Author Archives: hungryenglishman

dolce Natale – sweet Christmas

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Sicilians seem to have a traditional dish for every occasion. There are zeppole di San Giuseppe for St. Joseph’s Day, there’s cuccia for St. Lucy’s Day, and pasta ‘ncaciata for the Assumption of the Virgin on 15 August. Not to mention the Easter specialities, which change from town to town. But I’m only scratching the surface here; I could probably dedicate this blog solely to Sicilian feast-day food, and still have plenty to write about Continue Reading →

occhiverdi fritti – fried greeneyes

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Green eyes, baby’s got green eyes… No, then again, maybe not. It would be difficult to get romantic about these little fish. And even the name of this recipe is disturbing, I know. Don’t think it hasn’t struck me just how Hannibal Lecter it sounds. And you won’t feel any better once you’ve had a look at them. Pretty convincing proof of the exstence of aliens, if you ask me. This is the chlorophthalmus agassizi, Continue Reading →

sugo di maiale – pork and tomato sauce

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Go into a Sicilian agriturismo in the mountains in the winter, and there’s a good chance you’ll be given a steaming bowl of maccheroni al sugo di maiale. Washed down with some Sicilian vino locale in front of a blazing log fire, I can imagine no better way to warm myself up, or lift my spirits on a dark winter night, for that matter. This is not food for anyone counting their calories, unless of Continue Reading →

insalata di arance e finocchio – orange and fennel salad

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A classic winter salad here in Sicily, when fennel and oranges are at their best. It’s even better when made with blood oranges, but for those I’ll have to wait until later in the season… Fennel and orange is the basic version, although I like to add capers and red onion (in this case, I used the sweet, mild onions from Tropea, across the Straits in Calabria) and sometimes small black olives, not to mention Continue Reading →

insalata di polipo – octopus salad

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Before coming to Italy I’d only ever eaten octopus once, in Rhodes. I can still visualize the plate in front of me to this day. It is a source of constant amazement, not to mention concern, to my wife that I can recall not only dishes, but entire meals I ate years ago. Anyway, in this case I feel justified, since the Rhodian octopus was one of those defining moments in my love story with Continue Reading →

passuluna – semidried olives

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Unprepossessing bunch, aren’t they? These lovelies are passuluna¸ olives which have been left to appasssire, i.e. dry and wither on the tree. These are the gangland thugs of the culinary underworld, bruisers you would cross the street to stay clear of. I won’t pretend – who would believe me, for starters? – that these blackened, shrivelled drupes are universally popular. Many Sicilians, however, wax lyrical about them. I’ve always presumed they’re one of those foodstuffs Continue Reading →

involtini di costardelle – saury rolls

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These length-challenged swordfish are costardelle, saury in English. I’ll be honest – I had to look the word up in a dictionary to get the translation, not that it left me any the wiser. This was not something I ever came across as a kid down at the local chippy. Not even the name rang any bells, apart from sounding like the bad guy in The Lord of the Rings. They’re very popular around the Continue Reading →