SICILY OVERVIEW

“To have seen Italy without seeing Sicily is not to have seen Italy at all."
Goethe.

At the centre of the Mediterranean, but on the periphery of Europe lays the island of Sicily. With an exotic appeal that sets it apart from mainland Italy, Sicily has long been known as a "melting pot" of ancient cultures and peoples. Sixteen foreign dominations have touched, changed and marked the Sicilian soul. First the Greeks and the Romans, then the Arabs and Normans, and finally, the French, Spanish and Italians, all of them contributing to an unparalleled historical legacy. The conquerors have left, not only an abundance of art, architecture and archaeological remains, but have transformed the landscape, fashioned the cultural eccentricities, influenced the mixed appearance of the inhabitants and shaped the social attitudes unique to Sicily and the Sicilians.

The conquerors came for Sicily’s wealth, her breathtaking beauty, the fertility of her valleys, and her enviable climate, but left behind more devastation than gifts. Yet today, Sicily boasts the world’s largest and best-preserved Greek temples at Argrigento, Selinunte and Segeste. The Romans shaped the island’s present green and gold chequered rolling hills when they cut down large parts of the forest to cultivate wheat to feed the rest of the Roman Empire. The Arabs transformed Palermo into one of the most flourishing cosmopolitan places in the world, and left behind oranges and lemons whose blossoms scent the valley landscapes and whose fruit, colours the city markets. From the Norman’s brief rule, Sicily inherited an incredible legacy of art and architecture as seen in the cathedrals of Cefalu and Monreale and the castle of the medieval town, Erice. The Spaniards' sense of grandeur and passion for the visual, their love for splendour and external elegance, is painted widely across the island, but nowhere is the Spanish Baroque period so magnificently exemplified as is the city of Noto. The Sicilian landscape speaks powerfully about the civilizations that have coloured the island’s rich history. And so does her food.

It was the influence of the Arabs on Sicilian cooking which was the most important and the most enduring. The Greeks colonized and taught methods of farming, the Romans used Sicily as their breadbasket, but it was the Arabs, conquering in 831, who brought food traditions that affected Sicilian cooking. They introduced sophisticated methods of irrigation that made vegetable farming possible; they brought the omnipresent eggplant, cuos-cous, oranges and lemons, sweets and ice-cream, candied fruit and raisins. And most importantly, it is said that it was the Arabs who invented pasta.

It wasn’t only the conquerors who have influenced the Sicilian cuisine, but the land it’s self. The thistle that grew wildly on the island is today called Artichoke and cardoon. The fava bean, capers and wild fennel are still prevalent in Sicilian cooking. But more than anything else, it is the hot Sicilian sun and the rich lava-fed soil which influences the taste – taste which is deeper and more intense than any other land.

The land gives life, but so too does the sea. Providing an abundance of fish including the prized sea urchins, tuna, and swordfish found in the “aristocratic” cooking while sardines, squid ink and a plethora of Sicilian named fish are found in the “poplare” or people’s food.

Sicily is a land of extremes, not only the politics, the landscape, the beauty but also the food.