Cuisine

Good food is one of the main reasons to go to Sicily, especially now that the so-called Mediterranean diet -- a cuisine comprised of fresh vegetables, fruit, fish, and olive oil -- is being touted as healthy fare. But few heart-healthy diets are as enchanting as Sicilian fare, whether served up in modest trattorie or star kitchens.

A Melting-Pot Cuisine

Island fare is a blend of the cuisines of Sicily's many conquerors and cultures. The lush citrus groves around Catania were originally planted by the Arabs. Even those magnificently intricate pastries and rich desserts are a direct result of the Arab invasions, which brought a taste of North Africa to the shores of Catania.

In time, subsequent invaders, including Norman rulers and Spanish viceroys, left their own legacy of "aristocratic food," often as part of huge banquets prepared by enormous staffs and presented by a legion of servants. These extravagant excesses were in direct contrast to the diet of the fishermen, the land-tillers, and other working people who set a simple table based mainly on fish and the bountiful harvest of vegetables from the Sicilian countryside.

The Typical Sicilian Diet

Sicily is blessed with some of the finest raw culinary materials in Italy. Using this incredible array of fresh ingredients from the sea and field, the chefs of Sicily fashion a delectable display of enticing platters, many of them better and more original than those found anywhere on the mainland of Italy.

Starters -- Sicilian antipasti make a fine meal by themselves. Our favorite opening to a meal is the island specialty caponata (eggplant and caper salad). It's made with eggplants, sweet bell peppers, cauliflower, fresh tomatoes, olives, fat capers, onions, and celery in a sweet-and-sour sauce of vinegar and sugar.

Another savory starter is arancini di riso, little rice balls stuffed with peas, cheese, and meat, then coated with bread crumbs and deep-fried. These rice balls are strangely addictive, as is bottarga, the dried and salted roe of gray mullet or tuna, which is pressed into loaves, cut into paper-thin slices, and dressed with lemon-laced virgin olive oil.

We could begin any meal in Sicily with an insalata di mare, a deluxe seafood salad of boiled squid, tasty bits of octopus, fat shrimp, and chopped fresh vegetables with a dressing of olive oil flavored with lemon juice or vinegar.

Pasta Alla Siciliana -- For your primi, or first course, especially if you've skipped the antipasti, you'll be treated to delicious pasta and rice dishes or even couscous, the latter deriving from Sicily's centuries-old links with North Africa. Most pasta dishes are adorned with fresh fish or vegetables, such as spaghetti alla Norma (pasta with eggplant). Fishermen in particular love the classic pasta con le sarde, a simple but savory pasta with fresh sardines, served in a tomato sauce and wild fennel and given added zest with raisins, pine nuts, and capers. For us, there is nothing finer than spaghetti alle vongole veraci. This pasta is served with fresh clams steamed in wine with garlic, fresh parsley, and olive oil. Notice that instead of the relatively mild Parmesan, many islanders sprinkle caciocavallo, a particularly strong cheese, on their pasta dishes.

Vegetables & Fruits -- Luscious local vegetables, used liberally in pastas and main courses, include vine-ripened tomatoes, spring-green zucchini, yellow onions, tangy capers, fat garlic cloves, many varieties of olives, multicolored peppers, and broccoli -- each among the most flavorful in Italy.

On a visit to a citrus grove on the slopes of Mount Etna north of Catania, we were treated to some of the sweetest-tasting and most vividly colored blood-red oranges known to humankind (and we've lived in both Florida and California).

Bounty Of The Sea -- Naturally, fresh fish and crustaceans -- including sea urchins, mussels, cockles, and whitebait -- are the dominant feature at most tables. The traditional musseddu (salted and fried tuna), is used to flavor many salads. The most popular fish dishes are tuna from the west and swordfish from the Straits of Messina. For most gastronomes, fish is best served alla griglia (simply grilled) or else arrosto (roasted). After a sea harvest, you'll find what might be the world's best zuppa di cozze (mussel soup) resting in a bowl in front of you. Or try cozze alla marinara, fresh mussels steamed in wine with garlic and parsley. Involtini di pesce spada, grilled roulades of swordfish, are covered with bread crumbs and sautéed in olive oil. Sicilians are also fond of anchovies, using them in such dishes as sfincione, thick island pizza topped with anchovies, onions, and tomatoes. Many Sicilians don't consider sfincione pizza -- it's sold in focaccerias, in bakeries, or perhaps from street vendors, but never in a pizzeria.

