FUSION FLAVOURS

WITH INFLUENCES FROM GREECE TO NORTH AFRICA AND BEYOND, THIS ISLAND’S CUISINE SETS IT APART FROM THE MAINLAND, SAYS CHEF GIORGIO LOCATELLI

Sicily changed me. I didn’t go until I was in my 30s, and it altered the way I thought about Italian food. I come from the north where the influence is very much French, Austrian, German; we eat polenta, potato, risotto, that sort of thing. Sicily’s strategic position between Africa and Europe has influenced its history. The English and French were there, the Spanish ruled, the Arabs dominated for over 150 years, and the Greek influence is huge — they introduced various spices, fruits and vegetables, as well as irrigation. All this has affected the cuisine. So, it’s a type of upside-down fusion food, where culture, rather than the chef, transforms the produce.

Pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines), so the story goes, was invented when an Arab general landed on the south side of the island and his cooks gathered what ingredients they could find to make a dish that pleased him. The anchovies used, called pesce azzurro (‘blue fish’), are small, flavourful and have a high omega-3 content.

This dish sums up Sicily: the Arabic combination of sultanas, nuts and saffron — the latter something they brought from the Far East. Wild fennel and fish have been Sicilian since classical times, but it took someone to arrive and reimagine them into a new dish. And, as this is Italy and a recipe is never really a recipe, the dish changes from village to village. The pine nuts might be exchanged for something locally available, and in one restaurant I even ate it without anchovies. The fishing boats had yet to land their catch, so the chef called it ‘pasta con le sarde a mare’ — pasta with sardines that still are in the sea.

Another eye-opener is the use of fried breadcrumbs instead of parmesan to finish the dish. Unlike in Northern Italy, cheese is a rarity in Sicily, but the island has a flavour answer for everything. With fewer ingredients, you have to be smart, and Sicily is the epitome of this. There are some 10 to 12 ingredients found in cooking island-wide, which become incredible, varied dishes.

Giorgio Locatelli is owner of Locanda Locatelli in London. locandalocatelli.com