The strongest outside influences on Sicily came from Saracens and other Arabs in the
Middle Ages. They brought spices from the east and introduced cane sugar for the
making of sorbets, pastries and cakes, including the elaborate cassata that
heralded Sicily's reputation as a treasure island of sweets. Arabs founded a
pasta industry near Palermo in the 12th century, using grain from fields planted
earlier by the Romans. They introduced methods of fishing tuna and swordfish in
deep Tyrrhenian waters. Curiously, though, what Sicilians call cùscusu is made
with fish, where in North Africa couscous generally contains lamb.
But then, Sicilians have always had a knack for adapting foreign customs to
their own uses. Perhaps that's why it's sometimes said that the Siclian way of
eating tells more about the original inhabitants, the Siculi and Sicani, than of
Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans and Aragonese. The modern diet relies on grains,
vegetables, herbs and spices, olives and olive oil, fruit, nuts, seafood and
cheese. But recipes reveal a miscellany of local tastes
Pasta, usually made from durum wheat semola, takes many forms, ranging from
spaghetti and maccheroni (maccaruna in dialect) to zite tubes and gnocchi (or
gnocculli). Most celebrated is pasta con le sarde (with sardines and wild fennel,
though versions vary from place to place).
Sicily is Italy's second most prominent producer of organic foods after
Sardinia. The island's year-round supply of fresh vegetables and herbs triumphs
in salads, both raw and cooked. Tomatoes are omnipresent, though equally adored
are eggplants (which may be fried, baked with cheeses or stewed and served cold
as caponata) and peppers (which may be grilled, stuffed, baked, or stewed in
peperonata).
Sicilian olive oil is also prized, as are the DOP table olives called Nocellara
del Belice. The outlying islands specialize in capers, best known as the IGP
Capperi di Pantelleria, though the Lipari or Aeolian isles are also noted for
these tasty flower buds preserved in sea salt.
Seafood, led by sardines and anchovies that figure in many recipes, is eaten
throughout the region. Along the coasts, the features are fresh tuna and
swordfish, which may be marinated in oil and herbs, stewed or roasted or cut into
steaks and grilled.
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, though abroad they often appear with spaghetti as a caricature of
Italo-American cuisine.
Cheeses are dominated by Pecorino Siciliano DOP, 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 DOP is a cow's milk cheese, mellow
and delicate when young, though 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, though it may also be salted and dried.
The region is a major producer of fruit, notably oranges and lemons, peaches,
apricots, figs and table grapes, which rate an IGP from Canicattì. The region is
famous for blood oranges, IGP as Arancia Rossa di Sicilia. A delicious curiosity
is the prickly pear called fico d'India which grows on cactus.
Sun-dried and candied fruits and nuts go into the dazzling array of sweets.
Almonds are the base of marzipan and pasta reale, which is used for the sculpted
candies in the form of fruits, a craft begun at Martorana, a monastery near
Palermo. The island of also produces pistachio nuts, especially prized as a base
for ice cream.
Sicily has Italy's greatest expanse of vineyards and often produces a greater
volume of wine than any other region. The most renowned of its 17 DOCs is
Marsala, the quintessential cooking wine, though in its toasty vergine or solera
versions it makes an excellent aperitif and match for ripe cheeses. Sicily is
noted for sweet wines, such as Moscato Passito di Pantelleria and Malvasia delle
Lipari, but its growing reputation is for dry table wines: reds, rosés and
especially fresh, fruity whites, which go so well with seafood and vegetables.
