Oh the Places I'll Go

For the past ten days, in addition to taking several cooking classes, I have been exploring the eastern coast of Sicily with five others enrolled in this Road Scholar course.  Our guide is a man named Moshe (Moses), an Israeli Jew who came to Sicily nearly thirty years ago to study Italian and never left.  He has squired us around to cathedrals and told us stories of saints and relics.  He has provided a great deal of historical context as we have visited ancient Greek and Roman sites.  And he has been full of information about Sicilian traditions and foods and even the Cosa Nostra (Mafia). We have visited the cities of Siracusa (Syracuse), Catania, Taormina, and Messina; the village of Castelmola; and hiked a portion of the active volcano, Mount Etna, which erupted just as we were leaving.   Sicily was settled by the Phoenicians who sailed here from Palestine and Tunisia, by the Greeks and later the Romans, by the Norman invaders who came down from Norther...

 As promised by the title of my latest Road Scholar adventure, “Cooking in Sicily,” I have learned to prepare many typical Sicilian dishes.  In addition, last week I completed a Road Scholar adventure in Puglia, the boot heel of Italy, which included one cooking class.  I share here some highlights of what we have prepared (and eaten, of course) with three different Italian chefs. Chef Maya at Cooking Experience in Lecce In Puglia, we made simple pasta ( orecchiette and macaroni ) using only flour (two kinds), a little olive oil, water, and salt.  In Sicily, the chef had us add eggs and more oil to all of our pastas— tagliatelle, macaroni , and ravioli .  All were delicious, but I will more likely make the simple Puglian version at home.   Orecchiette and Macaroni The tagliatelle and ravioli we made using a pasta machine to work and flatten the dough, the orecchiette and macaroni were made entirely by hand.  Our ravioli were stuffed with pur...

 For five days in February, I participated in a Road Scholar tour of Puglia, as we spell the Italian region of Apulia in English.  Apulia is long and narrow, the heel of Italy’s boot, the land between the Ionian and Adriatic Seas.  We explored only the southern portions of the region and dipped into neighboring Basilicata one day.  There is much to see and enjoy in Apulia—beaches, low mountains, beautiful cities, and historic sites.  I have described these is other posts. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of Messapi peoples who lived in southern Puglia eight or more centuries BC and before either the Greeks or Romans began to build their cities and walls.   Many cities in Italy, and indeed Europe, have uncovered or preserved Roman-built structures.   Another ancient people settled in the mountain caves in what is now the city of Matera.   These rock cities, or sassi, are the only continuously inhabited dwellings dating back for at least n...

When I’m on tour, most meals are pre-ordered at restaurants chosen by the tour provider.  They are usually delicious and showcase local specialties, but don’t allow for the freedom to choose what to eat.  So, when I am on my own, I try to eat less at each meal and select options more in keeping with my preferences.  At the same time, I want to eat like a local when possible.  The hotel staff in Catania and Taormina have accommodated my desire to eat at traditional Sicilian restaurants, sending me to small family-owned places where the only English I have heard has been me trying to communicate with the waiters.  And I haven't seen a "trip advisor" sign in the windows of any of these places. My first night in Catania, Antonio sent me to Taverna del Grande Albero, a small (eight tables) place tucked into a corner between multi-story buildings.  On my own, I never would have given it a second glance, but Antonio had assured me that it was his absolute favori...

February 8, 2022 According to our Road Scholar guide, Puglia (Apulia) is the chief producer of olive oil in Italy.  I confirmed her claim via Google which shared this official statistical report from 2021:  "Apulia is the undisputed leading producer of olive oil with over 208,000 tons annually. Calabria and Sicily come next in terms of output with 53,000 and 34,000 tons, respectively. Apulia counted the highest number of olive oil mills, with 904 sites." Lucky for us, a visit to one of those olive oil mills was included in our itinerary--Masseria Brancati.  Our host and guide, Corrado, is the seventh generation of his family operating this mill with trees that are up to 2,000 years old.   A bitterly cold wind was blowing the day we visited--the only day on our trip during which we had "bad" weather.  We were glad to be able to go inside this underground mill which contains evidence of the production tools used by the Romans and later by medieval farmers....