To be perfectly honest, we were going for a spaghetti with mussels, but Alessandro - the neighbourhood fishmonger - seemed to have a different measure of what are sufficient mussels for four portions of spaghetti. We could have asked him to remove some from the bag but the suggestion of a zuppa di cozze instead of spaghetti quickly convinced us otherwise. Clearly Alessandro has far better sales techniques than Anglo-Saxon supermarkets have trained us for.

There are endless variations of mussel soups across Italy, with perhaps one of the more popular ones being the impepata di cozze, which is essentially mussels with pepper, olive oil and garlic. In south-east Sicily however, a zuppa di cozze is far more often one with a tasty and slightly spicy tomato sauce.

The first step is of course to clean the mussels (getting rid of those that are open already), then simply place them in a pan with a lid and perhaps very very little water. The mussels quickly release their juice and in about 9-10 minutes should be open, which means they are ready.

 

At this point remove the liquid, pass it through a fine sieve to remove any impurities and place it apart. Also go through the mussels to remove any that have not opened. Now, we can start with the tomato sauce. For the sauce its pretty much what you prefer. We simply started with olive oil and some garlic, added a sauce we had prepared earlier (although canned tomatoes would work just fine) with a bit of basil. After the sauce was slightly bubbling we added half of the mussel juice and allowed it to reduce almost to half. Then we added the rest of the mussel sauce and two chilies and allowed to reduce some more.

Then add the mussels, some chopped parsley on top and you are ready. Healthy portions of bread to dip are a must. As a secondo some grilled calamari.

 

A 'sagra' in Italy is best translated as a festival and there are as many variations of how a sagra can be carried out as there are sagre in Italy - in other words, thousands.

The one we went to last night was what would pass as a low key event, i.e. just a couple of thousand people where attending at any moment. The Sagra ra Tunnina - which is its title in Sicilian dialect - is tied to the celebrations of the Madonna delle Grazie which involves a procession around the town of Ispica with a gathering afterwards to enjoy the tuna.

Now, tuna and the Madonna may not be the most immediate of links. But, as ever with such events, the links actually go back at least a few centuries. In the 18th century the most important family of the town of Ispica - Bruno di Belmonte - became the owners of the "tonnara" of Capo Passero. Now, as the family was a God-fearing one (and had excellent PR people) they decided to pay thanks to the Madonna by offering the population of Ispica a huge tuna to be eaten during the celebrations of the Madonna delle Grazie. The tuna was carried from Capo Passero in a big cart and was taken all around the town to ensure that everyone saw exactly how generous the family was.

 

Fast-forward to 2005. The family of Belmonte has lost its power over the people of Ispica but the people of Ispica have not lost their appetite for tuna. So they get together some sponsors and the town's administration takes care of the arrangements. Just one tuna is not enough these days, so a few are required. It makes for excellent fast food for a summer night, and comes in two variations. Either a "cipolatta" of tuna, which is tuna with lots of finely chopped onions, or simply roasted in a garlic and oregano sauce.

 

Now, we know that they don't look perfect and the plates are just plastic ones (as were the fork and knives). But that is the whole spirit of a sagra and a fresh piece of tuna for 3.5 euro is not all that bad!

Food note

Most chefs will insist that a tuna steak should ideally be pink in the middle and that a tuna dish should simply enhance the taste of the fish itself rather than crowd it. While we do appreciate this we should also point out that dishes like the ones of the sagra above are still fantastic and chefs should start paying more attention. A well roasted tuna has quite a different taste, especially when you allow the edges to go slightly crispy. So next time you get a tuna steak in front of you ignore that recipe book. Try roasting it over a high temperature and try it the old-fashioned way. What is important is to cut it thin (not more that two-three centimetres) .

Smaller farmers in Ragusa are becoming increasingly more aware of the benefits of selling directly to consumers (rather than negotiating complex contracts with middle men). While "mass production" farms have little choice but to sell for export the smaller farmers that have made peace with their land and with themselves can enjoy a direct relationships and over a suprisingly short period of time they build a faithful following of clients.

It is from "the back of the van" of one of these smaller producers that we received the bounty depicted in the picture below.

Cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes from Pachino for a total of 7 euro. Salads with cucumbers and tomatoes, roast peppers with olive oil, mint and garlic, a bit of greek tzatziki and as the English would say "Bob is very much your father's brother" ;-)

The cookery course continued at full speed in the past three days and with the diligent collection of photographs this time round we have enough material to post on Via Ritiro N.7 for some time yet!

For the time being we just want to post some of the highlights of Day 3 and 4.

Day 3 was all about fish. We started the lesson with a walk to the Masseria degli Ulivi herb garden, where Chef Guarino wanted to explain the differences between some of the herbs used and in particular between dried and fresh oregano.

Dried oregano was also the central ingredient for a cipollata di tonno - a classic Sicilian recipe which we will revisit in detail, and of which we had several different versions since everyone had a go.

We then moved on to a sea bass pasta, made more interesting by a sea bass broth, where Chef Guarino impressed by using ice in the process.

We also prepared 0ctopus with Nero d'Avola and finally some granitas and sorbets as well as a chocolate cake! In all quite a session.

A trip to the fishing villages rounded up the day.

The fourth day started with a further study into Sicilian granitas at the Mandolfiore pasticceria in Noto, before a wander around town.

Back at the Masseria degli Ulivi for lunch, which started with a tour through the products of the Monti Iblei and Noto. First of some olive oils and then cheese with honey. We will talk about all these varieties in more detail in the future.

For the course we started with some more Sicilian classics, arancini!

With Chef Guarino showing just how they should be made.

Nevertheless, some practice was required before our students reached any appropriate level of competency!

We did much more on the day, including a wonderful explanation by Bruno on how his parents prepare the tomato paste every August and the classic rabbit 'stimpirata'.