Culture
Timballo di riso alla Siciliana for Thanksgiving and Eid al-Adha
Posted on Thursday 26th of November 2009 under Culture | Festivities | Food and Drink | Recipes
Thanksgiving, the time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude, and Eid al-Adha, the end of the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, are taking place at the same time this year. And what does Sicily have to do with it?
This coincidence just made me think about the influence of both America and North-Africa in Sicilian cuisine. What would Sicilian food be like without tomatoes, prickly pears, potatoes, cocoa or rice, eggplants, sugar, marzipan, etc.
Sicilian art in motion: Eleonora Abbagnato makes ballet rock.
Posted on Wednesday 18th of November 2009 under Art | Culture | Gardening
Nonna Elvira is the reason why, today, I run a cooking school, she is the one who passed on her love for food to my mother and I, but she also gave me her passion for dancing.
I always loved ballet and I am a great fan of Sicilian etoile Eleonora Abbagnato, who is an amazing artist who is making ballet really popular.
San Martino day: Biscotti di San Martino, sunshine, vino novello and frittelle.
Posted on Wednesday 11th of November 2009 under Culture | Festivities | Food and Drink | Recipes
Every year, on San Martino's day, Italians celebrate eating frittelle and enjoying the first taste of novello wine. In Sicily San Martinu is a very popular day and, like in the rest of Italy, each area prepares traditional sweets from Biscotti di San Martino in Palermo to crispeddi (special frittters) in the South-East of Sicily.
Interview to filmmaker Philipp Kaindl
Posted on Tuesday 28th of July 2009 under Culture | General | Interviews
Two weeks ago I wrote a post about a really interesting blog and documentary project called Sgarbiville that I had found, dealing with the town of Salemi and the art critic Vittorio Sgarbi, who is not Sicilian and does not live in the town, becoming mayor and putting some old houses up for sale at €1 each.
Stragusto, Street Food Festival and Panelle Recipe
Posted on Monday 27th of July 2009 under Culture | Events | Food and Drink
Last week-end on the opposite side of the island, in Trapani, the event Stragusto celebrated street food with the first Mediterranean street food festival.
Sicily is famous for the quality and variety of traditional street food. You buy them from street hawkers in the markets, especially in Palermo and Catania, or in dedicated shops (rosticcerie). There is an amazing range: panelle, arancine, scacci, sfincioni, focacce, crespelle, pane ca meusa, etc.
