Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In Palermo, it's not uncommon to compliment a woman by calling her
bella come una cassata
(lovely as a cas-
sata).
Pasta
Pasta is possibly Italy's (and Sicily's) most famous export. While fresh pasta
(pasta
fresca)
is now common on most Sicilian restaurant menus, it is dry pasta that has always
been the staple of Sicily and southern Italy - mainly because dry pasta is more economic-
al.
The most famous of all Sicilian pasta dishes is
pasta con le sarde
(pasta with sardines).
It is a heavy dish, but the liberal use of wild mountain fennel (unique to Sicily), onions,
pine nuts and raisins gives the sardines a wonderfully exotic flavour. Other famous dishes
include Catania's
pasta alla Norma,
with its rich combination of tomatoes, aubergines and
salted ricotta, the Aeolian Islands'
pasta all'eoliana
, made with local olives, capers,
cherry tomatoes, olive oil and basil, the ever-popular
spaghetti ai ricci
(with sea urchins)
and
pasta al pesce spada e menta
, made with fresh swordfish and mint. In the interior you
will often find sauces made from meat and game (including wild boar, rabbit and beef) as
well as
pasta alle nocciole
, with a sauce based on the hazelnuts of the Nebrodi and
Madonie mountains. Baroque Modica is where the island's best lasagne
(lasagne cacate)
is made; in this version, two kinds of cheese - ricotta and
pecorino
- are added to minced
beef and sausage, and spread between layers of homemade pasta squares.
Sicilian restaurants typically open for lunch between noon and 1pm, closing between 2.30pm and 3pm.
Places reopen for dinner between 7pm and 8pm, but most Sicilians don't show up until 9pm or later, es-
pecially in summertime.
Fish
The extensive development of fishing and - until recent years - the widespread presence
of fish such as sardines, tuna and mackerel off the island's shores have ensured that fish is
a staple food.
A Palermitan favourite is
sarde a beccafico alla Palermitana
(sardines stuffed with an-
chovies, pine nuts, currants and parsley), served either as an appetiser or a second course.
However, the filet mignon of the marine world is the
pesce spada
(swordfish), served
