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...

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...

Our Road Scholar group visited the charming seaside town of Otranto on Monday (2-7-22) and the equally charming Locorotondo on Tuesday (2-8-22).  Like most Italian towns I have visited over the years, Otranto and Locorotondo have old towns, surrounded by city walls and containing defensive battlements which protected the residents hundreds and even thousands of years ago.  Otranto sits on the Adriatic Sea.   On a clear day we are told, you can see the Albanian Mountains.   Even though the day was cloudy, we were amazed by the color and clarity of the water. From 1991 thousands of Albanians, fearing civil war at the end of the communist dictatorship and seeking a better life, sailed from Albania to Italy.   They were not welcomed and many either perished or were sent back to Albania.    One particularly tragic event occurred in 1997 near Otranto when an Italian patrol ship intercepted a small ship carrying about 100 refugees.   The ships collided...