What I have eaten in Sicily

We are now back from Sicily. The weather was great, beautiful sunny day every day, hot but not too humid, food and wine were excellent and people were really nice.

Before we left for Sicily, I made a list of food I wanted to eat in Sicily (see my earlier blog - what I want to eat in Sicily). Here are what I have managed to cross off.

• brioche con gelato - sweet brioche bun cut open and filled with gelato. Well, I sort of have had this but with granita instead of gelato inside - see my earlier blog "Be cool in Sicily". The combination of nice soft warm brioche roll and head-freezing lemon granita works very well, especially in Sicilian summer!

Lemon granita with a soft warm brioche roll.

• caponata - one of my favorite; sweet and sour eggplant dish, served cold or at room temperature. Alfina, the chef at Hotel Feudo Vagliasindi, has made a delightful caponata for starter.

Sweet and sour caponata - Alfina made it delicate and rather refreshing taste

• pasta alla Norma - pasta with tomato sauce, diced fried eggplant (aubergine) and grated salted ricotta. According to legend, Sicilian composer from Catania, Vincenzo Bellini suggested the name of this dish to the chef of a restaurant near the opera house where he was rehearsing his famous opera "Norma". Alfina made it really tasty. My husband does not like aubergine but even he really enjoyed this dish. She used strozzapreti pasta instead of spaghetti, which was cooked to perfect al dante! Apparently the name of pasta strozzapreti associated with the word 'strangle' as it looks like taut rope!

Alfine made this dish with strozzapreti pasta coating the tasty sauce really well.

• pasta con le sarde - saffron-coloured pasta with fresh sardines, wild fennel leaves and a small dollop of sun-dried tomato. I had this at Restaurant Dino in Taormina. It was a very tasty dish but I was rather disappointed by the way they cooked this as it did not resemble to what I have always imagined from having read different Sicilian cooking books and TV programmes I have seen! I did not like the past they used - don't know what is called -  although I admit it did pick up anchovy sauce rather well, and also there were lots of anchovies in the sauce but there was no fillet of fried anchovies to top the dish and no currants used. I had also imagined the pasta to be more yellow - orangish colour to reflect saffron. Maybe I shall try making this by following George Locatelli's 'Made in Sicily' book to see how this would turn out to be. I shall let you know of the result but I don't know how or where I can get fresh sardines around here....???

Restaurant Dino's version of Pasta with Sardine - Taormina, Sicily.

• pesto di pistacchio - pistachio pesto. Well, Sicilians', especially area around Mt Etna where we stayed uses pistachio a lot! They use it for gelato, sweets, coating fish fillets like breadcrumbs and also for pasta sauce. Alfina at the hotel made this wonderful ribbon pasta with pistachio pesto sauce with ground pistachio nuts as decorations. This was a lovely dish, which was nutty and creamy but not too strong. I have also bought a jar of pistachio pesto from a wine shop in Randazzo so that I can make this at home. I wish I had also bought pistachio flakes whilst in Sicily but my husband says that we can buy this at any local supermarket - have you seen this in Tesco or Sainsbury's????

Alfina's delightful pistachio pasta!

Well, that's all! Unfortunately I could not cross off all of my list but I have tried dishes I otherwise would not have tried so I am happy with this. Don't know when we would go back to Sicily or if we ever go back at all but it was an interesting food experience, and I get to come back home with lots of pastry di mandola (Almond cakes) which is my favourite.  I shall eat it reminiscing a lovely time we had in Sicily, especially the lovely view of Mt Etna from our terrace of our hotel.....

GUEST POST? not food just pictures

Hi,
This is the husband with some non food pictures from our week in Sicily.

the hotel from the road

the hotel

view of Etna from the terrace

beneath the hotel - the old barrels

beneath the hotel - the old wine press

wine shop in Randazzo

Italian van

view of the beach from Taormina

panoramic from Castilgilone di Sicilia

Be cool in Sicily

It's late September yet the temperature in Sicily during the day is still very hot. We were in Taormina the other day and it was 27c during the day! Where we are just now, near Randazzo, it is around 24c during the day but in the evening it can be quite cool. You get a lovely breeze during the day without much humidity, you almost forget how strong the sun is and you end up getting sunburn if you forget to use sun cream like I have just done!

