AUNTIE PASTA: Sailor's Delight

SARONNO, Italy - The volcanic island of Pantelleria, is the largest of all the Sicilian islands. It’s a wild place, only 15 kilometers (9 miles) long in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, closer to Africa than to Italy.  It is a place of contrasts, a place with spectacular beaches, where lush olive groves thrive and dark, rocky volcanic landscapes that make you think you have landed on the moon.

 Beautiful Panelleria

There have been people living on this island since the Bronze Age. Because of its unique position between Africa and Europe, Pantelleria has seen more than its share of sailors as it was the perfect place to stop and rest, and restock their ships. Remember these were ships which traveled by the power of the wind, or if there was no wind, by the power of the men who manned the oars.  

One tribe that came from the sea were the Sesioti. But they didn’t come to Pantelleria to rest, they came to extract a special black stone, Obsidian. This rock-glass material was used to produce sharp-edged knives, cutting tools and arrow points, and was a precious in prehistoric times as gold is today. What the Sesioti left behind were their dome shaped burial tombs, called sesi, a World Heritage treasure which are still there for all to see.

Sesi Prehistoric Burial Tomb found on Pantelleria

 But the strongest influence was left by the Arabs, who arrived in Sicily first in 827. The Berbers of North Africa named the island al Quasayra; the little one, and some still call it that. Other Africans called the island Bent-el-Rion, daughter of the wind. Both names are perfect for Pantelleria as both are true.

GRAPH The Arabs contributed the most to the culture and cuisine of Sicily and it’s islands. You hear their influence still in the Sicilian dialect of today which contains numerous words of Arabic origin. Many of these words have passed from Sicilian into standard Italian, words such as: zaffarana (saffron), sorbetto (sorbet, originally sharbaat), carciofi (artichoke, from al-khurshouf),  zucchero (sugar, from sukkar), and coucous (kuskusu). 

 Sicilian Couscous Festival

Couscous is the perfect mate for whatever meat or vegetables are available, or as the Italians say, it marries well with many things. Being an island in the Mediterranean Sea, it’s logical that the couscous served in Pantelleria is most often paired with fish. In the past, couscous was a staple of everyday life on the island, but today it has moved from the fisherman’s table to the most elegant of restaurants.

Here’s a recipe I found in an old Italian cooking magazine. Give it a try, or use it as a starting point for your own couscous creation.

Fish Couscous

Cuscus alla Pantesca

Ingredients for 4-6 people

320 grams cuscus (precooked)

600 grams mussels

600 grams red snapper (or any similar fish)

400 grams shrimp

250 grams tomatoes

2 onions

1 hot red pepper

1 garlic clove

Extra virgin olive oil

Small bunch of rucola

Salt

Clean the mussels and heat them in a casserole dish or pan until they open.

Then filter the juice and set aside. Peel the tomatoes by first dipping them in boiling water for a half a minute, then remove the seeds and rough chop.

This recipe calls for cleaning the whole fish, but it’s a lot easier if you buy fish that is already clean.

Peel the shrimp.

Finely chop the onions and garlic and fry them along with the hot pepper in 2 tablespoons of olive oil for 4-5 minutes. Then add the chopped tomatoes, and after 5 minutes add the juice you reserved from the mussels and 1 liter of water.

Bring that to a soft boil and add the red snapper, and let it simmer until cooked (about 10 minutes), adding the peeled shrimp about two minutes before you take the pan off the heat.

You can also add fried eggplant, zucchini or a handful of peas to this mix if you want.

In the meantime, prepare the couscous. Calculate 1 glass of water for each glass of couscous (or 1 cup water for 1 cup couscous).  Bring the amount of water you need to a boil, add salt, and then pour it over the couscous, turn off the heat and let sit for 8 minutes. When the couscous has absorbed the water, mix it with  a fork and add a little of the broth the fish had been cooked in. Serve the couscous with the fish and seafood and garnish with the rucola.

AUNTIE PASTA: There's Something About ...

SARONNO, Italy - There is something about the sunny flavors in caponata that conjure up thought of sun and sea and Sicily. While the dish gets its name from one of its ingredients, capers, its main ingredient is eggplant (aubergines). Maybe the dish should be called melanzatta instead.

 Sicilian Caponata

Caponata is another example of a Sicilian dish whose origins lie in the Middle East. Like much of Sicily’s cuisine, caponata was introduced to the island by the Arabs. They ruled Sicily from the year 827 to 1061 and through their highly effective irrigation techniques, they brought water to the cities and the fields, a crucial element to farming in this arid land. In Palermo you can still see the subterranean waterways known as ‘qanats’. 

