Sicily Archive

Today, the premier issue of Southern Flourish Magazine, a digital publication all about life and culture in the American South, went live. When the editor asked me to contribute a piece about the Italian south, I naturally wrote about eating (more…)

My love of ricotta in all its sweet forms is no secret. I couldn’t turn down a cassata, crostata, or cannolo to save my life. My obsession with lo sfinge is no less intense. And while many are busy avoiding such things for Lent, I’m eating (more…)

For me, ricotta desserts are more than just rich, delicious temptations. They are slices of history that tell of Rome’s past. A sliver of ricotta crostata (tart), cassola (pancake), or torta (cake) brings two eras of Roman history to mind. The first (more…)

Cassata siciliana is a classic Sicilian dessert made by combining ricotta, pan di Spagna, candied fruit, and marzipan. These elements sweetly unify over two thousand years of Sicilian culinary history in one shot. Ricotta has been produced (more…)

This past year has been full of great meals and food that is very bad for me. Here are some of the things I enjoyed eating in 2009: (more…)

While every self respecting man, woman and child in Italy is wearing some shade of purple right now, I really can’t be bothered to keep up with fashion trends. I’m much more interested in the colors at the market, anyway. (more…)

The Arancina Bomba is a fried rice ball bomb. Imagine a softball-sized wad of rice packed with meat and peas, rolled in bread crumbs and deep fried to a golden hue. The name could not be more appropriate, as in Italian bomba (more…)

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a fond memory associated with deep fried spleen on a bun. My grandfather and I are among the fortunate. In 2004, three generations of Cipollina descendants returned to our ancestral city. (more…)

It’s that time of year again: cardoon season. I spied them for the first time this fall a couple of weeks ago in the Testaccio Market in Rome where the raw plants were being sold by the bundle. On Friday in Palermo’s Ballaro’ Market (more…)

During a three day trip to Palermo, I managed to get in nine desserts, including two Setteveli, some frutta martorana, and brioche con gelato. The latter is essentially a big ice cream sandwich. (more…)