White Almond Sicily

There is an important date around the corner and this 14th February, due to Covid, we will all have to enjoy Valentines Day, or in Italian 'San Valentino' in a different way to usual as there can be no romantic city breaks in Sicily and no romantic meals in Sicilian restaurants. So a cosy night in with a delicious home cooked meal it is then. Sicily is where Europe ends and Africa begins. It began its history as part of Ancient Greece and soon became part of the Roman Empire. Thereafter the island was invaded by the Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, French, Spanish and Bourbons before unifying with Italy. Each conquest left its mark on the island and its cuisine.  Being an island Sicily has wonderful fish and seafood and when eating a meal in a restaurant you will find that the fish you are eating was caught that morning. Sicilian pasta dishes make use of the abundance of local produce such as tomatoes and aubergines. You can find meat on most menus and in particular inland and mount...

"Happiness is like Jam - You can't spread even a little without getting some on yourself!" 'Summer Fruits' usually describes a mixture of summer berries, typically blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants and blackberries. We are still stuck in London due to Covid_19 and missing Sicily very much but one thing that helps getting over "Sicily Syndrome" (the sickness of missing Sicily. I made that up) is picking the abundance of blackberries from the bramble bushes that grow around the back of our garden in London.  But don't tell anyone they are my little secret. In any case they are well guarded by our dog Daisy.  I cannot remember these brambles being there when we first moved into our home but each year they multiply in size and yield more and more delicious plump berries.  In Sicily we do not have these kind of blackberries but we do have are mulberries.  Mulberries translated into Italian is Gelsi . It is not known how th...

Sixteen years ago this year we visited Sicily for the first time and we were immediately seduced by the islands beauty, culture, food and its people, so much so that after only three visits we decided to buy a home there. On one of our first trips we met our friend Gianfranco who was at that time working in one of Taormina's most famous bars. One evening we mentioned to him about buying a home in Sicily and he suggested looking at possibilities in Giardini Naxos, the seaside town located below Taormina in the Bay of Naxos, and we fell in love with its charm. It is a fully fledged town with a port and long stretches of beach, lined with hotels, bars and restaurants. Gianfranco soon become known as our "adopted Sicilian big brother" and he helped us find our home in Giardini Naxos. The rest as they say is history ... Giardini Naxos has a pretty postcard setting and is located five kilometres south of Taormina. The town has gone from being a sleepy fishing village i...