Meats -- Traditionally, Sicilian cuisine is based largely on vegetables and the catch of the day harvested from coastal waters. But you can also fill your plate with marvelous meat specialties, including our favorite, a simple but tasty concoction called costoletta alla Siciliana (thinly sliced veal with Parmesan and chopped garlic), which is dipped in bread crumbs and sautéed. One of the better-known meat dishes is falsomagro, meaning "false lean." This rich, bountiful dish, a family favorite, is composed of a large slab of beef wrapped around Sicilian sausages, perhaps prosciutto, raisins, pine nuts, grated cheese, and even a boiled egg or two. The treat is tied with a string and stewed in a savory tomato sauce.

One Sicilian dish now served around the world is pollo alla Marsala (chicken in Marsala wine). A variation on this famous dish is veal Marsala, which originated among western Sicily's English families living here in the 19th century. Appearing on almost every menu is some form of involtini, a roulade made from grilled or roasted chicken or sliced beef, stuffed with a vegetable or meat filling. Sometimes a leafy vegetable such as radicchio is added to the filling.

Sweet Stuff -- One of the most succulent of the byproducts derived from the sweet blood-red oranges (and from Sicily's tangerines, lemons, and figs as well) is frutta candita, a sugared and preserved confection that explodes with flavor in your mouth and that is well worth the effort of taking home with you. Equally tempting are the fabulously lifelike replicas of pears, grapes, or apples concocted from almond paste and sugar. The colors used in their fabrication and the realism with which they're crafted make them appear as if they had just been picked. In some cases, for added realism, the artisans add hints of a tiny bruise or blemish in each of the confections, partly for charm, partly for whimsy, and partly, we think, to show off their skills. Many of these techniques were originally developed by monks or nuns in monasteries or convents during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Sicilians are also known for their gelato, often produced in exotic flavors. (Have you ever had a velvety, creamy mulberry?) In summertime, you can order right from a street vendor a granita di anguri, a delectable, slushy watermelon ice. Sicily makes some of the best granita in the world, using purées of fresh fruit pulp -- and not just watermelon, but limone (lemon), fragola (strawberry), and pesca (peach), among other flavors. Of course, they also do splendid chocolate, coffee, and vanilla versions.

Islanders point with justifiable pride to their desserts, one of the high points of dining in Sicily. Nothing is grander than a cassata Siciliana, Catania's most famous cake. It's a layered sponge cake sweetened with Marsala or orange liqueur and filled with ricotta cheese, chunks of chocolate, and candied island fruits. A different cake, cassata al galleto, is made with vanilla-flavored frozen custard and, perhaps, candied fruits, chocolate bits, hazelnuts, or pistachios.

Finally, never leave Sicily without sampling one of its classic cannoli, a crunchy tube of pastry filled with ricotta and studded with candied fruits, bits of chocolate, and the inevitable pistachios.

The Wines Of Sicily

Sicily is celebrated for its wines. The most famous wine, Marsala, comes from the west coast from the city of the same name. Marsala is a fortified wine whose alcoholic content is about 20%; it's Sicily's version of port or sherry. A typical Marsala is amber yellow in color with wonderful depths of orange. With its special bouquet, it has a pleasing fragrance, both velvety and fruity, coming in both brut and sweet versions.

Moscata wines usually carry the designations della Zucco, di Noto, or di Pantelleria (an offshore western island). Moscata is made from the Muscat grape, which is sometimes fortified with Zibibbo or Corinto. Most often it is a golden or light amber dessert wine. It can also be sparkling -- then it's called spumante.

Malvasia wine is associated with the volcanic island of Lipari. It is golden yellow, turning to amber, with a delightful aroma, both generous and strong. Novello is the island's nouveau wine, sold just months after the grapes are harvested and pressed. This is a red wine, both robust and fruity. Faro, which means "lighthouse," is a wine produced around Messina. It is a vivid ruby red, with a nutty flavor and fine bouquet; it's a good wine for roasts.