December 5.

Our day started by meeting Sara, who works for Francesco at the olive mill, in the center of Modica.  At the end of the day yesterday, she offered to take to her uncle’s house who makes his own ricotta cheese.  We would soon find out that this would be one of the most meaningful days in John’s culinary career.  One even I won’t forget!

cheese!

The next morning we met Sara, and our first stop was to meet her sister at the coffee and pastry shop she owns in Modica.  They both grew up in Chicago so it was fun to talk about where they came from and the places they would hang out as kids.  We also met their mother, Carmela.  They all grew up right around the bowling center that I bowl at, Diversey River Bowl in downtown Chicago.  We had a few very good pastries, and as we were leaving Sara’s mom invited us over to her house for Sunday lunch the following day.  We had only talked to her for about ten minutes and were already invited into to her home to eat with her family….that’s how they roll down here in Modica.  Obviously, we gladly accepted her offer (more on that later).

Then we were off to meet her Uncle, Salvatore (a common name here in Sicily). He lives in a farmhouse in the Modica countryside.   He starts the ricotta process very early in the morning so when we arrived in their home kitchen, he was in the process of ladeling the ricotta out of the big huge pot and into the little cups he would sell the cheese in.  While he was carefully ladeling the cheese so as not to break up the curds too much, they allowed us to try the still hot cheese with the homemade bread that Sara’s cousin made.  I am not a cheese lover so I wasn’t sure how I would like it.  It had a sweetness to it and it melted in your mouth.  John couldn’t put into words how great it tasted and how he had never had anything like it.

ricottascoop

He still makes it the really old fashioned way with a wood burning fire in a big pot and stirs it for hours. (not kidding). They allowed us to take photos and I urge all who are reading to check them out in the photoworks library when they are all uploaded.

The cheese comes from the cows on his land.  He milks them EVERY morning at 5am.  He makes the cheese every day and sells it in town.  I asked how long had he made ricotta cheese and he said he had been making it since he was 9.  He’s now 71.  He has never had a vacation or had a day off, and this is the only job he has ever had.  As it was described to me, the cows don’t understand the idea of a “vacation.”  Someone has to milk them every single day.

John and his new friend, Salvatore

Her uncle seemed very happy with his life.  It was a very humbling (and even a little emotional) experience for both John and I.  All he knows is making ricotta cheese… and it’s good enough for him.

Before leaving, we stopped to say hi to his cows, chickens, and a sheep with its baby.  It was the coolest, most authentic family farm we have ever seen and are both so grateful for the experience.

Next stop was to Sara’s cousin’s farm.  Her cousin has a more modern farm specializing in the production of Cacciocavallo Ragusano D.O.P. The first place we went on her farm was to the barn with her cows.  She had the cutest baby cow, born just the night earlier.  I have never seen a cow that young, and was really surprised at how big it actually was.  It had hair, and could actually stand and wobble to walk.  After tasting their specialty cheeses, we headed off to have lunch with Alessandro and Pierpaolo (from the Bonajuto chocolate shop we mentioned earlier).

A baby calf born just a night earlier.

They took us to a really great local restaurant with a young chef who is the friend of both Alessandro and Pierpaolo.  Once again, we didn’t see a menu.  He cooked 5 courses for us and each were spot on.  It was a very impressive meal with great conversation and company.  Although Alessandro doesn’t speak English, we were able to communicate well with him- even if it was through Pierpaolo. Really fun time!

It was about 5pm, and we were off to Santa Venerina.  We didn’t know how long it would take, but knew it would be at least 2 hours.  Turned out to be 3 because a highway we needed to take was closed, and Mariella (aka Garmin) decided to take us the long way through the winding mountains instead of along the coast.  It was actually a pretty scary ride and one that was better at night, so we couldn’t see how far up we were on the mountains.  Although there are no street lights, the reflectors on the side of the road were very helpful. (let me just say thank you for high beams!!).

It took us 3 hours to get to our hotel: Tenuta San Michele in Santa Venerina, which is RIGHT beside Mount Etna and just south of Taormina.  We couldn’t see the active volcano but were excited to see it the next morning.  We had a great dinner at the hotel and met all the nice employees.  Our room was really great..very high wood log ceilings, a spacious bathroom and very comfy bed.  It’s been an adventure travelling from hotel to hotel not exactly knowing what to expect.  Some hotel rooms have been better than others.  Just a quick thanks to Mariella (not the GPS but the inspiration for us naming our GPS Mariella) from Hidden Treasures of Italy.  I highly suggest that if anyone is planning any trip in any part of Italy, that they go through this agency.  She set up an incredible itinerary and made sure we had everything we needed.  (www.hiddentreasuresofitaly.com)