We enjoyed a wonderful ‘Easter in Sicily’ week in Alcantara. Great thanks to Anna , Enzo and colleagues at Edone agriturismo, to Salvatore Romano and Karin of Tasting Sicily, to our tour guides Claudio and Natalie (Alcantara Gorge and Etna) and to tutors Francesca Marchese (Sicily Culture) and Geoff Andrews. Thanks also to Louisa Vittorio of Villa Britannica for arranging with her cousin Turi our visit to D.H.Lawrence’s old home in Taormina. We will be making ‘Easter in Sicily’ an annual event. Details of next year’s Easter in Sicily programme will be up shortly with an Early Bird offer.
Author: Geoff Andrews
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Salina Summer School 2016
We enjoyed a great week of film and slow food in Salina.
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At Salina Isola Slow 
What’s for lunch at Zurro in Stromboli? 
At Hotel Signum,Salina, enjoying the view (and the wine) 
Le Macine restaurant, Lipari 
On Stromboli, visiting the site of Roberto Rossellini’s 1950 film which stared Ingrid Bergman 
The famous Salina Capers
At Le Macine restaurant, Lipari 
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Sicily Unlimited Summer School 2015
‘The mix of learning, discussion, visits, relaxation, wonderful food, beautiful setting, the world’s best classroom… great group of people’
‘The biggest “wow factor” for me was emerging from Kolymbetra to see the sunset and rising moon over the Temples’
‘I appreciated the local people’s enthusiasm about their areas’.
‘Fattoria Mose` was such a good location for the summer school – comfortable, flexible and beautiful’.
Valley of the Temples (Giuseppe Taibi) 
Kolymbethra Gardens (Giuseppe Taibi) 
Scala dei Turchi (Giuseppe Taibi) 
In Leonardo Sciascia’s old classroom in his home town Racalmuto 
At the Scala dei Turchi 
Saro Gugliotta, President of Slow Food Sicily, during his talk at Fattoria Mose` 
In the Racalmuto classroom where Leonardo Sciascia taught his pupils, before becoming one of Italy’s leading writers 
At the Kolymbetra Garden in the Valley of the Temples -
Saro Gugliotta
Saro Gugliotta is President of Slow Food Sicily. In July 2015 he is leading a delegation to London to promote Slow Food ‘Presidia’ products. He will be speaking at the ‘Sicilians at the Table’ event at the Italian Cultural Institute on 14 July.
When did you first become interested in food?
My interest in food began about 20 years ago, when work took me around Sicily which introduced me to many different traditions and cultures. I noticed that the traditions were very different if I was in the east of the island, which had a more Greek influence, or in the west where there was more of an Arabic influence in food; what they had in common was that they were all Sicilian. Over the last 20 years my knowledge of Sicilian food traditions have deepened and been enhanced further.
When did you first hear of the Slow Food movement?
The first time was at a working dinner with a colleague from another region who was responsible for a Slow Food convivium there and he made me more curious about food. I was encouraged to think not only of the dish on the table, but how it was produced and who the producers were. This sensitivity and depth impressed me a lot. Then on another occasion I met Carlo Petrini and I was inspired by him. Today I am hopelessly infected by the Slow Food virus, from which I think I will never recover – and I’m happy about that!.
You are from Messina. What are Messina’s most important food traditions?
At Messina there are two types of food traditions, both linked to the world of work. At a time when work required great physical energy, the traditional dish was stockfish cooked with potatoes and tomatoes; in Messina it is called “.“Piscistoccu a ghiotta”. The dish was very economical and nutritious, seasoned with plenty of olive oil and accompanied by bread. It was a dish that gave the energy you needed for manual labour at that time. For some decades there has been less manual work and people prefer street food, in particular two kinds; firstly, focaccia and the second a ‘calzone’ both topped with tomato, vegetables, and cheese and a piece of anchovy.
For desserts pignolata, a pastry made with lemon or chocolate icing and coffee granita with cream and served with a brioche, which is the daily breakfast of Messina.
How many Slow Food members are there in Sicily? Where are the strongholds?
Membership of Slow Food in Sicily has increased in the last two years from 1,500 to 2,500, with a notable increase in some areas such as Messina, Palermo and Enna. The are areas where Slow Food has a strong presence, including in the big cities which is probably due to the large number of initiatives organised for members. In other areas, especially ones with good traditions of food production, such as the community of hazelnut producers in Nebrodi , or others with strong links to the territory, ranging from farmers to fishermen, craftsmen, bakers, administrators, or people involved in cultural work. Ultimately people love their territory and have made many collaborative projects to help sustainable economic recovery and development of the place in which they live.
