So this is where almonds come from!

Dec  4

Hey everyone, it’s John, and it’s my turn again.  Today started off looking a little gloomy and rainy outside.  We decided to check out of our agriturismo in Piazza Armerina this morning (one day early) since we would be spending the entire day and most of the evening about 2.5 hours away in the southeastern part of Sicily.

We started off the day by driving to Pozzallo, a small resort town on the southeast coast.  Here, we were meeting Francesco’s brother, Salvatore.  We arrived a little earlier than expected, so I wandered into a very small Pescheria (fish shop), to take a few pictures of that morning’s catch.  They had a very small amount of beautiful fresh anchovies, sardines and sea bass, and very politely made conversation with me…in Italian of course.  It was good practice and they were very friendly…as everyone is here apparently.

When Salvatore arrived, we followed him to his family’s olive mill just outside of town.  This is where they bring the olives after harvest to press them and make the oil, blend the different oils, and bottle them.  They also make oil for local residents who bring in their own olives for pressing (did we mention that there are olive trees everywhere??!!).   Neither of us had ever been to a mill before so it was very interesting to see the process involved in the production of olive oil.  It is an ingredient that I use so regularly in my kitchen, so I was inspired to really understand how it is made, especially from someone as passionate as Salvatore.  Sara, who works at the mill, also accompanied us on our tour and acted as our translator.  They both explained each step of the olive oil production process while showing us the machinery involved and exactly how it works.  Everything is so clean and the monitoring of each step is so precise.

They harvested all of their olives just a few weeks ago and pressed them all into oil already, but the smell of fresh olives was still very prevalent in the mill.  They took us into a room containing five enormous stainless steel vats with all of the new oil that was just pressed.  Each vat contained the oil of a single variety of olive (FYI, there are around 300 olive varieties that grow in Sicily).  They grow and press three types of olives (Nocellara de Belice, Moresca and Verdese), and make two different oil blends…the Due Sicilie and Riserva, both of which we sell at Panozzo’s.

During our tour of the mill, we also noticed a few workers packaging almond flour from the almonds that also grow on the Padova family farm.  Salvatore was kind enough to give us a taste of their almond flour (it’s just pure, finely ground almonds), and actually gave us a bag to take home with us…come over for cookies when we get back!

We then took a drive to the farm where they grow the olives for their oils.  It’s just outside a small town a little north of Pozzallo called Ispica, where Salvatore and Francesco were born.  They are in the process of restoring the original San Basilio farmhouse that has been standing on this property since their family started the farm back in 1888…it’s going to look amazing.  We saw the olive trees that grow the Moresca and Verdese varieties, which are indigenous to the Ispica area (Nocellara de Belice come from a different region of Sicily called Castelvetrano (southwest)…in case you were wondering.

We then followed Salvatore and Sara through more of the beautiful countryside to an area about five minutes away where they have their almond trees.  Their almonds are very famous, unique, and very expensive.  The almonds had already been harvested during the summer, but there were still a few remaining on the trees.  Salvatore cracked a couple open (yes, almonds actually have shells and don’t grow inside the plastic bags in which we usually find them in grocery stores).  I’ve never tasted an almond directly off the tree before (I don’t think Dee has either), so this was pretty special.  It’s really inspiring to see the passion and pride that Salvatore has for his products…it’s a large reason why the quality is so high and the products are so well respected.

At this point we were pretty hungry (or at least I was), so our tour guides led us to a small restaurant that they recommended for lunch in a small town called Rosolini.  They had to return to work so they couldn’t join us, but Dee and I enjoyed a nice lunch (just the two of us again) of local cured meats, octopus salad, and spaghetti with clams.

(continued by Diandra…)

After lunch, John and I went to pick up our special glass art from our new friend and glass artist, Alessandro Di Rosa.  John and I always like to pick up a piece of art from every country we experience together.  This trip we got a very cool glass art piece that I can’t wait to put in our house!  We also picked up some great Christmas gifts for our friends.  His gallery is so great and to meet and talk to the person who created such great art was a very cool experience.  I know we will know Alessandro for a long time to come.  Maybe I’ll even collaborate in the future to create some glass art of my own!  We weren’t sure which hotel we would stay at tonight so we asked Alessandro for ideas.  Of course he knew someone connected to a hotel in Modica.  (everyone knows everyone here in this town of 45,000) He didn’t just suggest a hotel for us to stay at, he literally drove us there.  This is something we have seen throughout our trip in Sicily.  The people here are not only friendly- they go out of their way to show you the way.

We checked into Hotel Isula Relax which was very close to his studio.  We were able to relax for a few hours in our very nice room before heading to our biggest dinner of our vacation.  Dinner would be at Duomo, Sicily’s only two star Michelin restaurant.  The chef, Ciccio Sultano, is a friend of Alessandro and in fact, uses his glass plates for some of his dishes.  Ciccio is also a good friend of Francesco’s (Francesco was kind enough to call him and make the reservation for us).  I’m telling you- everyone knows everyone!

John was so excited to experience the fine dining of Duomo.  Located in Ragusa Ibla (lower Ragusa) the drive there was not an easy one.  Winding roads in the mountains is a theme we have seen throughout the trip.  When Mariella (we named our GPS) finally got us to Duomo, we realized why it was called Duomo.  Duomo is Italian word for church and the church that the restaurant was next to was magnificent.  After walking down 43 steps to get to Duomo restaurant- we were ready to eat!

And, eat we did.  Much like La Madia, the meal was very intense.  We had about 10 courses- all which were equally impressive.  Most Sicilian cooking is rustic- so it was interesting to see how the chef stayed true to Sicilian flavors and ingredients, but reinterpreted them in modern and creative ways.  John was VERY impressed with the wine pairings for each dish.  He felt that they couldn’t compliment each dish better.  A lot of small regionally specific grapes varieties that John had never heard of.  The staff at Duomo was nice enough to give John a DVD on the way out highlighting the chef and his works.

After dinner we decided to meet Alessandro at the bar that he owns, Hemingway, in Modica.  This is a very well known bar and we even discovered it in our Sicily guide book! He has owned this bar for about 6 years and it is a hotspot in Modica.  We met some of his friends there and enjoyed a couple after dinner drinks.

A very full day in Sicily! I feel like I’m really learning a lot about this culture- and loving every second of it.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites