Last week, I heard from Marti in Sicily. Marti is a JazzWax reader who moved there fulltime from the U.S. in 2008 with her husband. They live in a small town from which his grandparents emigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900s. Talk about closure with a smile. I tell you all of this because I asked Marti to send along photos of food from the place she calls "a slice of paradise." What better way to end the week than to take a visual trip there now.
A big thanks to Marti for the photos and her captions below:
Wild asparagus—"There is a variety of wild asparagus that grows here and I pick them every year starting around February through April. The plants are prickly and grow in the worst places but worth the effort. Best served sauteed in olive oil with garlic."
Freshly milled olive oil—"At our place, we have about two acres with 40 olive trees. So every year we get fresh olive oil. We used to harvest the olives ourselves but came to our senses and have others do the hard work. We take them to the processor, which is a sort of community experience. It takes an hour so there is a lot of talking while waiting. They sell their oil in the U.S. but in small markets."
Fresh mushrooms—"I don't know the names of the mushrooms but they're freshly picked."
"And here's where they ended up—in Pappardelle con Funghi Porcini, one of my favorite dishes."
"Da Luciana—a restaurant in San Piero Patti, displays its local produce when you walk in. The owner's mushroom hunters were having lunch the day we were there."
"In Florsesta—a display of local cheeses and salami at a salumeria."
"Cavati pasta—with pistachio cream sauce that I made. I bought the fresh pasta from our friends' bakery."
"Arancini—our friend Antonino made these fried rice balls with tomato sauce, peas and a bit of meat tucked inside."
"Sfogliatelle—are actually a Neopolitan pastry but they are my favorite."
"Our rustic bakery—where I buy my bread and the cavati mentioned above."
"And Mt. Etna—we can't see it from our house but one day we did actually see the white plume from the volcano. Quite impressive, but we're far enough away that we don't wind up with ash."