What difference has Slow Food made in Sicily?
Sicily is a land rich in resources, but there are often are not valued in the right way. The main objective of Slow Food Sicily therefore, is to make you aware of these wonderful Sicilians indigenous resources and ensure that they become models for sustainable development around food which is ‘good, clean and fair’. Slow Food Sicily wants to create a barrier against the flow of globalized food, to rediscover in Sicily and beyond the age-old values of this ‘key’ island of the Mediterranean.
In July in your role as President of Slow Food Sicily, you will lead a delegation to London to participate in ‘Sicilians at the Table’ at the Italian Cultural Institute as well as other initiatives. What is the purpose of this visit and what do you expect to achieve from it?
The first objective of the visit of Slow Food Sicily to London is to raise awareness of the Slow Food Sicilian Presidia products in the UK and among the Italian restaurants. In fact presenting the Slow Food Presidia products has the value of being rooted in a real knowledge and understanding of the territory, as Slow Food Presidia provide historical links with the society and the area where they are produced. The “Taste of Sicily”, the theme which is to be adopted by some Italian restaurants in London, is intended to lead to an agreement between the restaurant owner and the producer so that at least two Slow Food Presidia are part of the menu. This will allow the restaurateur to explain the characteristics of the product and the area of origin. In this way we hope to achieve two results, the first being an increase in the use of Sicilian presidia products in the UK and secondly to encourage more curiosity among people, so that they come to appreciate Sicilian products and meet producers directly, at the same time stimulating what we call sustainable tourism.
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Renaissance Under Way in the Valley of the Temples
Temple of Concordia An ancient terrain, rich in biodiversity and even richer in its cultural heritage. Agrigento, Girgenti in Sicilian, and Akragas to the Greeks, when it was a major city and colony of Magna Graecia, may have lost its former glory, but a renaissance is under way. The remains of the seven temples, with Concordia (440-430 BC) the most striking and best preserved, is one of the striking historical symbols of Sicily and has UNESCO World Heritage status.
The modern city has often said to have blotted the landscape of the historic site and the ancient Kolymbetra Garden, located in the small valley between the Dioscuri and Vulcan temples, was abandoned for many years. Now, however, with the work of FAI (Fondo Per L’Ambiente Italiano), the Italian equivalent of the National Trust, the garden has been beautifully restored. FAI had set up a long-term landscape and renovation project to reconstruct the garden, which in recent centuries had grown to include ancient, exotic fruit trees and a unique natural habitat. FAI’s contribution in restoring the Kolymbetra Garden (re-opened to the public in 2001), brought together botanists, archaeologists, zoologists and others, and was crucial in preserving a unique environmental history.
Concert against the background of an ancient Saracen olive tree featuring the music of Ennio Morricone. The wider province of Agrigento is also rich in culture and history. This is the land, too, of Luigi Pirandello, a native of Agrigento who knew the importance of a ‘fruitful soil’ – the imagination – in the development of the creative instincts of artists and writers. In nearby Raculmuto, where he was born and lived for most of his life, Leonardo Sciascia, a sharp critic of Italy’s political class and the cultural hold of the mafia on Sicilian society, was driven by his understanding of the complexities of his land. Food, along with other aspects of local art and culture, remained crucial to Sciascia’s Sicilian identity as a writer. Sicilian food is important too in the work of Andrea Camilleri, one of Italy’s greatest contemporary writers, who originates from nearby Porto Empedocle, It is the backdrop to the plots involving his popular Sicilian detective Inspector Montalbano, with many surrounding areas featuring in the books – loosely Agrigento is ‘Montelusa’ and Porto Empedocle is ‘Vigata’. Given Montalbano is a gastronome as well as being a critic of the abuses of power on the island, the books provide a rich insight into Sicily’s pleasures as well as problems.
Where to stay?
