Our stories regarding food, travel and life in Sicily...
loveSicily Blog
Food Revolution Day: Sicilian 'mpanate with Squid and Potatoes
Posted on Friday 17th of May 2013 under Food and Drink | Recipes
Today the world celebrates Food Revolution Day, an event launched by international chef Jamie Oliver's to get people better connected to their food and improve the way they eat.
Communities across the world are getting together and celebrate the beautiful diversity of fresh food, sharing cooking skills, understanding good eating habits and, of course, eating great food. At the loveSicily cookery school we decided to go for a very traditional fish menu with Tunnina, thin slices of tuna made panfried with fried onion, sarde a beccafico, and 'mpanate di sicci (seppie), squid pie.
Orange, Almonds and Pistachios Sicilian Lamb alla Katia
Posted on Friday 29th of March 2013 under Food and Drink | Recipes
Easter in Sicily is the most important holiday of the year. Sicilians away from home will do their outmost to get back to the island to enjoy the numerous processions dedicated to the Passion of Christ and catch up with family and friends. Tourists have the chance to see how old traditions and rituals are still kept alive by the Sicilian youth and, obviously, have a taste of all the wonderful local Easter food.
San Giuseppe - Scicli and Santa Croce Camarina
Posted on Tuesday 19th of March 2013 under Festivities
On the 19th of March we celebrate Saint Joseph day, San Giuseppe, and special festivals and processions take place allover Sicily.
In the province of Ragusa, in the South-East, the most famous events are the "Cavalcata di San Giuseppe" in Scicli and the "Tavolate di San Giuseppe" in Santa Croce Camerina.
Cavalcata di San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph’s Horse Parade)
Minne di Sant' Agata: Saint Agatha's Breasts Recipe
Posted on Wednesday 06th of February 2013 under Recipes
Sant' Agata is Catania's patron saint and is celebrated every year with one of the largest religious processions in Italy between the 3rd and the 5th of February.
Agata lived during the third century AD, when Sicily was under the Roman Empire, and was the daughter of an important rich local family. She was very religious and, while still very young, decided to dedicate her life to God by resisting any men who wanted her at a turbulent time in Sicily, when Christians were prosecuted.
My take on Masterchef Italia!
Posted on Thursday 24th of January 2013 under About loveSicily
Masterchef si o Masterchef no, this is the question? And as this post is mostly about a debate this TV show started in Italy, the English speaking readers will forgive me if for the first time I write this post in Italian.
Hot chocolate alla Modicana: Nonna Elvira's Recipe
Posted on Monday 21st of January 2013 under Food and Drink | Recipes
Winter has finally arrived in Sicily. It is officially cold and there is nothing better I can think of than a cup of hot chocolate to warm us up. After all, making a hot chocolate is the easiest and best way to use Modica's traditional chocolate. Those who follow my blog or have been to Modica know all about this special kind of chocolate, those who encounter it for the first time can go to my Guide to Modica's chocolate.
Top 10 cooking mistakes I see during my cooking classes
Posted on Friday 11th of January 2013 under Food and Drink
I have been teaching cooking classes to hundreds of people for a decade now and the best part of the experience has always been sharing our passion for food, personal kitchen anecdotes, cooking tips and exchanging recipes. People who have been to my classes know the atmosphere is always relaxed, no one panics if things do not come out as expected and the main focus is always learning with fun.
But obviously, I have also encountered some common cooking mistakes I try to point out during classes and now thought it was time to share them with you too.
Jaddina China alla Rausana......My Version of Stuffed Hen Ragusa Style
Posted on Friday 21st of December 2012 under Food and Drink | Recipes
My Christmas recipe for this year is my version of a classic dish they prepare in Ragusa for special occasions like San Giovanni, Christmas or New Year's Eve: Jaddina China, stuffed hen.
As always with Sicilian recipes, there are various versions and each family has a secret ingredient or process to make it.
Sicilian Christmas Homemade Gifts: Lemon and Orange Salt
Posted on Monday 17th of December 2012 under Food and Drink | Recipes
Every year I like to prepare some Christmas foodie gifts for my friends, homemade biscuits, Modica's chocolate, jam, preserves...it makes me happy to do something for the people I love and hope they like it too. This year I prepared some citrus flavoured salt, last saturday my kitchen smelt like an orangerie.....just wonderful!
I prepared three different kinds, lemon, orange and kumquats. I then placed them in some recycled soda bottles I had saved during the year.
Pasta che Ciciri - Sicilian Chickpea and Pasta Soup
Posted on Monday 10th of December 2012 under Food and Drink | Recipes
We are now used to going from short sleeves strait to winter coats in Sicily. Like last year, until the end of November we were still sitting outside for a coffee or a meal and now we are facing "polar temperatures" with snow in Messina and other parts of Sicily. This drastic change of temperature calls for drastic diet adjustments, so people started cooking traditional winter soups. I made a simple "pasta che ciciri". Sometimes I prefer a creamy chickpea soup, but this time I went for an even more earthy "pasta e ceci".
