loveSicily Blog

Sea bass and king prawns al cartoccio with herbs and green pepper

Sea bass and king prawns al cartoccio with herbs and green pepper

This morning, my fishmonger had a great surprise for me: extra fresh wild sea bass (In Italian spigola or branzino).

Finding wild sea bass and sea bream is not that easy, most people buy farmed fish which is definitely less expensive, but the taste of wild sea bass is just at a different level: a concentrate, intense, yet delicate, taste of the sea.

"Sapi ri mari" ( it tastes like the sea), my grandfather Giovanni always said when he was happy with the fish we had prepared for him. So perhaps, as he suggested, buy it once, but go for the top quality option.

Mizzica!

Mizzica!

Last week, Alfredo and Angelo from Mizzica.com came to visit the cooking school in Modica.
They have recently launched their website which offers access to top quality Sicilian products on-line and during our meeting we discussed about all sorts of products and ideas.

Making cous-cous for a great summer salad

Making cous-cous for a great summer salad

Yesterday, ho "incocciato" cous-cous. "Incocciare" is the Sicilian word indicating the art of making cous-cous typical of North Africa and the Western part of Sicily.
It is not easy and it takes practice, but the result is so much better than the pre-cooked packages you find at the supermarket! Fluffy and tasteful, I could simply have it on its own.

The ingredients are very simple, just "semola", which is semolina made from durum wheat (careful, this is not semolina flour, the one we call "semola rimacinata di grano duro"), salted water and extra-virgin olive oil.

Straight from the Etna slopes: tabacchiere peach ice-cream

Straight from the Etna slopes: tabacchiere peach ice-cream

Etna, Sicily's largest volcano, gives us wonderful products, all year round. Chestnuts, pistachios, wine, honey, mushroom, are all fantastic gifts of its untamed nature in the South-East of Sicily. One of these Mongibello's pearls is a special kind of peach, Pesca Tabacchiera (Donut peach) grown on the Etna slopes.

Grilled peppers and baby squid pasta salad

Grilled peppers and baby squid pasta salad

During summer, there is no neighbourhood in Sicily, from exclusive areas with expensive villas, to charming historical city centres, from busy markets to characterless city outskirts, where you will not encounter, at least once during your trip, the strong, inviting smell of grilled peppers.

A Taste of Ortigia

A Taste of Ortigia

Just a taste of our visits to Ortigia in Siracusa during the current spring-summer loveSicily cookery holidays.

Enjoy the photos:

Saffron maltagliati octopus salad

Saffron maltagliati octopus salad

"Are you crazy? Are you kneading dough today?" my friend asked.

Well, she was right, today it is very humid, not the ideal day for making fresh pasta;)! But then again, that is what came to my mind for tonight's welcome summer party and it had to be done.

I made saffron "maltagliati", literary meaning "badly cut" pasta, due to their irregualr shape.

For the pasta I mixed 200 gr flour, 200mg saffron, water and salt. I placed the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes, then rolled it out and cut the maltagliati.

Happy Birthday with a Sicilian Tomato cake

Happy Birthday with a Sicilian Tomato cake

Even this season, our cookery courses are giving us the chance to meet very interesting people. It is always a pleasure to introduce our guests to the culinary wonders of Sicily and the many other great things the island has to offer.
With many of them, we keep in touch even years after they have visited our school and this is simply fantastic. This said, this post should not come as a surprise to you.

LoveSicily guide to Modica's chocolate

LoveSicily guide to Modica's chocolate

Modica's culinary heritage has always impressed me, the city offers such a variety of products and recipes which are classic of Sicilian and South-Eastern Sicilian cuisine and special ones which belong just to Modica's food history and tradition like: cioccolato, 'mpanatigghi and liccumie. Chocolate, in particular, has contributed to making Modica famous all over the world.

Sicilian "Natural Wines"

Sicilian "Natural Wines"

In Sicily, an increasing number of wine producers sharing a respectful and concerned approch to nature, have managed to translate this love for their land into excellent quality wines. This is why in our cookery tour, we only visit producers of organic wines who are using a combination of ancient and innovative techniques in the name of quality and sustainability, starting from the field up to the bottle.