Maria Deleo’s delightful Villa Deleo is right on the seafront in Realmonte, near the Scala dei Turchi (the Turkish Steps), where each day begins with Giovanna’s own Granita di Mandorle, Cannoli and other specialities on the terrace overlooking the sea. In the past Andrea Camilleri has sat on this terrace, smoking, contemplating and talking. http://www.villadeleo.it/it/
Fattoria Mose an organic agriturismo where you can taste a variety of local food and is within easy reach of Agrigento.http://www.fattoriamose.com
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Slow Food Sicily
Slow Food Sicily has been growing steadily in recent years as an alternative to fast food and protecting ‘at risk’ unique food produce on the island. As part of the international Slow Food movement it promotes ‘good, clean and fair’ food. At Slow Food’s Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto at the end of October, Slow Food Sicily members, chefs, producers, farmers, fisherfolk and activists were out in force. There are now more than 30 Presidia products from Sicily – that is, foods unique to a specific locality, have historically significance and thought to be at risk. Initially, the products are identified and catalogued in Slow Food’s Ark of Taste to gain recognition and then once their status has been established, promoted as Presidia products through collaboration between Slow Food and the producers.
The products on display from Sicily included the ‘pane nero’ (black bread) from Castelvetrano:
The Cartucciaru melon from Paceco is another:
Preserves from Belladonna Pedara on the east coast…
The story of the capers from the Aeolian island of Salina interested many, including the BBC Food Programme recording a series of interviews with ‘Ark of Taste’ producers from around the world.
Also from Salina, Alfredo’s granite was popular through the week at the large and vibrant Sicily stall in the packed Salone del Gusto…
The Slow Food Sicilia stall was the venue too for the lunches, dinners and wine tastings, where visitors could learn, for example, how to peel fichi d’india or taste real caponata . Introduced, as always, by Saro Gugliotta, President of Slow Food Sicilia and the inspiration behind many Slow Food Sicily events, these were convivial and stimulating events, which brought more understanding of Sicily’s rich history and culture.
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A Sicilian Food Journey
Britain has long had a fascination with Italy. Arguably, this reached its peak in the expeditions of the Victorian and Edwardian travellers, writers and artists, among them John Ruskin, George Gissing, the Brownings, Norman Douglas and Edward Lear, as they set sail in pursuit of culture and civilisation. As John Pemble’s book The Mediterranean Passion – a remarkable and scholarly tour de force which beautifully captures this moment – makes clear, this fascination extended well beyond the now familiar terrain of ‘Chiantishire’, and ventured further south, to Sicily.
Now, the British are rediscovering some of the wonders of this island of five million inhabitants, which has been overlooked for too long and when it does get mentioned, is often reduced to romanticised accounts of its Mafia – the Cosa Nostra. Recent BBC television series including Sicily Unpacked and the dramatization of Inspector Montalbano from Andrea Camilleri’s detective novels have helped revive interest in the island. The birthplace of some Italy’s greatest literary figures, Sicily derives some its rich cultural traditions from the legacies of the many different conquests and occupying powers over centuries.
It is food which best captures the essence of Sicilian identity. The conquests of Sicily by Greek, Romans, Normans, Saracens, French and Spanish among them, have left behind an extraordinary variety of influences and ingredients, made richer by the warmer climate. If you wake up on the east coast in Catania, there is the prospect of fresh granite with brioche for breakfast; in other parts of the island, the many agriturismi will offer a whole range of local produce.
The daily reality of extreme poverty has also left its mark in the range of ancient, cheap and delicious street food, such as panelle – chick pea fritters – which still thrives in Palermo, for example. An island disposed to insularity, fatalism and prejudice from the north – represented today by Italy’s Northern League – has shown a remarkable resilience in preserving its identity.
Pino Maggioni This was evident during a visit by Radio 4’s BBC Food Programme in 2011, which toured many different parts of the island. Arriving at the port of Trapani, on the west coast, we found ourselves walking through back streets more reminiscent of North Africa than Western Europe. At the Cantina Siciliana, run by Pino Maggioni, an engaging, impassioned host who some years ago devoted his life to creating this traditional and convivial gem, in the heart of the old town, couscous was on the menu, indicative of the Arabic influence. Yet we were told that this couscous, served with fish or pork, differed from the couscous in Marsala, only a few kilometres away, where the tradition was to serve a larger grain couscous, and served with snails. ‘Local food’ takes on a whole new dimension in Sicily.
More Arabic influences were to be found in the Vucciria market in Palermo; wild fennel, crucial to the delicious but complex dishpasta con le sarde; and aubergines, crucial for caponata, one of Sicily’s best known dishes, and one of the examples of the sweet and sour combination in Sicilian cuisine. Sicily is rightly renowned for the richness of its pastries and desserts like Cannoli andCassata, and these also owe much to the Arabic influence which brought sugar cane in the ninth century.
