Sicilian Cassata

A traditional Sicilian dessert, it is certainly not easy to make cassata. The cassata is originally a sweet from Palermo, but it can be found anywhere in Sicily.

Some people trace back its origins to the Arab domination, but the etymology of the word cassata most likely comes from caseata which translates with cheese concoction. Ricotta cheese and candid fruit are the main ingredients of this super sweet cake.

Azienda Agricola Biologica Titone in Sicily Is Awarded with the Best Olive Oil in Italy

Flos is the Latin word for “the best” and Flos Olei has as its objective the profiling of the world’s best olive oils and their producers. Marco Oreggia, a Rome-based journalist and expert in wine and olive oil, is its publisher, and he jointly edits it with Laura Marinelli. Oreggia was behind another guide to olive oils, which was called L’Extravergine, but the current guide has supplanted it. This is the third year for Flos Olei and Flos Olei 2012 will be launched in Rome in late November. The guide is in both Italian and English and costs €30.

The producers listed in the guide are also competitors for some 20 prizes, and the results of the competition have already been announced. The Olive Oil Mill of the Year award went to the Italian producer, Azienda Agraria Viola, an Umbrian family business that consistently produces award-winning results. The Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil of the Year prize went to the Azienda Agricola Biologica Titone in Sicily, for their Titone, a DOP Valli Trapanesi Biologico. Both of these are organic producers, like many in the top 20 list.

Source: The Olive Oil Times

Tasca d’Almerita Best Italian Winery of the Year 2012

Do You know How to Drink a Glass of Wine?

We love this video by Tasca D’Almerita!

Sicily is a country and city, sea and mountains, is ancient history and modernity, creativity and tradition. Amazing people in unforgettable places.

The whole essence of Sicily is concentrated in the new video of Tasca d’Almerita, a historic sicilian winehouse, which decided in its latest advertising campaign signed Mosaicoon to pay tribute to the extraordinary variety and intensity of the soil from which its wines derive.

“A glass of Sicily” is a journey that explores and portrays the most beautiful places and landscapes of Sicily in a wonderful succession of forms and colors, scents and tastes, sounds and sensations.

Sicily narrated by Tasca D’Almerita is the land of juicy fruits, bright colors of markets, glances and talkative gestures, strong and spicy odors, alleys and shops full of memory. Through this deep-rooted mix of art, culture, tradition and nature, the video depicts the island like a continent in the middle of Mediterranean Sea: a territory free from the common stereotypes and enriched by a huge artistic and cultural estate, in a perfect harmony between the human being and nature.

The best images of the places portrayed in the video are collected in an interactive map through which the user can virtually travel over again the steps of the story, slide pictures of the many explored locations and discover unpublished contents regarding ancient and modern traditions that still characterize the island and make it unique in the world.

More resources:

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y05oduMW5Uo
Interactive map: http://bit.ly/aGlassofSicily
Corporate website: http://tascadalmerita.it

Limoncello: A Taste of Sicily

Sipping Limoncello after dinner on hot summer evenings has become a very pleasant custom in Sicily as well as in the rest of Italy.

Limoncello is a Mediterranean liquor made with lemon peels marinated in alcohol. The description of Limoncello given by the Los Angeles Times journalist, Charles Perry, fits perfectly: “A taste of a thousand lemons, it’s colder than ice, and it explodes in your mouth with all the freshness and optimism of lemons”.

The origins  of this delicious lemon liquor date back to the early 19th century when it was first produced on the Amalfi coast in Southern Italy. Today it is made throughout the peninsula but the Southern regions with their warm climate are the most renowned in producing it.

Sicilian Limoncello is more intense than that made anywhere else. Its color is more vibrant, it’s sweeter on the palate and has a more pronounced lemon flavor. Making homemade Limoncello is very common among Sicilian families. It can be kept for months in the freezer and because of the high alcohol content it will not freeze.

There are many different recipes for homemade Limoncello, the quantity of alcohol and sugar may vary according to personal taste. It takes about a week for the alcohol to draw the flavor from the lemon zests. But the result is worth the wait!

Here is a recipe my mother handed to me, which is quite easy and irresistibly good. Differently than other recipes, we use small green lemons (instead of yellow ones) that give nice flavor, aroma and a beautiful green color. It is very important that the lemons are organic and freshly picked.

