Tears of lava, limestone plains swept by the wind, sunny lands shaded of bronze and gold. A sea, home to dolphins and swordfish, perennially the color of sapphire. A people of unmeasured hospitality and creativity. All this says welcome to Sicilia, l’Isola del Sole!

Sicily’s warm, dry climate, sloping hillsides, and rocky soil make it ideal for growing grapes – on par with California’s Napa Valley, for example. But while New World vineyards like Napa, Australia and Chile have become famous for producing fine, world-class wines, Sicily’s 4,000-year-old tradition of bulk winemaking has caused oenophiles to turn up their noses.

…Until now.

A new generation of Sicilian winemakers is winning worldwide acclaim for excellent medium-priced and premium wines. A new breed is securing accolades around the world. This transformation has come about thanks to changes in viticulture techniques and winemaking expertise. While whites have led the way so far, reds are now racing up the quality curve. Until recently, Sicilian reds were overly heavy and alcohol-loaded.

One usually associates fine wines with eastern Sicily and the areas near Mount Etna, but many new wineries have sprung up across the entire island. Sicilian viticulture is not just varietals (wines made from a single specified variety of grape). Sicily’s vintage wines are a magical creation, and many of the island’s traditional wines and spirits are famous far beyond its dazzling shores. Several boast DOC and DOCG designations. Sicily has its own table and dessert wines, and a number of regional liqueurs. Let’s take a look at them.

Catarratto Bianco is the island’s most-planted white wine grape. It thrives in the Trapani area, as well as in the volcanic Eolian Isles, where it is commonly called Castellaro. Other noteworthy Sicilian whites are Carricante, Contessa Entellina, Corinto, Grecanico, Grillo, Inzolia, (also known as Insolia or Ansonica), and Bianco d’Alcamo, made mainly in the Palermo and Trapani provinces.

Sicily’s warm, dry climate, sloping hillsides, and rocky soil make it ideal for growing grapes – on par with California’s Napa Valley, for example.

Nero d’Avola is a noble Sicilian wine with a dense ruby-red color. Perhaps the most important indigenous red wine grape in Sicily. Nero d’Avola is named after the town of Avola in the far south end of Sicilia and its wines are compared to New World Shirazes with their notorious sweet tannins and plum or peppery flavors. The enthralling bouquet of Nero d’Avola recalls chocolate and black cherry, hints of violets with a light trace of tobacco at the close. It is a wine with a big structure and a remarkable personality, and in recent years has been becoming quite chic among wine-lovers in America.

More interesting Sicilian reds are: Gaglioppo, Frappato, Nerello Cappuccio or Mantellato, Nerello Mascalese, and Perricone, whose alternative name is Pignatello. Il Vino Siciliano, in both its skin colors, pairs perfectly with the fresh seafood and specialties the island so lavishly offers.

Sicily is also famed for its sweet dessert wines and liqueurs, ranging from the world-known Marsalav, to the interesting Zibibbo. It is a very old process, and Zibibbo, though not the direct precursor of Marsala, derives from a formula known in the Middle Ages. It is typically slightly lower in alcohol than Marsala and sometimes more robust. The Zibibbo grape is similar to Moscato, and the wine known as Moscato di Pantelleria Naturale is made mostly from Zibibbo grapes.

Moscato itself is difficult to describe. It comes from the Muscat grape, of course, or from the sub-variety known locally as Moscatello. Some fine whites can be made from Muscat, but in Sicily and the nearby Eolian islands it is usually rendered as a golden or light amber dessert wine, sometimes fortified or even sparkling (spumante). Moscato and Moscato Passito are made by some distinguished wineries on the islands of Pantelleria and Lipari. The areas around Siracusa and Noto, in the eastern part of Sicily, also produce fine Moscato wines.

Malvasia is another white grape used to make a strong varietal that is golden to amber in color and slightly fortified. Bred from an older grape variety, Malvasia is grown in northeastern Sicily (near Messina) and on the island of Lipari, where it is used in the making of a wine somewhat similar to Moscato.

