Food and Wine of Sicily Italy - Travel Guide and Information

This description page of Sicily, region Of Italy, will guide you in planning your trip to Italy and help you to find useful travel information about the Food & Wine of this Italian Region.

Food (Cibo)

Sicily (Sicilia)’s cuisine is adapted from its rich diversified past, and all of it is delicious! The Arabs perhaps have had the most profound influence on Sicily (Sicilia)’s cooking and culture. They brought spices from the east and introduced cane sugar for the making of sorbets, pastries, and cakes. Sweet and sour dishes, combinations of raisins and nuts in savory cooking, spices, orange water, and even a version of couscous (cuscusu) are typical of cooking on the western part of the island.

Pasta may have entered Italy proper via the Arabs in Sicily (Sicilia), and Sicilians know how to do it right! Arabs founded a pasta industry near Palermo in the 12th century, using grain from fields planted earlier by the Romans. Pasta, usually made from durum wheat semola, takes many forms, ranging from spaghetti and maccheroni (macaroni) to zite (ziti) tubes and gnocchi. Most celebrated is pasta con le sarde (with sardines and fennel).

Sicilian olive oil is among the w's most fragrant and appetizing. It is believed that Sicily (Sici's particularly fertile soil, which in eastern regions is volcanic, produces some of the w's best olives. Also prized are the table olives called Nocellara del Belice, and the outlying islands specialize in capers.

The arid land produces olives and almonds, as well as more exotic foods like prickly pears and pomegranates. Sicily (Sicilia) is a major producer of fruit, notably oranges and lemons, peaches, apricots, figs, blood oranges, and table grapes.

Artichokes, tomatoes, eggplants, and fish, such as tuna and swordfish, fill out the Sicilian diet. Caponata, a tasty salad made with aubergines (eggplant), olives, capers, and celery, makes a great appetizer. There is also an artichoke-based version of this traditional dish, though're less likely to find it in most restaurants. Sfincione is a local form of pizza made with tomatoes, onions, and (sometimes) anchovies. Prepared on thick bread and more likely found in a bakery than in a pizzeria, sfincione is good as a snack or appetizer.

Panella is a thin paste made of crushed or powdered ceci (garbanzo) beans and served fried. Maccu is a creamy soup made from the same bean. Crocché (croquet) are fried potato dumplings made with cheese, parsley, and eggs. Arancine are fried rice balls stuffed with meat or cheese.

Sicily (Sicilia) is renowned for its seafood, led by sardines and anchovies. Along the coasts, tuna and grilled swordfish are popular. Smaller fish, especially snapper, is sometimes prepared in a vinegar and sugar sauce. Seppia (cuttlefish) is served in its own black sauce with pasta.

Meat is prominent in the central hills, where lamb, kid, and pork prevail, though cooks also make good use of veal, poultry, and rabbit. Sicilians supposedly invented meatballs, polpetti or polpettoni, which are eaten as a main course with tomato sauce (unlike our spaghetti and meatball version). Best known outside Sicily (Sicilia) is vitello alla marsala (veal marsala), one of many regional meat specialties. Chicken “alla marsala” can be prepared using a similar recipe and method. Milza (veal spleen) sandwiches are a bit “native” for most tastes.

Cheeses are dominated by Pecorino Siciliano, also known as tuma or tumazzu, whose pungent flavor is sharpened when laced with peppercorns. When aged and hard, pecorino is used for grating. Ragusano is a cow’s milk cheese, mellow and delicate when young, although it may also be aged hard and sharp for grating. Caciocavallo and provola or provoletta are also popular. Creamy soft ricotta is used in pasta fillings and pastries, although it may also be salted and dried.

Sicilian desserts are superlative. There is a dessert for every occasion, from Easter to weddings, to each and every Sain's day. Cannoli, tubular crusts with creamy ricotta (made from sheep’s milk) and sugar filling, cassata (a sponge cake topped with colorful candied fruits and ice cream), and zuppa inglese (a liqueur-soaked cake filled with custard) are three favorites. Marzipan and biscotti also fill the windows of pasticcerias (pastry shops). Frutta di Martorana (or pasta reale) is an almond marzipan pastry colored and shaped to resemble real fruit.

It is said that ice cream (gelato) was invented in Sicily (Sicilia) during Roman times, when a relay of runners would bring snow down from Mount Etna to be flavored and served to wealthy patricians. Today,'ll find flavors such as pistachio and nocciola (hazelnut), gelsomino (jasmine), gelsi (mulberry), fragala (strawberry), and zuppa inglese (rum). Granita is sweetened crushed ice made in the summer and flavored with lemons or strawberries.

Wine (Vino)

Sicily (Sicilia) has Italy’s greatest expanse of vineyards and often produces a greater volume of wine than any other region. About 75 percent of Sicily (Sicilia)’s wine is produced by cooperatives, although a growing number of privately owned estates have put the emphasis on premium quality.

Sicily (Sicili's most famous wine, Marsala, was first made in the city of that name on the western coast. Marsala is a fortified wine with an alcohol content of around twenty percent. It is usually made from native Grillo, Catarratto, or Inzolia grapes.

For more than a century, Marsala was the equal of Sherry and Madeira, if not Port. By the 1950s, however, it found itself relegated to the kitchen as cooking wine. In 1986, the Italian Repu's D.O. (denomination of origin) laws for Marsala were revised to incorporate stricter regulations, and Marsala is now resuming its place as a dessert and aperitif wine. There are dozens of kinds of Marsala wine, some unique to certain houses, each meeting particular standards.

Sicily (Sicilia) is also noted for sweet wines, such as Moscato Passito de Pantelleria and Malvasia delle Lipari, but its growing reputation is for dry table wines: reds, rosés, and especially fresh, fruity whites, which go well with seafood and vegetables.

Moscato is difficult to describe. It comes from the Muscat grape, or from the sub-variety known locally as Moscatello, sometimes with the addition of Corinto or Zibibbo. Some fine whites can be made from Muscat, but in Sicily (Sicilia) and the nearby islands it is usually rendered as a golden or light amber dessert wine, sometimes fortified or even sparkling (spumante). A few localities are famous for Moscato. Moscato and Moscato Passito are made by some distinguished wineries on the islands of Pantelleria and Lipari. As its name implies, Moscato Passito contains Appassito grapes. The areas around Siracusa and Noto, in the eastern part of Sicily (Sicilia), also produce fine Moscato wines.

Several Sicilian liqueurs are similar to those produced on the mainland, namely limoncello, from lemons, anisette, and amaretto. There are others, such as the interesting liqueur made from prickly pears (cactus fruit). T's also orange liqueur, and specialty liqueurs like fragolino, made from Sicily (Sicili's unique miniature strawberries, and even cinnamon. Grappa is actually a brandy distilled from grape seeds and pomace. Dry and high in alcohol, it is usually white and served as an after dinner drink.

Novello is Sicily (Sici's nouveau vintage wine, and it is sold annually just months after the grapes are harvested and pressed. It is usually red, robust, and fruity. Be sure and try it when you visit, since you’re not likely to find it outside Sicily (Sicilia).

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