Anyway, great treat to have if you want to be cool in such a sunny and hot day is granita, Sicilian Ice, which is made by slowly mixing ripe seasonal fruits, sugar and water to a coarser, more crystalline texture. I like granita di limone (Lemon Granita), which is very nice and refreshing.

Granita di Limone at a cafe in Taormina.

Karen Landes in her book, In Etna's Shadow, explains how to make this refreshing ice treat. In a metal bowl, mix the juice of 3 lemons, 1/3 cup super-fine sugar, and 1 cup water. Place the bowl with the liquid into the freezer and stir every 30 minutes with a fork to break-up the ice crystals. Continue stirring until the liquid becomes granular but still slightly slushy, about 3 to 4 hours.

We were in Randazzo yesterday. It was about 11.30am and it was starting to get really warm. We went into a pasticcerie. My husband ordered an espresso and a small strawberry pasty. I ordered a granita di limone and the proprietor asked if I wanted it with a brioche. Yes, I have heard about gelati with a brioche in Sicily, which is on my list (see my earlier blog - what I want to eat in Sicily), so without any hesitation, I nodded my head for yes. Apparently Sicilians eat gelato in a soft warm brioche roll in a sandwich style, while granita into which pieces of brioche are dunked for breakfast! I looked around and yes, I did indeed see some locals eating ice cream or granita with brioche. This is a very interesting combination happening in my mouth - nice soft, sweet and warm brioche roll and cool and refreshing granita at the same time. It does really work, but you got to be in Sicily to really appreciate it.

Granita di limone and a soft warm brioche roll.

Italy is famous for gelato. According to Blue Guide - Sicily (2012 edition), it is quite possible that ice cream was invented in Sicily. The Romans brought down snow from Mt. Etna during the winter, stored it in pits dug in cool cellars, covering it with a thick layer of straw or sawdust to keep it fresh until summer. It was then recovered and mixed with wine, honey and spices and sold as a great luxury to the riches. The Arabs in Sicily then used sugar instead of honey and fruit juice instead of wine, calling it sherbet (hence sorbet). Then 17c Sicilian confectioner added cream to the mixture, which became the origin of what we have for gelato today.

Gelato is however mainly made with milk, which means less fat and has no air added (aside from what occurs naturally during the churning process), so it has more intense, dense and creamier flavour that normal ice cream. When you go to gelaterie (ice cream parlors), you see so many different flavours to choose from, usually as many as 30 - 40 choices!

Orange flavour gelati - this meant to be the smallest size!!!

The hotel where we are staying serves semifreddo for dessert, which is a semi-frozen dessert made with a base similar to gelato but with cream added. Being near Mt Etna, they serve pistachio flavoured semifreddo, with grated pistachio nuts. 

Semifreddo al pistacchio.

In fact here in Mt Etna region, they use pistachio as well as almonds for food extensively and imaginatively, which is another story for another day.

Breakfast in Sicily

We are staying at a lovely hotel, Hotel Feudo Vagliasindi (www.feudovagliasindi.it/) just outside of a medieval town of Randazzo. There is nothing around here except vineyards and olive groves, with a stunning view of Mt Etna from the terrace in the front and of surrounding hills with some houses.  When you wake up in the morning and look out from the window, this is what you see, and all you hear is birds singing.  You don't even hear the sounds of vespa going up and down the streets or sirens of police cars as you would do in bigger towns and cities in Italy. Just peaceful and relaxing.

Having breakfast with a stunning view of Mt. Etna.

We have some croissants dusted with white sugar with selection of strawberry or apricot jam, but last few mornings I have been having it with Nutella. We also have some selections of fruits such as peaches, pears, purple and dark red grapes as well as blue plums and apples. This morning I had mango yoghult instead. There are abundance of fresh fruits available everywhere yet Italian do not seem to have fresh fruit juices for breakfast and they tend to serve diluted juices.  I have tried this lime-green juice but I have not figured it out what it is .... And of course, we both have cappuccino!