Cannoli The Spanish influence is evident in the chocolate shops of Modica, a baroque town in the south of the island. Modica has become synonymous with the quality and quantity of its chocolate producers, which have expanded dramatically in recent years. At the Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, the town’s oldest chocolate producer, and wondered if the revival and recognition of traditional methods of making chocolate, based on the Aztec tradition, offered another version of globalisation.
Visit bonajuro.it If it true that you cannot explain Sicily – and above all its food – without understanding the way the mafia has controlled food production and distribution with markets like the Vucciria, controlled for many years by mafia extortion rackets, then here too, there are signs of a renaissance with the passion and commitment of a new generation of anti-mafia activists. Food has been central to this revival. Foremost has been the associationAddio Pizzo which plastered the centre of Palermo with stickers calling on people of Palermo to preserve their dignity and refuse the pizzo (protection money) and Libera Terra, an association which promotes the use of land confiscated by the mafia for the production of wine and olive oil.
Sicily Unpacked found interesting links between art and food, with Giorgio Locatelli and Andrew Graham-Dixon educating each other on their respective pleasures. There are also very interesting connections between literature and food. The complex nature of Sicilian identity is central in the work of some of its greatest writers, notably Leonardo Sciascia, Luigi Pirandello and often food seems to reflect wider cultural and political questions. There is a famous scene in Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s The Leopard, where the pleasure of eating Sicilian food survived the attempted imposition of a ‘national’ diet in the moment of unification.
For Andrea Camilleri’s Sicilian detective, Inspector Montalbano – food is also crucial. His loyalty to the Trattoria Calogero, his uncompromising lunch rituals and knowledge of the tastes and flavours of his island, notably in the province of Agrigento and the shadow of the Valley of the Temples, is crucial to the way he lives and works.
Sicilian food has not only survived but is now beginning to prosper in the era of globalisation, which is normally characterised by the imposition of drab standardised fare. Together with the unique values of Sicilian hospitality and friendship, it will be crucial to the revival of the economy and the future of the island. Its extraordinarily rich history, encompassing such a variety of wonderful flavours, seems to have found its moment.
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Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989)
Leonardo Sciascia was one of Italy’s greatest writers, but he will probably be best remembered for what he brought to an understanding of Sicily, where he was born and lived most of his life. It is his articulation of Sicilian identity and the Sicilian predicament, including the impact of the mafia, through his novels like Il Giornod ella Civetta (‘The Day of the Owl’) and Il Contesto (‘Equal Danger’) for which he is most revered. Born in the working class town of Racalmuto, in the province of Agrigento, most known for its sulphur mining, (his father worked as a clerk for the mines), the hopes and fears of his Sicilian neighbours were often foremost in his writing. These included one of his early novels Le Parrocchie di Regalpetra, (published in the English version as Salt in the Wound).Regalpetra was an imaginary town near his own Racalmuto. The novel allows him to discuss the history of his own land, ‘an island within an island’, and the impact political events have on the town.It was his interrogation of the mafia in his novels that gained him much early attention. One of the first writers to openly discuss and characterise mafia culture, he did so in a form which avoided happy endings or romanticism, yet in the character of his detectives and other characters kept the search for wider truth and justice foremost. As such the force of his writing helped produce a broader investigation of society, people and power in Italy.
His interrogation of power and its abuses prompted him to take a larger public role. Like many Italian writers, his early political commitments were to the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and he was once elected to represent them on Palermo city council. After their ‘historic compromise’ with the Christian Democrats in the late 1970s, he left the PCI and was later elected as an MEP for the Radical Party. The late 1970s were a period of tension and crisis in the Italian state with kidnappings and other acts of terrorism, against the background of an unaccountable political class. Following the kidnapping and murder of the former Prime Minister Aldo Moro, Sciascia completed a gripping analysis of the underlying political circumstances in L’affaire Moro (The Moro Affair) a further example of his concern for truth and justice.
The public esteem held for the former Racalmuto schoolteacher was evident in the translation of his work into many languages and mutual respect between him and other Italian intellectuals, including his close friend Renato Guttuso, Pier Paolo Pasolini and others. His works, translations and correspondence are now kept in the Fondazione Sciascia in Racalmuto and well worth a visit. http://www.fondazioneleonardosciascia.it/
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Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (1896-1957)
Everyone visiting Sicily for the first time should read Il Gattopardo (The Leopard), for what it says about Sicilian history and identity. The strength of Lampedusa’s novel, published only after his death, is the way in which wider themes are addressed in a beautifully crafted narrative. Set at the time of the Risorgimento, the pains and conflicts of a society undergoing change at different levels and a ruling order facing oblivion is told through the central characters and the weaving together of key moments, events and places.