Street Market, Palermo, Sicily

They ruled Sicily for a little more than two centuries but their influence was nothing short of monumental. Under their administration, the island's population doubled as dozens of towns were founded and cities repopulated. By introducing irrigation techniques to the island, they were able to totally change what the Sicilians grew and ate. It was the Arabs who brought sugar cane, cotton, eggplant, dates, oranges and other citrus fruits to Sicily. And while you see their influence in many Sicilian recipes, more significantly, they changed Sicilian society itself. To this day, many social attitudes found in Sicily are direct decedents of the Arabs who ruled a thousand years ago.  

Eggplant on the Vine

There are a number of caponata recipes including those that call for artichokes or sweet peppers. But regardless of which recipe you use, the primary ingredient is eggplant, followed by celery, green olives, tomatoes (a modern addition), onions, capers, virgin olive oil, vinegar and sugar. The ingredients must be prepared carefully. The celery, for example, should not be overcooked and must remain firm. The cured or salted capers must be thoroughly rinsed. The eggplant may be slightly steamed and then sautéd, though some purists prefer frying.

Here's the basic recipe.

Ingredients: 8 medium size aubergines (eggplants), 200 grams of peeled mature tomatoes, 2 medium size sweet white or yellow onions, the heart of a large celery, 200 grams of pitted large cured firm green olives, 200 grams of capers (if salted soak in water and drain to remove salt), extra virgin olive oil, white vinegar, sugar, salt.

Preparation: Cut the unpeeled eggplants into chunks of about one inch (or two centimeter squares). This is not a “written in stone” recipe, so feel free to make adjustments. Cook the cubed eggplant by steaming it in a large, covered pot until completely cooked, but still firm. (Don't boil them.) Drain well and set aside. 

Chop the tomatoes into small pieces or a thick pulp, without discarding the juice or seeds. Chop the onions into medium pieces or thin slices. Cut the celery stalks into pieces about one inch long. Discard leaves. (It’s really best to cut eggplant, tomato and celery in more or less the same sizes, it makes it easier to eat). Cut the olives in half. 

In a large pan, saute the onions and celery pieces in olive oil. The celery should be lightly cooked, firm but not raw. Add the tomato pulp and bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer for a few minutes until the sauce changes color to a lighter red. At this point, simmer over low heat for another 4-6 minutes. Add the eggplants, olives and capers to the mixture. Also add a few tablespoons each of olive oil, vinegar and sugar. Stir gently and allow to simmer covered (steaming) for about five minutes over medium-low heat until mixture thickens but doesn't burn. 

Remove from heat and allow to cool. Salt to taste. Then chill for at least four hours before serving.

Caponata is also good as a vegetarian meal served over rice or couscous. 

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AUNTIE PASTA: Fried Shoes and Other Goodies

SARONNO, Italy – I was reading an article the other day about street food in Sicily and it mentioned a flat, fried cake called panella, that is made from chickpea flour. I had never heard of it and was surprised to learn that it has been around since the Middle Ages. Apparently it is one of the more popular street foods in Sicily and is sold where ever there is a street market, which is just about everywhere.

Lots of Big Appetites in Palermo

The article went on to say that panella is made with chickpea flour, with just enough water to form a thick paste, some chopped parsley, perhaps a bit of fennel seed, salt and pepper, then   deep fried. The cakes should be no more than about a half-centimeter thick, and about eight centimeters (3.5 inches) square, thought smaller sizes are popular too. The cakes should be cooked completely but not to the point of being completely crispy, with the inside being firm but also tender. 

Wait a minute. Except for the size, isn't what they are talking about here farinata, that manna from heaven found only in Liguria? What happened to the story about the sailing ship getting caught in a terrible storm and the bags of chickpea flour getting wet and the frugal Genovese scooping up the mess and frying it for the crew’s dinner? Isn’t that how this fried chick pea dish got started? What’s this business about the Arabs and chick peas in Sicily?  

Ligurian Farinata

The article went on to say that although chick peas were widely cultivated in the tenth century, they have been a food source for centuries. It also said that cicer arietinum, which I’m assuming is the Latin name for chick peas, was originally cultivated by Neolithic man in the Middle East, India and western Asia, domesticated from another variety of cicer reticulatum still grown in Turkey, and present in the central Mediterranean area during the Bronze Age. Even the ancient Greeks and Romans cultivated chickpeas, though probably not to the extent of the Arabs.  

