Holy cannoli! Sicily's tastiest treats
Crossroad of cultures influences distinctive cuisine on southern island
As we've had to postpone our travels because of the pandemic, I believe a dose of dreaming can be good medicine. Here's a reminder of the fun that awaits us in Europe at the other end of this crisis.
While food may be an art form in Italy, it's more like a religion in Sicily. Sicilian cuisine will surprise you with its complexity — a legacy of successive waves of settlers and invaders who influenced the cuisine.
The first time you find yourself choosing between fish couscous and spaghetti Bolognese on the same menu, you know you're at a crossroads of cultures. Thanks to centuries of North African and Middle Eastern influences, Sicilian cuisine includes distinctive ingredients such as couscous, almonds, ginger, apricots, cinnamon, and lots of citrus. Arabs who came here popularized fried foods which is why so many Sicilian street food classics — and even some pastas — are deepfried. Sicilian cooking also comes with Greek and Spanish touches.
The Sicilian diet relies on Italian staples such as pastas, olives and tomatoes, but with a local twist. The island's warm temperatures and fertile volcanic soil mean that everything from citrus to nuts are available. Produce is plentiful — and sold at markets that more closely resemble an Arab souk than a European marketplace. Seafood is abundant.
Sicily has an remarkable range of local specialties. Trapani, on the west coast, is geographically and culturally the island's closest point to Africa — and the best place to try couscous al pesce, couscous served with a side of fish broth that you ladle on.
In Catania, quench your thirst with a seltz e limone (seltz, for short) — fresh-squeezed lemon juice with seltzer water. They'll ask “sale?” to see if you want salt added.
Sicily also has its own pasta dishes. Anelletti al forno is ring-shaped pasta, baked with tomatoes, meat, eggplant and cheese. Busiate alla Trapanese is a twisty noodle topped with red pesto made from almonds, tomatoes, garlic and basil. Pasta alla Norma is made with fried eggplant, tomato sauce and basil with salted ricotta cheese on top. A top-end choice for seafood fans is spaghetti ai ricci, spaghetti topped with sea urchin.
Sicilian desserts are delicious. The island's most famous and best sweets are cannoli. A crispy fried pastry tube is filled with sweetened ricotta, then dusted with powdered sugar. The mark of a high-quality cannoli is one that's filled right when you order it — otherwise, the shell gets soggy. After tasting cannoli at a Sicilian pastry shop, I know why they say, “Holy cannoli.”