Have a nice day!

Razzle dazzle in Randazzo - sweet experience near Mt. Etna

We are in Randazzo, a lava-built medieval town closest to the volcano craters of Mt. Etna. It's a small town yet has so much history with different influences from Norman, Greek and Spanish occupations in the past, which you would easily miss if you don't explore on foot.

Santa Maria Cathedral - built in a 13 century

Anyway, our local guide Natale has taken us to a wonderful Pasticceria Arturo on Via Umberto for a lovely coffee and sweets after exploring the town.  Apparently this is a historic coffee house with a beautiful Art Nouveau interior, serving delightful pastries, cakes and sweets, all handmade of course!

There were so many choices and all looked very delectable. Natale selected some for us to try; these were Pasta di Mandorla and Pasta di Pistacchio (small cakes/soft cookies made of almonds and pistachio - these are really nice and soft inside), cannoli (filled with sweet ricotta cheese) and white chocolate with pistachio nuts. There is also a small green ball which, I think, is made of almonds and pistachio paste and covered with chopped pistachio nuts.  All these are really delicious and go very well with strong Sicilian espresso!!!

We met the pastry chef, took a photo with her and managed to say from my Italian phrase book, 'I really enjoyed it' in Italian to her to compliment her wonderful cakes and sweets. Note, many people around here do not speak much English so the phrase book comes really handy!!!

We then went to the local Enotecca - wine shop with delicatessen near the town's main square, Il Buongustaio (www.ilbuongustaildipipocala.it).  The owner has poured two different types of lovely Etna Rosso for us to try each, with different types of Sicilian cheese including the one with pistachio nuts in it too. Both bottles were fantastic but 2010 Rosso was really marvellous and it's 15%!!!  Well, being a perfect or model consumer and feeling so happy with lovely sweets and vino, we ended up buying the bottle to take home - one day we shall open this bottle for reminiscing the wonderful time we were razzle-dazzled in Randazzo!!!!

What we are eating in Sicily

Well, guess where we are....we are in Sicily now!!!   I am writing this, sipping lovely glass of vino and looking at Mt Etna!  Weather is lovely, sun but not too strong with nice breeze, temperature around 24C. The place is surrounded by vineyards and just relaxing. What else can we ask for???

Enjoying local wine with local Pistachio with a view of Mt Etna. 

Daughters, Emily and Maria are already asking what we have had for lunch earlier when we arrived. In our household, the first thing we ask each other, after hello, is 'what did you have for lunch or dinner?' Yes, we are all obsessed about food in our house....but in a good way.

Anyway, my husband and I had a light and quick lunch to share between us.  The hotel knows we don't eat meat so they made us local pasta dish, pasta alla norma - tomato sauce with aubergine (or eggplant). The pasta was handmade and cooked perfectly al dante dressed with very delicious rich tomato sauce with aubergine with a hint of basil. My husband does not like aubergine but he really enjoyed this one. And I really liked the pasta - handmade pasta tastes so much nicer and this one was well coated with the sauce.

This pasta dish was one of my 'To Eat' list in Sicily so I can now cross this one off the list already!

We also had grilled vegetables - sliced grilled aubergine and green and red peppers. Olive oil dressing was really rich in golden colour, with touch of dense but sweet balsamic vinegar and some crushed garlic. It was really tasty exactly as it looked and we mopped up all the dressing with lovely Sicilian bread. 

We are meant to get fish for dinner. I wonder what's for dinner....

What I want to eat in Sicily....

My husband and I will go back to Sicily again this month for holiday. It all started when my sister in law and her husband went to Palermo while ago and recommended us to go there. I could not find any good flight connections to get there and could not decide on a hotel to stay, I started looking for package tour to Sicily and we ended up going to Taormina. That was 2 years ago and we really enjoyed our holiday there.

