Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Festa di Sant'Agata
In Catania's biggest religious festival (3 to 5 February), one million Catanians follow the
Fercolo (a silver reliquary bust of Saint Agata) along the main street of the city accompan-
ied by spectacular fireworks.
RELIGIOUS
Etnafest
From July through December, this arts festival brings classical music, puppet shows and a
varied program of rock, pop, blues, reggae and jazz concerts to Le Ciminiere.
ARTS
JAZZ FESTIVAL
Sicily Jazz and More
Italian and international jazz stars perform at Le Ciminiere in November.
Eating
Eating out in Catania is a real pleasure. There's a huge choice of snack bars, trattorias and
restaurants, and the city's street food is superb. Be sure not to miss the savoury
arancini
(fried rice balls),
cartocciate
(bread stuffed with ham, mozzarella, olives and tomato) and
pasta alla Norma
, which originated here.
Trattoria di De Fiore
TRATTORIA
€
( 095 31 62 83; Via Coppola 24/26; meals €15-25; from 1pm Tue-Sun)
This neighbourhood trattoria
is presided over by septuagenarian chef Mamma Rosanna, who uses organic flour and
fresh, local ingredients to re-create her great-grandmother's recipes, including the best
pasta alla Norma
you'll taste anywhere in Sicily. Service can be excruciatingly slow and
the door doesn't always open promptly at 1pm, but food like this is well worth waiting
for.
Rosanna says her grandmother called
pasta alla Norma
Mungibeddu - Sicilian dialect
for Mt Etna - in honour of Catania's famous volcano: tomatoes were the red lava, auber-
gine the black cinders, ricotta the snow and basil leaves the mountain vegetation. Don't
miss the
zeppoline di ricotta
(sweet ricotta fritters dusted with powdered sugar), a dessert
invented by Rosanna herself.
Locanda Cerami
PIZZERIA
€
