tangy flesh.
In the kingdom of pasta
As the inventors of spaghetti, Sicilians have nothing to envy their compatriots when it comes to pasta. In Italy, pasta is served as an appetizer or primo piatto, followed by a secondo piatto, a main course generally based on fish or meat. There are many types of Sicilian pasta, such as ziti (long tubes), annelli (rings), busiate (worms) and cavatelli (elongated gnocchi).
Almost every Sicilian province has its own primo piatto: Catania(pasta alla Norma: long pasta with basil tomato sauce and eggplant), Palermo(pasta con le sarde: sardine spaghetti with pine nuts, fennel, saffron and raisins), Agrigento(cavatelli all'agrigentina: short pasta with basil tomato sauce and ricotta), Trapani(spaghetti alla trapanese: with tomato pesto and sheep's milk cheese), Messina(pasta con pesce spada: tubular pasta with white wine tomato sauce and swordfish) and Syracuse(spaghetti alla siracusana: with garlic and anchovy sauce sprinkled with toasted breadcrumbs). In Ragusa, pasta is seasoned with a very local specialty, capuliatu, a preparation made from chopped dried tomatoes, garlic and oregano, tossed in olive oil. Some specialities are more surprising, such as spaghetti ai ricci di mare with sea urchin coral, garlic and parsley, or pasta di maccu di fave with broad bean cream. While the origins of cannelloni are not always clear, Sicilians cook them to perfection. Cannelloni ripieni is a gratin of pasta tubes stuffed with a mixture of meat, spinach and cheese, topped with tomato sauce and baked au gratin. In the same vein, pasta 'ncasciata is a typical Messinese dish made with macaroni mixed with tomato pulp, minced meat, salami, eggplant, caciocavallo, pecorino and basil, all placed in a dish before being baked au gratin.
Fish, meat and vegetables
Just as Portugal has cod, Sicily has tuna. Several products are prepared with this fish, such as bottarga di tonno or "Sicilian caviar", pockets of salted tuna roe, usually fried and served with garlic, olive oil and parsley. And let's not forget musciuma (dried tuna) and surra/ventresca, tuna belly fat, grilled or preserved in olive oil. It is also cooked as tonno alla palerminata (with white wine, garlic and anchovies) or tonno alla marinara (with tomato, basil and olives).
Swordfish is prepared as pesce spada alla ghiotta, a baked swordfish dish with olive oil, tomatoes, onions and olives. Typical dishes include sciabbacheddu fritto (small fried fish) and sarde a beccafico (rolled sardines stuffed with an aromatic breadcrumb with pine nuts and orange zest). With an Arab occupation that lasted several centuries, influences from the East found their way into Sicilian gastronomy. These include cuscùs alla trapanese, or couscous Trapani-style, flavored with tomato and saffron, then garnished with fish and seafood.
Meat is less popular than fish. However, mountainous areas such as the Nebrodes or the mountains around Palermo provide excellent wild boar and lamb. Falsomagro is a veal roulade stuffed with sausage meat and hard-boiled eggs, while coniglio alla stemperata is a recipe for rabbit simmered with pine nuts, capers, vegetables and a dash of white wine.
On the vegetable and starch side, don't miss caponata, the perfect blend of southern vegetables (eggplant, tomato, peppers), enhanced with garlic, onions, olives and a dash of vinegar. Fiori di zucca ripieni , or zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta, are briefly fried before serving. More substantial, gattò di patate is a potato gratin with alternating slices of salami, mozzarella and parmesan. Finally, if we had to name just one rice recipe from Sicily, it would be arancini, delicious rice balls stuffed and fried in oil. They can be flavored with tomato and stuffed with cheese, meat ragù or ham.
Sicilian cuisine can also be enjoyed on the street, and nothing beats a slice of pizza. The term "Sicilian pizza" actually describes several specialties specific to each province of the island, such as Palermo's sfincione, a brioche pizza with tomato sauce, anchovies and cheese, or Catania's pizza fritta , a fried calzone topped with cheese, anchovies and mushrooms. Syracuse's pizzolo is a pizza stuffed with cheese and cold meats, while Ragusa's scaccia is a rectangular turnover with a variety of toppings (tomato sauce, meat, cheese, cold meats, etc.).
Between sweets, coffee and drinks
Sicilians have a sweet tooth. The famous cassata siciliana is a Genoese cake soaked in maraschino, topped with ricotta, candied fruit and pistachios, decorated with marzipan and finished with a white icing. An iced version is also available. Many Italian desserts are associated with religious festivals, and cassata is usually prepared for Easter. Another emblem of Sicilian pastry-making, cannoli are tubes of dough - flavored with white wine - fried then filled with a creamy ricotta, dark chocolate and candied orange peel. More modern versions are available with pistachio, chocolate, raspberry or even Nutella.
There's also the buccellato, a crisp pastry crown filled with a mixture of almonds, pistachios, honey and dried fruit, prepared for Christmas, or the cassatelle, a type of turnover filled with ricotta, almonds and chocolate. For All Saints' Day, try ossadei morti (bones of the dead), crunchy cookies with cloves. Finally, frutti alla Martorana are a speciality of the Martorana monastery. These marzipan fruits, hand-painted with food coloring, are stunningly realistic.
Sicilian ice creams will leave you with unforgettable memories. You'll find every flavor, but the specialty is torrone gelato (almond ice cream). Each Italian region competes with its neighbor for the paternity of ice cream, and according to the Sicilians, it was the Arabs in the 10th century who taught them how to make the first sorbets. Cornetto is de rigueur in Sicily, but ice creams can also be enjoyed inside a small round brioche. Or opt for a granita, made with crushed ice and fruit juice or - more commonly in Sicily - coffee, sometimes called caffè freddo. As in the rest of the country, coffee is serious business. You can of course sip a classic espresso or cappuccino, unless you prefer a corretto, "corrected" with a dash of grappa, or a caffè con panna, topped with whipped cream.
Wines and limoncello
Sicilian wines have been renowned since ancient times. White wines include alcamo, catarratto, insolia, grillo and moscato, the latter reserved for desserts. Red wines include nero d'Avola, syrah and nerello mascalese. And let's not forget cerasuolo di Vittoria, which benefits from a DOCG - the equivalent of an AOC for premium wines in Italy.
But the best-known Sicilian wine is marsala, made from muscatel and malvasia grapes. Sweet, dark and richly perfumed, it is found in the provinces of Trapani - in Marsala, of course, where you can visit numerous cellars - as well as Palermo and Agrigento. It was an Englishman, John Woodhouse, an exporter of Sicilian products to England, who decided to develop its production in the 18th century. Cremovo is a sweeter variant flavored with egg yolks, with an alcohol content of 16-18°. Marsala is drunk as an aperitif or used to make pastries such as tiramisù. And don't forget limoncello. This lemon liqueur, originally from Naples, is also produced in Sicily. Last but not least, Unesco has declared goblet vine-cutting on the island of Pantelleria a World Heritage Site.
