Archive for December, 2009
Art and Chocolate- Two of my favorite things.
Dec 8th
December 3.
John and I had a quick breakfast and explored the property we were staying on. We took some great photos of the picturesque views. We also discovered german shepherd puppies right outside our hotel room. (so cute!) We spent an hour driving out in the small town of Piazza Armerina and discovering all the little street markets.
We headed to Ragusa this morning which was about 2 hours from Piazza Armerina. I have to admit, this was the first time I had a little bit of trouble with the winding roads. I felt a little car sick and had to take a little nap to avoid it developing into anything. John got us to Ragusa all on his own (with the help of our Garmin who’s been a lifesaver this journey!) We went to the center of town and ate at a place called Cucino e Vino where John had:, Eggplant capinata and ragusano d.o.p., dried fava bean and fennel soup, paccheri pasta with lamb and potato ragu, with pecorino cheese, and tripe tomatoes and capers. (and he finished mine!) I had focaccia, ravioli de zucca (squash sauce and pancetta from ragu) and braised pork shank (John made me order it to make it look like he wasn’t ordering all the food. )
I was very excited about our next two adventures in Modica:
Adventure 1: Visit a good friend of Francesco who provides John with olive oil he uses at Panozzos. Francesco’s friend, Alessandro, is a glass artist. He is famous in Sicily and I couldn’t wait to see his work. I wanted to see how he creates his art and couldn’t wait to see his gallery! Our visit to meet Alessandro was even better than expected. He is truly an inspiring artist. His work is dynamic and so intriguing. He has been working with glass for 15 years and is self taught. Very impressive! Alessandro’s friend, Giorgio was nice enough to be the translator during our visit. Not only did he give us a great tour of his studio, show us the process of glass making, and answer any and all questions we had- but he also took us to what adventure #2 would be: The oldest pastry shop in all of Sicily.
Adventure 2: Antica Dolceria Bonajuto
Bonajuto and Modica is most known for its chocolate. The chocolate here isn’t made with any additional cocoa butter besides what’s naturally in the cocoa bean. Also, the chocolate isn’t heated in order for the sugar to melt, so the texture is more coarse and granular. I LOOOOOOOOOVED the chocolate at Bonajuto! Might be the best chocolate I’ve ever had in my life. The texture is different, but a very good different. The cocoa is so prevalent in this chocolate- It’s really great. We tried a bunch of samples given to us by Pierpaolo who is the 6th generation from the Bonajuto family. I really enjoyed the chocolate covered orange peel, and the 90% dark chocolate. We got to try chocolate covered almonds, and chocolate liquor and the best cannoli we’ve had in Sicily yet! Other samples included: Quince paste and candied orange peel. He spent time talking with us about the history of his store and how it’s known throughout all off Sicily.
After visiting the best chocolate shop EVER- Alessandro took us to the bar that he owns. It’s called Hemingway’s and is in the perfect location in the center of Modica. We learned quickly by walking in the streets with Alessandro and Giorgio that Modica is small enough for everyone to know everyone. The people of Modica are super friendly and always acknowledge each other when passing by. Hemingway’s was a great chance to relax and learn more about the Modica way of life. Thanks to Francesco for exposing us to both of these opportunities. Because of him we will be coming home with much more glass, and chocolate than we came with. Thanks to Giorgio for being our great translator and to Alessandro for showing us his passion and sending us off with great works of art… not to mention a great bottle of wine.
Tomorrow we will visit Francesco’s family’s olive oil mill and almond and olive farm in Pozzallo and Ispica.
Rainbows and More Sheep?
Dec 7th
December 1, 2009
I had fresh squeezed blood orange juice for the first time ever this morning at Pensione Tranchina. Breakfreast was bright, but unfortunately, they day was not. It was raining when we woke up and although we saw an incredible rainbow (check out the photo!) the rain put a little bit of a damper on our day.
We decided to drive to Trapani. It took us an hour to get to Trapani from Scopello. The first thing we noticed when we arrived in Trapani is that it was much bigger than we anticipated. It’s a city known for its sea salts and coral. I found a nice clothing store to spend some time (and money) in before we headed to lunch. While we were in this clothing store, they closed their door for the daily “siesta.â€Â Worried that I was keeping them, they assured me that I wasn’t by bringing me more things to try on. Even though they were closed, I didn’t feel rushed. The women who were working were so pleasant and helpful.
