How can we help?
Filtering by Tag: sicily
We've been coveting this bottle of Pesto di Pistacchio di Bronte since we returned from our trip to Sicily in October. We were leaving our home in Lingaglossa on Mount Etna and stopped in the little wine shop that we frequented during our visit. As Sicilian's take great pride in their local products, the little store was packed with honey, chocolates, pistacchios, jams, wine and other culinary delights from that part of the island.
It was a stunningly beautiful morning on the west coast of Sicily as we journeyed out to the "Via del Sale" or salt road that runs between Trapani and Marsala. With the Egadi Islands to the left and the breathtaking, looming Monte Erice to the right, the shimmering salt flats dotted with the old windmills come into view. The lagoon of Stagnone has been home to the salt works of Trapani since the Phoenicians began the ancient method of hand-harvesting of sea salt as early as 1154 B.C. The shallow waterway, high temperatures and winds that aid in the evaporation make is the perfect home for the checkerboard of shimmering rectangular evaporation pools that hold the sea water during various phases of evaporation.
rought by the Phoenicians, their company still harvests the salt by hand and even restored the 500 year old windmill so that it can again be used to grind the salt and power the pumps that move that water from pool to pool during the various stages of evaporation.
ing had already taken place and the piles of salt were being readied for the winter months. Some of the photos above are mine and the ones of the harvest are from the web.) The natural harvesting process allows the salt to maintain the trace elements found in sea water like magnesium, iodine and potassium which make it more flavorful, soluble and complete.
that the salt made by this company was available in the states. When I got home I went to our local Italian market, NorJoes, and found the Antica Salina by Sosalt, the place we visited!
but not just any chocolate....
odian of a 400 year tradition of Sicilian chocolate-making. Being part of the Spanish kingdom for so many years meant that Sicily was often one of the first recipients of the new foodstuffs being brought back from South America. Cacao was one of these and today Modica still specialises in making granulous chocolate, often flavored with chili pepper, cinnamon or vanilla, that is based on Aztec methods and recipes.
The long awaited itinerary....along with Cynthia and Elisabeth, Kerry and I will be your guides for this incredible wine, culinary and cultural tour of Sicily!
It was one of those moments where we happened to be at the right place at the right time and meet the right person. Kerry and I were speakers on a panel last year at the Women Chef's and Restaurateurs national conference where we discussed alternative careers for women in wine. There was a woman in the front row that asked a lot of great questions and stayed to speak with us after the presentation. It was one of those crazy instant connections that you make when in the first 5 minutes you feel as if you've known the person forever. We started talking and arranged to meet at the shop the next day. We discovered that we shared a passion for wine, food and travel and that our new friend had organized several culinary tours to Sicily and was looking to add a wine component to her trips. Were we interested in working with her?!? Well as you can imagine the response was a resounding YES and we've all been working on this since last July.
top notch, Gambero Rosso awarding winning, highly touted, best of the best, cream of the crop, etc...you get the idea. And I can tell you that delving into the Sicilian wine world is unlike anything else in Italy. Active volcanoes, little known indigenous varietals, wacky winemakers and cultural influences that change dramatically from one end of the island to the other, Sicily is one exciting place for wine!
rters, producers and of course a little guidance from our favorite Italian wine guy, Antonio Molesini, we have put together an incredible itinerary that takes you from the profound wines of Frank Cornelissen in Mount Etna, the extreme purity of COS in the southeast to the traditional powerhouses of Donnafugata and Planeta in the west. I get goosebumps when I read the itinerary!and cultural tours of Sicily and know the ins and outs of the island from one end to the other. They'll take us from visiting a cheese and salumi producing family in the east to the beautifully Baroque city of Ragusa, picnicing at the Valley of the Temples on the shores of the Mediterranean, tasting freshly pressed olive oil at the Mandranova and farmhouse cooking classes featuring the foods of the region.
he admires the history and tradition of peasant food-dishes and ingredients that have been prepared the same way for centuries. The food that springs directly from regional cultures and cuisine. She grew up on the Gulf coast of Alabama in a coastal farming region and was raised in a tradition of fresh, seasonal cooking. Her love of food has taken her on many adventures including cooking on yachts in the Caribbean and Mediterranean, serving as Food Editor of Country Living and Real Simple magazines, and teaching cooking classes around the country.
xcited that life happened around the table there too. After years of owning a bar in the Mission District of San Francisco, she realized it was time to follow her dream. While searching for a new place to call home, Elizabeth met Cynthia in a cooking class in a farmhouse in the Madonie Mountains. Today, she enjoys life in the sweet Sicilian seaside town of San Gregorio, where her days are filled with cooking, laughing, and life around the kitchen table.