Meet me next week for yet another wine tasting tour in the southern Italy as we take a ferry over to Sardegna. Here we will be learning more about the vino of this stunning island, one of the most ancient areas of Italy.

Salute!

Would you like to travel the hills of Sicily as your ancestors once did – and even have the chance to find your Sicilian relatives still living there as well? Contact us today and find out how italyMONDO! can help you research your Italian (and Sicilian!) family tree or create a vacation of a lifetime with a custom Heritage Tour for you and your family!

Photo Courtesy of “VinoFamily” at Flickr

Naples is a city of unexpected art forms. The Neapolitan pizza is perfection. The graceful and exuberant language of gestures is on display at every street market, restaurant and café. And anyone who has experienced the thrill and challenge of driving in this beautiful city knows that even driving is an art form. (Finding a parking spot can take a lifetime of practice!) But there’s another local art form you can’t miss when you’re walking through the lively and colorful streets of Naples – I Dolci (the desserts).

With a pasticceria or café located around just about every corner, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to experience the Neapolitan’s proudly prepared cakes, pastries and desserts. The problem, however, is knowing where to start! You simply must try the heavenly Sfogliatella. The pastry, with its crisp, flaky shell and sweet ricotta cheese filling, is undeniably a Neapolitan classic. But the sfogliatella isn’t the only Neapolitan sweet treat that you should try when you visit Napoli, though. Babà, a rum-soaked sponge cake with a funny name that you’ll find in all sorts of tempting shapes and sizes, is sure to be a delicious experience.

The origin of the babà takes us back to the 18th century when Naples was ruled by the Bourbon King Ferdinand IV and his wife Maria Carolina, the sister of Queen Marie Antoinette of France. The French influence on the regional cuisine of Naples—at least that of the elite and wealthy classes—was pronounced during this period as French chefs became de rigueur. One of the French-influenced desserts to show up on Neapolitan tables was the babà.

The French influence on the regional cuisine of Naples—at least that of the elite and wealthy classes—was pronounced during this period as French chefs became de rigueur. One of the French-influenced desserts to show up on Neapolitan tables was the babà.

However, the story of this little Neapolitan cake is not over yet. First we have to travel from Paris to the court of King Stanislaw Leszczyński of Poland, where the rum-soaked cake was supposedly born. According to Neapolitan tradition, the cake was created when the King poured some rum over the top of a Polish cake he found too dry. The King’s new cake became an immediate success in Paris when Stanislaw’s daughter, Marie, married King Louis XV of France. From there the dessert made its way to Naples where it received a few finishing touches and became the Babà Napoletano (or Babà alla Napoletana) that we know today.

…Phew – that’s a lot of traveling for one little cake!

Traditionally the babà is baked in a round tin similar to a bundt pan, and before being served is doused with a mixture of water, sugar and rum. This is also the easiest and most common way the babà is made at home. In a pasticceria, you’ll also find babà in their traditional mushroom or chef’s hat shape. These are baked in individual tins and are soaked in the rum mixture after they cool from the oven.

And just when you think it can’t get any better, the Neapolitans know how to improve on perfection. For those who find the light, traditional babà not quite rich enough, be sure to try the cream or chocolate filled variations. Sometimes the babà is even covered with an apricot glaze and garnished with fresh fruit or cream, so keep your eye out for one of these over-the-top babà variations!

Traditions keep developing here in Campania, and another variation of the babà dessert has developed on the island of Capri and on the Amalfi Coast, where it is now common to soak the babà in the strong and flavorful limoncello liqueur produced in the area. A good idea is always a good idea, and the babà al limoncello has quickly become popular throughout Campania and Italy.

Now that you have two pastries to taste on your “must eat” list for Naples, stop by next week as we sample the Zeppole di San Giuseppe – yet another traditional Neapolitan dessert.

Would you like to walk the ancient streets of Naples as your ancestors once did – and even have the chance to uncover living relatives in the process? Contact us and find out how italyMONDO! can help you research your Italian family tree or create a vacation of a lifetime for you and your family!