That is all well and good but it doesn’t answer my question. How did chickpeas get from the Arabs in Sicily up to the Genovese sailors in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea? Were there Arab sailors on that Genovese ship? Somehow I don’t think so. If that was the case the Genovese wouldn’t have had to wait until the sacks of chick pea flour got soaking wet by water splashing on board during a storm to figure out what to do with it, right? Wouldn’t the Arabs have said to them, look pal, all you’ve got to do is mix this stuff with a little water and fry it up and you’ll have yourself a tasty little treat? I'm sure the Genovese would have jumped on it since they love anything fried. In fact they are fond of saying, "even a shoe fried is good."

Sicilian Panella

While fried foods seem to be a big no no these days, the article also said that panella is so delicious you should eat it anyway, and besides it isn’t all that bad for you since it doesn’t require a lot of frying – although the amount of time it fries really doesn’t make much difference, it’s the frying part that’s worrisome.  And as an added incentive it said that chickpeas are a good source of zinc, iron and other minerals and folate, whatever folate is.  

  

Then, the article busted another one of my food myth bubbles and started talking about arancine, those delicious rice balls you find in almost every bar and delicatessen in Rome. The first time I lived in Italy, way before I moved here permanently, I lived on arancine. I was lucky that they tasted so good because they were all I could afford to buy, apart from my one a day all-inclusive three-course meal at the Delfino Self-Service Cafeteria at the end of Via del Corso. For me aracine were a Roman treat, and for years I marveled at how clever the Romans were to have invented such a simple, but delicious little snack of meat, peas and cheese all stuffed into a rice ball and fried. 

A Tasty Arancine

It turns out – at least according to the article – that arancine were also brought here in the tenth century during the Kalbid rule of Sicily. Stuffed with meat and coated with a light, crispy batter, rice balls are similar to foods based on recipes known in the Middle East during the Middle Ages. Their Italian name comes from the word for orange (arancia), which, if you are a very creative Italian, you can imagine that they sort of resemble oranges in color and texture even though those dots never really ever connected for me. At any rate, it turns out there are two types of arancine. Those made in western Sicily are round, like the ones in Rome, while those made in eastern Sicily (particularly around Catania) are often conical. Why? Don’t ask.

I didn’t even know they grew rice in Sicily. I thought Lombardy was the rice belt, but I am wrong once again. In fact the article states that there is no connection between the rice grown in Piedmont and Lombardy and that in Sicily. Rice was introduced to the island during the Arab period – the famous 10th century they keep talking about.  Of course, rice cultivation requires water so the Arabs had to build an innovative and efficient irrigation systems in Sicily, which looking at Sicily today which is very hot and dry, it’s hard to imagine. It’s true that the island was greener then and the climate was cooler, and that there were more streams that flowed all year round. It was a very different Sicily with navigable rivers and natural lakes. In such an environment the Arabs revolutionized agriculture and introduced new crops such as cotton and sugar cane.  

Time to Hit the Street Markets of Palermo

And then, they struck the final blow with the last line which stated: rice balls are the golden jewel in the crown of Sicilian cuisine. I think the only solution to my dilemma is to get back down to Sicily and stay there for a few weeks and see what else is going on down there that I don’t know about. I need to get to the bottom of this.

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LIFE: Livin' Easy

SARONNO, Italy – Saronno is quiet. The usual early morning bustle of people walking dogs and going to work has slowed to a trickle, and you don’t need a calendar to know it’s the last day of July in Italy. The Closed for Vacation signs started going up all around town last week as the summer exodus began.

 Trentino, Dolomite Mountains

Corriere della Sera, one of Italy’s leading newspapers, carried an article this morning warning travelers that traffic would be heavy this weekend as an estimated seven million people are expected to be on their way to their much awaited summer vacation. Next weekend will be worse. As the major factories close, Fiat for one, another nine million will hit the road.

Most are headed for the beaches, the Adriatic or the Mediterranean. Both are popular.  Others will head for the mountains.  Others will head south for the beaches of Puglia where the sea is clear and blue, and the food is wonderful, or, Sardinia, or, the islands off of Sicily. 