We seeked out a local spot for lunch. This restaurant, Al Solito Posto, was one that our hosts recommended we try. When we walked in this restaurant it seemed like the entire restaurant all turned around at the same time. It’s amazing how obvious the “we’re not from here†sign is on our foreheads. Before we even spoke to the host, he said to us, “It will be 20mins. Fish ok?†I still don’t know how he knew we didn’t speak Italian.
Our meal was nice. For those that are curious: John had a sardine tarte with pine nuts, currants, and fennel. I had mussels to start. We also both got a different busiate pasta. I ordered the busiate with shrimp, botarga (dried salted tuna row-not a big fan), tomatoes, and bread crumbs. John ordered the cuddle fish ink busiate. (It literally looked like a few black pens exploded on his plate.. refer to photos to see!) Next course was fritto misto (fried mix) of squid and prawns. John had grouper with tomatoes and capers. While we were eating- no one really spent much time talking with us. As we were paying on the way out and John was speaking the best Italian he could- they asked us where we were from. One of the guys had some family tie to Elizabeth, NJ. “You know, the Sopranos.†Was about all he could say in English. We found that was ironic since John grew up not too far from there. They kept asking us if we “Live with the stars?†Not understanding what they were asking us, we kept saying we live in Chicago. Then I understood what they were asking. The man said, “Ah- you live with stars? Like Robert Redford?â€Â What they were asking is if we lived with or around any celebrities. We explained we did not live with the stars in LA, and he explained how much he loved watching David Letterman with subtitles.
On our way out the door we ran into an English speaking older Italian man. Turns out he lived in NYC for about 30 years. He had a great sense of humor. Two things he told us: “I made a big mistake. I love that apple.â€Â In reference to him moving back to Italy from NYC. And “I learned how to speak English by watching the Johnny Carson Show.â€Â He sells olive oil and wine in the states. Who knows- you might just find it one day at Panozzo’s.
Since Trapani is known for its coral, I wanted to check out a coral shop before we headed back to Scopello. When I asked where one was- they started giving me confusing directions. Then the one guy who didn’t speak much English offered to show us the way. Probably something that would rarely happen in the states. He literally drove us across town to the coral shop.
We headed back for a quiet night in Scopello with our great hosts. Dinner was pasta alla norma. (Ziti with fried eggplant. 4 different local cheeses) Then we has sea bass (grilled branzino) I learned that it’s not normal to serve fish without the head and tail on. Italians want proof what kind of fish it is and where it came from, and how fresh it is. If you get fish like we typically do in the states, you never really know what you’re eating. With our grilled branzino, we had grilled zucchini. For dessert, we had a lemon custard with amaretti cookies rum and fudge.
John and I were both sad that we would be leaving our quaint place in Scopello the next morning. But we were also excited to see what southeast Sicily would bring.
December 2
We woke up at 6am to get a really early start to our day. After breakfast we walked around Scopello and enjoyed the fantastic views. The same little dog who greeted us when we arrived in Scopello was there to see us off.
One interesting side note about locks on doors in Sicily: Every single lock you’ll find whether it’s a door lock or a cabinet lock, you will find has an old key in it. To lock the door, you have to turn the key. I’ve never found a door in the US that has a key in the hole to lock it. It’s a small detail, but very charming.
One our way to our first stop from Scopello we were just about to get on the main highway and had a little delay- Sheep in the Street! A huge heard of sheep held traffic up in the middle of the road. I’ve never seen anything like it! (check photos!)
Our first stop from Scopello was a very nice, well known restaurant in a small town called Licata. When I say small, I mean- uh- I can’t believe there is any restaurants here let alone a fine dining spot. The restaurant is called “La Madia.†John was told that this restaurant was one of the top 2 restaurants in Sicily. When we arrived to Licata 3.5 hours from Scopello, we had a hard time believing that would be true.
Licata is not a destination town. In any way. The old streets were filled with people but the town was significantly smaller than others we’d visited. Walking into the restaurant I thought maybe someone played a little joke on John. A 1 star Michelin restaurant in a town like Licata?
Then we walked in. The waiters looked like they weren’t working in the same town as we were in. They looked like they should be working at a restaurant in downtown Rome, Palermo, or any other big city with a fine dining appeal.
At our 2 hour 8-10 course meal we heard the song “Chicago†about three times. I’m sure they did it on purpose since they asked where we were from but when we asked if they did-they said no. It’s very possible they didn’t understand our question.
After our meal (see photoworks photos for all the photos of the food!) we headed to Piazza Armerina where we would be staying at Giglioto. This agriturismo is located inland and would be the only hotel we stay at that’s not on the coast.
When we pulled up to Gigliotto we couldn’t help but notice how their property went on forever. The sun was setting and looked awesome on the rows and rows of cactus and vineyards.