Ingredients

• 1000 ml pure alcohol (Everclear in th U.S.),
• 800 gr. (4 cups) sugar
• 1000 ml. (4 cups) water
• 10 lemons

Method

Rinse and dry the lemons, then peel the zest off. You must avoid peeling the pith which is the white part of the lemon because it would give a bitter flavor to our Limoncello. It takes a little patience to peel the lemons, it’s easier if you use a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler. Put the peel in the alcohol in a hermetic glass container and let it macerate for a week.

After a week, strain the alcohol and discard the peels. Set the alcohol aside while you prepare a syrup heating the water and the sugar, letting it simmer for 5 minutes. Let the syrup cool off and then add the alcohol which has become a nice green color. Pour into bottles and freeze.

By Maria Lina Bommarito

Traveling to the Benanti Winery and Taormina (Video)

Here is a short video that introduces the Benanti Winery nearby Taormina.

Video (3:13)

When I Think Ricotta, I Think of Sicily…

Ricotta is a beautiful light cheese. We came across this post by Davis Tanis on the NYTimes.com.

Fresh ricotta is the subject of this week’s City Kitchen column. When I think about fresh ricotta, I think of Sicily. It was there that I learned how delicious it could be on nearly everything —added to a pasta with eggplant and tomatoes, spread on toasted semolina bread and drizzled with oil, or eaten just plain with a spoon. And when I watched it being made, the delicate cheese magically emerging from a copper cauldron of barely simmering whey, then ladled into baskets to drain, I really got hooked. It’s the freshness, the utter freshness. In fact, I have found this to be the case all over Italy. There’s a deep cultural appreciation there for just-made cheeses, from ricotta to burrata to mozzarella.

Source: NYTimes.com

Sfincione, the Real Sicilian Tradition

A few weeks ago SicilyGuide posted this article about the Sicilian pizza, but I’d like to point out that Sicily’s pizza is delicious, but the real tradition – especially in the Palermo area – is the sfincione. The sfinciuni (in Sicilian dialect) is a bread based preparation of very ancient origin. The name is of Arab derivation and recalls the word sfincia which is a very soft and delicately spongy sweet. The sfincione dough is made with flour, yeast, water and a pinch of salt. The delicious
tomato sauce is made with onions sautéed in olive oil and seasoned with oregano. Tasty dices of cacio cavallo cheese together with bits of anchovies delight the palate at every bite. Sprinkled breadcrumbs on top give the final touch.

If you visit Palermo, the best way to enjoy this mouth-watering sfincione is to buy it from the street vendors in the outdoor markets or you can find the sfincione in bakeries and food shops.
Buon appetito!

By Maria Lina Bommarito

Inycon, Menfi and its Wine

June 24, 2011 9:00 am

to

June 26, 2011 10:00 pm

Inycon, Menfi and its Wine is a three-day festival dedicated to wine which takes place in Menfi, between Agrigento and Trapani. Sponsored by Settesoli, Europe’s largest wine consortium, the town of Menfi and the Regional Agriculture and Forest Department, the event is this year at its 16th edition.

This territory particularly suited for wine production boasts 4 DOC’s, 7,000 hectares of vineyards and 40% of the Region’s wine export. From Friday to Sunday the town center will host wines and local product tastings.

In Casa Planeta, the wine company of Agrigento, producers will present their wines and Slow Food representatives will organize tasting laboratories, describing history and taste. “We are working – says the mayor of Menfi – to promote the event, which has the distinction of being the oldest in Sicily. We aim to its further development and qualification as well as to promote tourism”.

Every evening at sunset until 10 PM, Menfi’s town square will host shows and concerts. Sunday evening the popular Sicilian Rock Band “Tinturia” will entertain the audience with its contagious rhythm and music ranging from pop, reggae, funk and rap with a pinch of folk.

Information and tickets: www.inyconmenfi.it
Wine tours reservation: info@stradadelvinoterresicane.it

By Maria Lina Bommarito

Raimondo Triolo: A Chef from Trapani in Ischia

A dear friend is on a trip to Italy and just met chef Raimondo Triolo from Trapani in his restaurant Un Attimo di Vino in Ischia. Raimondo Triolo is an acclaimed chef in Italy and his food is fabulous! He is featured in many magazines. His restaurant has no menu! But his specialty is to offer you one whole fish as a trio… He puts part of it in the antipasti, then the pasta and second course, using all the same fish… I have been told that what he cooks is phenomenal!

 

For more information, the Web site of the restaurant is www.unattimodivino.com.

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