Sicily (Food Edition)

As Tom and I were driving to the airport to come back from Sicily, he said "We should BOTH blog about Sicily. And you have all the food pictures ..."

I think that was his subtle way of telling me that I was responsible for the food blog post. Too often I feel like I blog about food, but this time you have been warned. Feel free to stop reading now if you do not care about the delicious things we have been eating. But know that this was the BEST four days of eating we've had in all of Italy!

Tom made our first meal in the apartment where we stayed. Local pasta with tasty tomatoes and sausage and a nice bottle of Erice (the local wine). A nice perk to eating in was we did not have to find a place to eat in the rain, or lose our precious parking spot on the busy street where we were staying.


The next night we ate out after a long hike along the coast, dodging hail and thunderstorms along the way. Tom's plate is tortellini with pistachio pesto and I had pasta with sausage and grilled eggplant. We did not get a picture of the cassatelle, the ultra-local dessert that we enjoyed twice: fried ravioli-type packets filled with sweet ricotta cheese and sprinkled with sugar, and made only in and near Castellammare del Golfo, where we stayed.

The walls of the (very) traditional restaurant were covered with sayings in Sicilian, Italian and English. This one we couldn't quite figure out. . . in any language!

When it Italy, one must eat pizza. Sicilian pizza meant parmesan cheese, fresh tomato sauce, finely chopped anchovies, and olive oil. Baked in a wood oven, of course. Followed by another cassatelle because, well, who needs a reason?














In Palermo , a gritty city with 3000 years of history, we found this little place in the center of one of the town's busiest (and roughest, if you believe the guidebooks) markets. 





The host insisted on putting in an order for the fish appetizer, and Palermo is filled with the kind of people that you sometimes just listen to instead of arguing. So this arrived, and we ate (or at least tried), all of it. I did skip the squid heads, but the rest was great!

The pasta course was arrabiatta for Tom (spicy tomato sauce) and for me spaghetti with tomatoes, anchovies, and breadcrumbs. I still can't believe I ate the whole plate.














 
We did skip dessert there, because we had FINALLY found some gelato shops that were open in Palermo. So we had this, and forced down as much of it as we could. It's a good thing ice cream melts and fills in all the spaces left by the other foods in your stomach!




That night dinner was just cannoli. Because when in Sicily, one must eat cannoli.  Once again, it was delicious.

Thanks for joining me on the food tour!  I'm sure Tom will fill you in on the rest--beautiful beaches, ancient ruins, and skeptical locals.  All in all, a great long weekend.