The Beauty of Puglia

The islands are volcanic and each has a distinctive character. Stomboli is the strangest as it’s two towns are precariously perched beneath a volcano which does, every now and again, erupt. Panarea is tiny, lush and beautiful. Salina has two volcanic peaks, side by side and Lipari has archeological souvenirs of the dozen or so conquers who passed this way. 

The island of Elba, off the Tuscan coast, is both beautiful and big enough to absorb its visitors. On the Adriatic side of Italy the tiny Tremiti islands are popular. Visitors come mostly for the day, leaving the islands quiet and peaceful in the late afternoon. You’d be hard pressed to tell that they have a long history as jail islands, used by the Roman Emperor Augustus (from which the month of August gets its name), and more recently by Mussolini.

Tremiti Islands

While Americans think that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are their God given right, the Italians would add paid vacations to that list. In the classification of paid vacation days worldwide, Italy leads the pack with 42 days per year. France is next with 37, followed by Germany 35, Brazil 34, United Kingdom 28, Canada 26, Korea 25, Japan 25 and the U.S.A. 13 days. 
 

So as the streets empty, the shops close, the quiet settles on Saronno, it’s a good time to take a deep breath, sit back and relax, read a good book and cook some great food. Sounds like a winner to me.  

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AUNTIE PASTA: The Island Caper

SARONNO, Italy - As I cook my way through this hot month of July, I realize I’ve gone through yet another jar of capers. While I don’t use very many of the little green buds during the winter, once the weather turns warm they seem to be just the thing to add to fish dishes, pasta and rice salads and other hot weather food.

Salina Island

Caper bushes grow wild all over Italy. I’ve seen them sprouting out of ancient stone walls in Tuscany, but they grow best on the rocky terrain found on the Aeolian Islands off the coast of Sicily. Both Pantelleria and Salina are famous for their capers, but it’s only Salina that celebrates this little bitter bud with a three day Capers in Bloom Festival in June, La Festa del Cappero in Fiori.

The caper festival takes place all over the small 16 square mile island, squeezed in between the islands two extinct volcanoes. For about $6 you get a paper plate, a plastic glass and a selection of the best food the island has to offer.

Caper buds are harvested from the end of May through August. Picking starts in the cool of the morning, usually about 5 AM, in order to avoid the hot summer sun. The collected buds are taken to a warehouse where they are spread out on sheets of burlap and separated by size. Then they are packed between layers of coarse salt, where they “cured” for about a month, before they are bottled.

Harvesting Capers

Capers eaten on their own are not particularly good, actually they have very little flavor. But after they are cured, they develop that sharp, peppery mustard like taste that adds zip and zing to a lot of dishes.

If you have never cooked with capers I would suggest buying the ones packed in brine instead of those packed in salt. While they may not be Mr. Gourmet’s first choice the ones packed in salt are too salty for me no matter how long, or how diligently, I rinse them. The ones packed in brine just need to be drained, so they are easier to use. Once you open the jar, keep them in the refrigerator and make sure they are covered with the brine (or salt), otherwise they will dry out.

You’ll probably find two sizes of capers in your supermarket: small and smaller. They are both good. I recently heard that in some supermarkets you can also buy large capers still attached to their stalks. They may look more “gourmet” but truth be known the smaller ones, minus stalks, are better both in flavor and how they look in a finished dish.

Salted CapersWhile capers may not be on the top of everyone’s shopping list they have been used in Mediterranean cooking for thousands of years, going back to the days of the Roman Empire. Roman culinary expert Marcus Gavius Apicus (25 BC), who served under the Emperor Augustus, wrote about them in his cookbook. It would be difficult to duplicate his recipes however, as it is not easy to find peacocks and other Roman delicacies in the supermarket these days.

I did find, however, a very good web site written by Alberto Calascione. There is no profile so I don't know anything about him, but it is obvious that he is an Sicilian-American who is very much into his Italian roots, and very much into the food of that region. His recipes are easy to follow, true to the ingredients of Sicily and the islands, and they are written using American measurements.

So I thank you Signor Calascione for your dedication to the traditions and food of Sicily and for permission to link with your site. We are all the richer for it. His web site is: http://www.lacucinaeoliana.com/viaggio.html

ON THE ROAD: Notable Noto

This is another in what has become a series of monthly travel articles inspired by a recent New York Times article on places to see in 2010. All of the towns on my list are in Italy, most are small, rich in history and art and for the most part off the beaten track which, for me, makes them all the more interesting.

NOTO, SICILY – There is something about Sicily that makes me break out in adjective-itis. Words like fanciful, fantastic and extraordinary seem to pop up out of nowhere and take up residence in almost every sentence I write about the place.