Ciao Villa Cefula, Hello goats!
Dec 1st
November 30, 2009
So, today began just like the last couple days at Villa Cefala…just the two of us. We had our last breakfast, which was kindly set out for us by the maid (who also checked us out of the villa and served as our cashier for our purchases), the only other person on the property besides Diandra and I (did we mention that this place is pretty big?). It consisted of fresh pastries, sesame rolls, Sicilian prosciutto, caciotta cheese, homemade strawberry jam, fresh squeezed orange juice (from the villa’s orange trees) and cappuccino.
After breakfast, we packed up the car and headed toward Palermo for lunch. We ended up eating at the smallest trattoria called Vini del Paradiso. There was about 10 seats, two grandmothers cooking in the back, and no one spoke English….a common trend thus far. There was no menu…in fact, we’ve only seen a menu once in the time we’ve been here. ..pretty awesome. The vibe in this restaurant was a Iittle different than other places we’ve been so far in that they weren’t very welcoming…they could tell we were a little out of our element, but didn’t really help us too much.
I communicated the best I could with the man and young woman waiting tables in front (there was one other table of locals dining across from us). The slightly intimidating man approached our table and greeted us with “Spaghetti?â€Â So, I responded, “Si, per favore.â€Â We ended up ordering two different spaghetti dishes…one with fresh sardines, fennel, currants, pine nuts and bread crumbs, and the other with mixed seafood in a marinara sauce. Both were delicious and perfectly balanced.
The specialty of this trattoria was definitely seafood, and for the second course, we were able to pick our fish from a small selection on display, so I chose some beautiful red mullet to be grilled. They were simply grilled and served with some lemon and olive oil…simple and tasty. We finished with a dessert (the only one they had) of cassata, a traditional Sicilian cake of sweetened ricotta and candied fruits…a little too sweet for me, but Dee liked it.
We left Palermo after one last crazy car derby and started heading toward Scopello, a small town in northwest Sicily, where we would be staying next. This was a very scenic drive all along the northern coast of Sicily. It seems like everywhere you turn, there is a picture waiting. We drove through a small town just before Scopello called Castellamare del Golfo, and chose to take some back roads to Scopello since they seemed more interesting than the highway. This turned out to be the most scenic drive we could have imagined. The road was small and windy (which I’m learning is the norm here), but it led us through the most picturesque mountain area I have ever seen.
The only problem was that our Garmin GPS found the exact address that we were trying to get to in Scopello in another city called Vita…so that’s where it took us, and that’s where we went…even though it was in the complete opposite direction from where we were trying to go. I’m not sure many other Americans have been to this town (if any), but the drive there was amazing. At one point, there was a man hearding goats through the street…I’ve been stuck in traffic for many reasons, but goats are not one of them…we have pictures!!
We finally figured out that Vita was not where we were trying to go, and reprogrammed our trusty GPS to take us towards Scopello. I can’t believe that some of these roads are even on a GPS! We finally made it to Scopello, a very quaint, but beautiful seaside village (it’s too small to call a town). It is the home of 45 people, and apparently shuts down during the winter season. There didn’t seem to be any sign of life when we arrived, except for three dogs that tried to jump in our car. We found our guest house, and were greeted by its owner who surprisingly spoke excellent English…the first person we have met since we’ve been here that speaks English. Pensione Tranchina as it’s called is a very comfortable, clean, and nicely decorated guest house. We actually felt like we were in someone’s home.
They started a fire in the living room where they burned their own olive branches. Our room has a balcony where you can see where they grow their fruit and olives. Is this place for real? And,it has internet- believe it or not! We headed down for dinner at 7:30pm where we found a nice table set up just for us. Our dinner menu was: 1. Casareccia pasta with pesto alla trapanese (garlic, fresh tomatoes, basil, almonds, olive oil) 2. Grilled swordfish with lemon, olive oil, and oregano. A side of sautéed bietole (wild green they foraged nearby) 3. Prickly Pear (this fruit grows on a cactus!), dark chocolate covered almonds. We also had a bottle of DOC insolia wine from Erice.
This family is very proud of the olive oil that the served with our meal. They should be, as it came from their very own olive trees. It was pressed not even one week ago. Most of what was served for dinner had an element of their olive oil in it, which really added to the great flavors of their dishes. The best way to describe this meal, as well as many other Sicilian meals is this: Surprising Simplicity.
Tomorrow : to Erice and Trapani.
Would you like to see more photos from our trip?
Click here: Photo’s from Sicily!