View of Mt Etna from our hotel ground in Taormina

We thought we would then go to Palermo this time, but again could not find good flight connections and any hotels we fancied.  One day I was watching some food and wine programme on TV and saw a presentor visiting a winery at the foot of Mt Etna and had a wonderful lunch there. I thought why not staying at agriturismo near there, perhaps at Tenuta San Michele,  the one owned by Murgo wine producer. Unfortunately the Agriturismo Murgo was fully booked for dates we wanted to stay but we now have found another great place to stay near Mt Etna.

Anyway, I bought a book of Sicilian cooking Eat Smart in Sicily by Joan Paterson and Marcella Croce (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eat-Smart-Sicily-Decipher-Adventure/dp/0977680118/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347562546&sr=1-1) when we went to Taormina for the first time but never properly appreciated this book then. Now more obsessed about Sicily and its cuisine, I revisited this book and have noted all the Sicilian food I want to eat this time.  Here are my list:

• arancine agli spinaci - deep fried, saffron-colored rice balls filled with spinach and béchamel sauce.
• brioche con gelato - sweet brioche bun cut open and filled with gelato.
• caponata - one of my favorite; sweet and sour eggplant dish, served cold or at room temperature.
• carciofi arrostiti - roasted artichokes: mixture of olive oil, chopped mint and garlic is poured into artichoke hearts, which are then wrapped in aluminium foil and roasted over hot coals or in warm ashes.
• cassata - classic Sicilian cake of Arabic origin; assembled from layers of sponge cakes and almond paste (marzipan) filled with sweet ricotta cream, and beautifully decorated with icing, candied fruits and zucchini preserves. 
• cuscus di pesce - couscous with fish.
• insalata di arance - orange salad; oranges are peeled, sliced and mixed with smoked herring and sliced scallions, and dressed with olive oil and salt. 
• involtini di melanzane - eggplant rolls; slices of eggplant are grilled or fried and then rolled around a mixture of toasted bread crumbs, pine nuts, currants and cheese.
• pasta alla Norma - pasta with tomato sauce, diced fried eggplant and grated salted ricotta.
• pasta con acciughe e mollica - pasta with toasted bread crumbs and anchovy fillets. 
• pasta con i broccoli arriminati - pasta stir-fried with a cauliflower sauce with currants, pine nuts, saffron and anchovies dissolved in olive oil. If you have ever watched Inspector Montalbano, you would know what I am talking about.
• pasta con le sarde - saffron-coloured pasta with fresh sardines, wild fennel leaves and a small dollop of sun-dried tomato.
• pesto di pistacchio - pistachio pesto. 
• spaghetti con bottarga - spaghetti with grated, salted tuna roe (bottarga), olive oil and garlic.
• spaghetti con il nero di seppia - spaghetti with black cuttlefish ink.

Let's see how many I can cross off this list when we return from our holiday to Sicily...

Craig's another food adventure in Korea

My daughter Emily's boyfriend, Craig, is still in Korea for business. I think he still has another 2 weeks before he comes back home.

Craig has interesting relationship with foods  - he does not like cheese but loves pizza. He does not like fish or seafood but he likes fried prawn wanton. Emily loves Japanese food so she has been introducing some Japanese food for Craig to try. Craig had never been to Far East until 9 - 10 months ago when he visited Japan for the first time with us and he liked Japanese curried sauce and rice and ramen noodles.  Now, he is in Korea for the first time for business.  By now he has mastered the art of chopsticks and have already impressed his Korean colleagues!

He has just sent us another photograph of Korean food he tried the other night. This is Korean dumplings called Mandu. According to Craig, there are different kinds of fillings - pork, vegetables and thin egg noodles and the batter is seasoned with some spices. He was told that this is traditional Korean evening snack. He said, "they were very very tasty indeed!".

These look like the Chinese jiaozi or the Japanese gyoza (see my earlier blog, Japanese Ramen). According to Wikipedia, mandu are usually served with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce and vinegar or with kimchi (Korean spicy pickled cabbage) and chilli-specked soy sauce. I wonder what kind of sauce he had with mandu. 