Noto City Gate

Take Noto for example. Strictly speaking it’s just another small town on a island full of small towns, but unlike my adjective heavy sentences that are forgotten as soon as they are read, there is something about the place that sneaks in and takes up residence in your soul.

It may have something to do with all those baroque nymphs, mermaids, lions, trolls and other mythical creatures that look down at you as you walk along the streets.

Piazza Duomo

Or it may be the way the town glows in the late afternoon as the sun slowly sets in the west, reflecting off of the soft limestone buildings. I don’t know. My only consolation is that I’m not alone in my unabashed admiration for things Sicilian, and Noto in particular. It seems to affect everyone who comes here.

“Go to Noto,” wrote the Sicilian writer Gesualdo Bufalino, “it is a place where if one happens to come in, he is trapped and happy and never goes away.”
Bufalino was right. The danger is real.

Via Corrado Nicolaci

The day I got there the town artists were on their hands in knees on Via Corrado Nicolaci, putting down the outlines for the various sections of a brilliant tableau of flowers that would soon decorate the street. Via Nicolaci is one of the prettiest streets in town, rising gently toward the Church of Montevergine. Elegant baroque buildings line the street, and under the ornate balconies artists were working off patterns that resemble the canvases in paint-by-number kits.

The town was preparing for the annual spring celebration called the Infiorata, a week long affair celebrated with concerts, handicraft fairs, parades and special events.

The Baroque balconies of Noto

The Noto we see today is a relatively new town, at least new by Italian standards. The original town, Noto Antica, is about ten miles away, up on one of the nearby hills. In 1693 Noto Antica was completely destroyed by an earthquake, and rather than rebuild on the damaged site, the survivors decided to try their luck elsewhere. That makes Noto Nuovo only a little over 300 years old.
Earthquakes are a problem in this part in Sicily. In 1990, a minor earthquake caused a wing of Noto’s Jesuit College building to collapse, and a few months later cornices from building facades began to tumble to the ground. But the most tragic event of all happened in 1996 when the roof of the 18th century Cathedral of St. Nicholas fell into the nave, leaving a gaping hole and exposing the treasures within to the elements.

Noto Cathedral

I remember standing in the Cathedral shortly after it happened, looking up at the lions, winged horses, allegorical putti, bizarre Hellenic demons and grotesque stone masks that make up the interior. Pained faces frozen in time and space staring out at me through eerie, hollow eyes, as if to say, do something.

The roof is repaired now but it took more than ten years of plowing through bureaucratic paperwork and complicated maneuvers through the world of Italian and Sicilian politics. In the meantime, as the roof waited, Noto was added to the list of Unesco World Heritage sites.

Noto City Hall

Noto today is what it has always been: an eighteenth century country town standing on the slope of a hill in the southeastern corner of Sicily, about thirty miles from Siracusa. The town may be new, but its DNA is pure Noto Antica, whose historic tentacles reach deep into the past.
By the 8th century, when Sicily was controlled by the Arabs, Noto Antica was the administrative center of the Noto Valley, one of the three provinces created by the Arab governors. The Arabs introduced lemons and oranges to Sicily, and with them the complex irrigation system these new crops needed. The Arabs also introduced sugar, sukkar in Arabic, and almonds, which they used to make marzipan. They candied fruits and put them in cannoli, thought to have been invented by the women of a harem in Caltanissetta.

Rice, saffron and many fruits and vegetables owe their place in Italian gastronomy to the Arab traders and invaders. The list is long and not complete but anise, apricots, artichokes, cinnamon, pistachio, spinach and watermelon come to mind. The most obvious dish with Arab ancestry is couscous - called cuscusu in Sicily, but Sicilian food today is truly a compilation of many intertwined bits, and that may be why it is varied and so good.

The Greeks brought olives, black and green, the Romans brought chickpeas, fava beans, lentils and even some forms of pasta. From cold northern shores the Normans brought in dried codfish and bacalà, now an island staple. The Spanish are responsible for pan di Spagna, a type of sponge cake used to make cassata. And what’s a calzone if not a giant empanada?In Noto you don’t need Greek temples or Byzantine artifacts to feel its history, just walk into any restaurant or trattoria. It’s all there. Thirty centuries of history. And along with it a unique style of baroque that is only found in Noto. It’s the reason Unesco put the town on it’s coveted list of World Heritage sites.