sciusceddu

Posted on April 24, 2014 by hungryenglishman — 1 Comment ↓

Just for a change, we have a problem with names. My friend Caterina told me the dialect word sciusceddu comes from sciusciare (‘to blow’), in turn from the French souffler (courtesy of the Normans), deriving from the Latin subflare. She’s not alone in thinking this, but Giuseppe Coria, author of the iconic Profumi di Sicilia, the undisputed authority on Sicilian food, tells us that “there are various names for this dish, but the correct one Continue Reading →

peperoncini sott’olio – chilli peppers in oil

Posted on February 8, 2014 by hungryenglishman — 1 Comment ↓

This is an illegal substance, or at least probably should be. It definitely looks like a by-product of chemical weapons manufacture. I am, of course addicted, as I am to anything that contains chillies. I have a number of varieties growing in pots on my terrace, and these are my very local source for the raw materials. You’ll find recipes for chillies in oil/chilli oil elsewhere, but the crucial difference here is that the chillies Continue Reading →

spaghetti alle vongole – spaghetti with clams

Posted on January 16, 2014 by hungryenglishman — Leave a reply

This is not specifically a Sicilian dish, and other regions of Italy have their own versions (although variation is minimal). Anyway, it’s served in most seafood restaurants here, and is a favourite in my house, and that’s good enough for me. This is one of those dishes that I always feel has something of a restaurant aura about it, but I suspect this is simply a hangover from my English upbringing. Anything served in its Continue Reading →

spigola con salmoriglio – sea bass with Sicilian vinaigrette

Posted on December 23, 2013 by hungryenglishman — 4 Comments ↓

This is so easy to make that it’s hardly a recipe at all, but then again it’s such a crucial part of Sicilian seafood cookery that I could hardly leave it out. Salmoriglio is the fundamental condiment for grilled fish here, be it swordfish, tuna, sea bass, gilt-head bream … With something so simple, the quality of your raw materials is what makes all the difference. Now, I’m obviously spoilt here, as you would expect. Continue Reading →

cavolfiore affogato – braised cauliflower

Posted on December 17, 2013 by hungryenglishman — 8 Comments ↓

Of course – and those of you who have read other posts will realise there’s a pattern emerging here – Sicilians have a different name for it, and not only a different name for it, but a name that everyone else uses to indicate something different. In this case, similar, but nevertheless distinctly different. Because they often call cauliflower broccolo. So if a Sicilian says he’s cooking pasta con i broccoli, you might get pasta Continue Reading →

pasta al sugo di capone – pasta with dolphinfish

Posted on December 15, 2013 by hungryenglishman — Leave a reply

Not for the first time, and not for the last either, I’ll warrant, we come up against the problem of names. This time in both English and Italian, just to make things fair. In English, these creatures that look like they’ve swum into a wall nose-first are called dolphinfish or mahi-mahi (which of course is not English, but Hawaiian, for the record). I don’t know why, and as you can see, they’re not likely to Continue Reading →

occhiverdi fritti – fried greeneyes

Posted on December 7, 2013 by hungryenglishman — 2 Comments ↓

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 →