I look forward to more food photos from Korea. Craig's food adventure continues.....

Lazy Cook, Again

If you want something quick and easy to make and delicious, how about making cheese pie. This is my family's favourite. All you need is puff pastry, cheese, onion and either milk or egg to glaze the pastry, oh, and some flour so that it won't stick when you roll out.  And you obviously need a rolling pin to roll the pastry and an oven to bake.  This is a perfect recipe for a lazy cook.

Buy a packet of puff pasty from a shop or supermarket, unless you want to make the pasty from the scratch - but listen, the whole point to be a lazy cook is to involve minimum effort!

1. Turn the oven to heat up. I usually set it at 200 degree.
2. Cut the pasty into half. Sprinkle some flour on a surface of kitchen worktop or table and roll out half of the pasty to a size that would fit whatever the baking tray you have. I normally lay a non-stick baking sheet on the baking tray before you lay a sheet of rolled out pastry on it.  
3. Slice a block of yellow cheddar cheese into smaller slices and and lay them on the pasty to cover the pastry sheet but leaving some space around the edge.
4. Slice 1/2 to 1 medium size onion and sprinkle these on the sheet of cheddar cheese slices.
5. Roll out the other half of the puff pastry to blanket over the cheese and onion slices.
6. Fold the edge/rim of the pastry to seal the whole pie. Use a fork to press the edge firmly to seal the pie properly.
7. Make a few cuts on the top pastry.
8. Brush the pasty with either milk or egg to glaze. Pour a little bit of milk into each cut.
9. Put it in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until it's golden brown.

I have recently served this to my family with grilled vegetables - red and yellow peppers, courgettes, long stemmed broccolis and red onions.  I like to either brush or mix vegetables with a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and crushed garlic before grill them.

All tasty food (....chips!) and 'brown' food (... pies and chips!!) are not good for your health. Cheese and pastry combination is an example of that however accompanying lots of grilled vegetable would make you feel less guilty to eat.

My daughters have been asking for this recipe for some time. Well, Emily and Maria, here it is and it's your turn now to make the cheese pie as this is so easy and quick.  This means that I don't need to make this anymore ... Now, that's REALLY a lazy cook!

Great seafood spaghetti!

I am updating this blog while cooking dinner. Menu for this evening is grilled salmon fillet glazed with light soy sauce and ginger, with mixed vegetable stir fry and savoury vegetable rice. Ever since I watched Gok Wan's Chinese Cookery programme on TV, I have been using Thai Fish Sauce when stir frying vegetables. It really does add extra dimension to the ordinary stir fry but be careful not to use too much, otherwise your stir fry vege  would end up too salty to eat.

Anyway, we went back to our favourite Italian restaurant, Sarti (http://sarti.co.uk), for dinner last Friday night.
As soon as I walked into the house, after long day at work and when all you wanted to do was to relax and sit in front of TV to catch up, perhaps with a glass of vino, my husband asked me if I wanted to go to Sarti.  Of course I want, why not, how can I refuse!!!  There was a slight catch though - I got to be the designated driver after the dinner.

We did not book the table but we were lucky enough to get a nice table, considering how busy the place was already for early evening.  I had their Tomato and Mascapone penne before and as it was so delicious, I was thinking about ordering this again. When my husband declared that he will have seafood spaghetti, I was easily influenced by his choice and decided to order one for myself too.

Well, it was an excellent choice! There were so many varieties of seafood - langoustine, king prawns, salmon, scallops, mussels, squids, octopus and small prawns, which were all cooked to the perfection with spaghetti in very delicious tomato sauce.

Well, the photo says all, it was absolutely delicious and we had a very fantastic meal. I wish you could taste it or even wish there is a smell-vision (instead of television) with this blog so that you could smell this!!!

Now, thinking of food makes me really hungry and just as well, the dinner is ready. Better go and eat before it gets cold. It's nowhere near restaurant food but I love salmon and I surely enjoy it!