This compelling account addresses broader questions which have defined parts of the Sicilian predicament; of fractured class and status, the rise of the mafia, political corruption, scepticism towards the state, the centrality of the family and fatalism. Therefore, it remains not only a wonderfully enchanting novel but a reference point for many modern dilemmas, borne out perhaps most famously of all by Tancredi trying to influence his uncle Don Fabrizio to recognise the power shift underway and join Garibaldi; ‘If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change’. This gattopardism is frequently used to explain political inertia in Italy, not only in Sicily. In fact, the novel supports Leonardo Sciascia’s later observation of ‘Sicily as metaphor for the modern world’.
As the son of the Prince of Lampedusa and the Duke of Palma di Montechiaro, Lampedusa is able to draw on his own family history in characterisation and the places featured in the novel. Now, we have the chance to explore in more depth the influence of his family background on his work, as well as his wider interests and influences with the publication in English ofChildhood Memories and Other Stories (including his fable ‘The Siren), published by Alma in 2013, and his travel observations inLetters from London and Europe, also published by Alma Books in 2011.
Perfect holiday reading…
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Mimmo Pintacuda – The Real ‘Alfredo’*
Arriving in Bagheria, a small town 20 km from Palermo, later than expected, I set off in what I thought was the direction of my hotel, only to find that in pitch darkness I had completed a full circle. Exasperated, I inquired at a nearby petrol station where I was told by the attendant that not only did he know the hotel, but as it was run by his uncle (‘mio zio’) I was indeed fortunate to have come across him. If I was to wait ten minutes or so his ‘uncle’ would himself drop by to give me a lift.
Shortly after his uncle arrived on a scooter, helmetless naturally, and in good spirits. With my suitcase between his legs at the front and me holding on at the back, we set off on what turned out to be a very enlightening tour of the town. I was introduced to some of the main streets, piazzas and building which featured in Giuseppe Tornatore’s film Baaria,(Sicilian for Bagheria), which tells the story of a left wing activist battling over decades against the mafia, poverty and conservative values. It captures much of the essence of 20th century Sicilian life.
It was another of Tornatore’s films, however, that brought me to Bagheria, the film director’s hometown. Nuovo Cinema Paradiso has achieved widespread acclaim for its portrayal of the influence of a much-loved projectionist Alfredo (played by Philippe Noiret) on the work of a film director. It is a moving, humorous and engaging movie, which through the medium of cinema depicts aspects of the changing history and culture of Sicily.
Mimmo Pintacuda Here, there has been an even more moving real life story of the early formative influence on Tornatore’s career, that of local photographer and projectionist Mimmo Pintacuda, who died in December 2013. Pintacuda, who worked as a projectionist for Capitol Cinema in Bagheria, had another vocation as a photographer, and spent fifty years taking photographs of his fellow citizens of Bagheria.
‘Craftsman’: Mimmo Pintacuda at work As Tornatore says of Pintacuda:
‘He studied every gesture of his fellow townsmen. And while he distracted them from the dramas of daily life by showing them westerns, police stories and exotic adventures, without realising it he was taking away their existence. He captured it with the same agility as the hunter, and transformed it into photographs’.
He goes on:
‘I had the privilege of learning from Mimmo the art of projection and that of photography. I could not say which of the two has been more important for my career in the cinema, but I am grateful to him for having taught me through each of them that telling stories is simply a craft, and the person that tells them is a craftsman, nothing more’.
Mimmo Pintacuda 50 anni di fotografie (Eugenio Maria Falcone Editore 2005 pp 3-4Mimmo Pintacuda offers a gripping and evocative photographic social history, a ‘history from below’; parts of which can be viewed at the Museo Guttuso in the town. It is a rich collection and sits well with the cinematic versions of Bagheria, notably Baaria, with which he collaborated. Now, his son Paolo has made a documentary film of his work, which will shed more light on his life.
* Francesca Marchese’s groundbreaking Guardian article on Mimmo Pintacuda is here: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/dec/23/cinema-paradiso-alfredo-mimmo-pintacuda-dies
Paolo Pintacuda
