Pantelleria through the Photos of Renato Bazzoni (Exhibition) through September 30, 2011

July 23, 2011 4:00 pm

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September 30, 2011 4:00 pm

Environment, architecture and photography are the themes of this exhibition organized by the Italian environmental organization FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano) and winery Donnafugata.

The exhibition is called Emozioni di un paesaggio translated with Emotions of a landscape and displays 40 pictures by Renato Bazzoni, who was an architect and one of the funding members of FAI and died in 1996.

The photos, kindly lent by his wife Carla Bazzoni, were taken in the ’60s and ’70s and depict a rural architecture and integer landscape. Cotton, barley, olive trees capers and grapes were the major cultivations then. An attentive observer will notice the deep contrast with the actual status of the island, where agriculture is almost abandoned and the environmental degrade is rampant.

Map

Sicily 365 Days a Year

June 1, 2011 7:00 pm

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December 31, 2011 7:00 pm

Sicily 365 Days a Year is the new marketing campaign that the region just launched throughout the country to boost tourism to the island.

Every image links to a PDF with list of specific events.

 

The Cous Cous Festival in San Vito Lo Capo (Annual Event)

September 20, 2011 5:00 pm

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September 25, 2011 11:59 pm

The ancient fishing village of San Vito Lo Capo, located between the Gulf of Castellammare and the city of Trapani on the northern coast of Sicily, hosts an annual Cous Cous Festival each September. The festival takes place from  September 20 through 25 this year.

Dedicated to exploring the culinary and cultural aspects of the tasty Mediterranean dish, the festival celebrates the cultural legacy of the Arabic peoples who ruled Sicily for more than 150 years. Cous cous originally arrived in Sicily with the Arabs from Morocco and other areas of Northern Africa who landed on the island in 827. By 903 they ruled all of Sicily and would continue to do so until the Normans began their conquest of the island in 1060. Despite the change in rulers the cultural and culinary stamp of Arabic culture would remain.

Cous Cous

Cous Cous is a food from Morocco of Berber origin. It consists of spherical granules which are made by rolling and shaping moistened semolina wheat and then coating them with finely ground wheat flour. Traditional couscous requires considerable preparation time and is usually steamed (Wikipedia.org). Cous cous is a communal meal, that comes served from a large round platter. Another variety of cous cous, Israeli cous cous, or by its Arabic name, maftoul, is larger–almost pearl-size–nuttier-tasting than its familiar Moroccan counterpart.

The Festival

San Vito Lo Capo’s Cous Cous Festival‘s principal event is a cous cous cook-off with the best cous cous Chefs from Israel, Morocco, Egypt, France, Algeria, Tunisia and Italy participating to determine who indeed is the cappo of cous cous (the best chef) in the Mediterranean.

The festival also includes six evenings of music, featuring free performances by Sicilian and international artists.

Source: www.couscousfest.it