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...

With its beautiful natural scenery and breathtaking landscapes Sicily has set the scene for many Hollywood movies including The Godfather Trilogy, Oceans Twelve, Star Wars Revenge of the Sith and Aquaman and the British movie A Bigger Splash. Many Italian movies have also been filmed here and one of the most successful is Cinema Paradiso. Cinema Paradiso is a beautiful and moving Italian film with English subtitles written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, released in November 1988, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 62nd Academy Awards in 1989. The film was shot in Giuseppe Tornatore's hometown of Bagheria as well as other locations on the island. Told largely in flashback it is the story of a successful film director's childhood and teenage years and later the story of his return to his native Sicilian town. The film intertwines sentimentality with comedy and nostalgia. It explores issues of youth, coming of age and reflections in adu...

One of my favourite pasta dishes in Sicily is Pasta alla Norma, it completely embodies the flavours and fresh produce of the island. This dish originates from the city of Catania and there are numerous versions of this homage to music and food based on variations on a theme of pasta, aubergines (eggplant), tomatoes and ricotta salata. The composer Vincenzo Bellini was born in 1801 in Catania and according to legend on the opening night in 1890 of the cities beautiful opera house, which opened with a performance of his opera "Norma", the public were so overwhelmed that they insisted on marking the occasion by naming a dish after the event. Another story attributes the name to a compliment which was paid to a chef from Catania given by a famous Sicilian actor in the 1920's who declared that his pasta dish had been "as good as Norma" Another explanation, with not very much imagination, is that 'norma' in Sicilian dialect means "rule" ...

"Leave the Gun ... Take the Cannoli" Pete Clemenza, The Godfather Part I The Cannolo (singular) or Cannoli (plural) is one of Sicily's most popular Dolci (desserts) and was supposedly invented by the Arabs in the Harems of Caltanisetta. Cannolu in Sicilian dialect means little tube. Cannoli are made from crispy rolls of pastry which are deep fried around special metal tubes. They are then filled with sweetened ricotta and then decorated with candied fruits, pistachio nuts or chocolate and then dusted with icing sugar. Are you dribbling yet? First there is the crunch of the Cannolo shell as you bite into it and then the ricotta cream oozes into your mouth like a little piece of heaven. When I first tried Cannolo Siciliano I was told that I would never want to eat any other dessert. A cannolo really does have the "Wow" factor when you are served it. Cannoli were such a temptation and proved so seductive for the Benedictine monks that they spent a...