Photo Courtesy of “emiana” at Flickr

Last Friday I tempted you with some of Italy’s Sweet Treats for Carnevale. But don’t worry if you missed the Carnival celebrations in bella Italia this year. Italy has an endless selection of delightful desserts you can enjoy any time of the year. Over the next few weeks we’ll be looking at the fun stories behind some of the most popular traditional Italian desserts. This week, let’s start with one that was originally prepared only for Carnevale—just like chiacchiere and castagnole are today—but has since become one of Italy’s most famous desserts. Known (and enjoyed!) around the world, we are—of course—talking about the divine cannoli siciliani (Sicilian Cannoli).

The Sicilians have used their unique and vibrant touch to create some of the most beautiful and extravagant desserts in Italy. But the king of all of the island’s delectable desserts is surely cannoli, crunchy fried pastry tubes open on each end and traditionally filled with sweet fresh ricotta cheese and a mixture of chocolate and candied fruit pieces. Although most people around the world—particularly in America—call a single tube “a cannoli,” only one of these treats is actually called a cannolo – a name that refers to the tube shape of the pastry. The linguistic corruption is easy to justify, though. After all, who can just eat only one!?!

The origin of cannoli is now covered by a haze. (Or is that powdered sugar?) Food historians suggest it was probably first made in a now forgotten convent or monastery near Palermo during the period of Arab rule of Sicily. We do know that they were originally a sweet prepared during Carnevale. There are even stories that suggest—in keeping with the practical jokes and festive spirit of Carnevale—a cannolo would sometimes be stuffed with something unpleasant inside and covered with cream on both ends as normal. The unsuspecting victim would bite into the scrumptious looking cannolo to find the surprise inside!

Whatever the true story may be, cannoli have long since lost their connection to Carnevale, and can now be enjoyed throughout the year. This is, of course, good news for cannoli lovers traveling to Sicily and Italy! You will find them in a variety of sizes, from the tiny cannulicchi or cannolicchi (no bigger than a finger) to cannoli of gigantic proportions made near Piana degli Albanesi near Palermo. Every year this town hosts the Sagra del Cannolo (Festival of the Cannolo) from January to February, which carries on the tradition of celebrating Carnevale with cannoli. What a perfect opportunity to indulge in true cannoli siciliani!

Although most people around the world—particularly in America—call a single tube “a cannoli,” only one of these treats is actually called a cannolo – a name that refers to the tube shape of the pastry. The linguistic corruption is easy to justify, though. After all, who can just eat only one!?!

Traveling around Sicily you’ll find countless different regional and family variations on the classic cannoli filling. Some bakers will add little bits of chocolate or different types of candied fruits. Sometimes you’ll find bright red candied cherries decorating each end, which is a typical decoration in Palermo, while in the eastern part of the island you might find the bright green of chopped pistachios from the town of Bronte sprinkled on each end. Cannoli shells are even sometimes dipped in chocolate before being filled. In Sicily the filling is flavored with vanilla extract or sometimes with Marsala wine, and the final touch is the dusting of powdered sugar.

Cannoli are one of the staples of the Italian-American household and, like so many things, everyone remembers Grandma’s cannoli as the best. The dessert has even more variations in America, although the cannoli you’ll find in most Italian-American bakeries are still commonly filled with the traditional sweetened ricotta. Sometimes you’ll also find mascarpone cheese or a sweet custard in place of the ricotta, though. Vanilla is the most common flavoring, but it’s still possible to track down a good cannolo made with a touch of Marsala at a traditional bakery. Just as in Sicily, you’ll find candied cherries and citrus peel, pistachios and chocolate pieces decorating the tops of the cannoli.

Now that I’ve got you heading to the nearest pasticceria or bakery, don’t forget to stop back by The italyMONDO! Blog next Friday as we travel from Sicily up the coast of Italy to Naples where we’ll discover the traditional Babà Napoletano.

Buon appetito!

Would you like to taste true Sicilian cannoli and find your family in Sicily? Contact us and find out how italyMONDO! can help you discover your roots in Italy and create a vacation of a lifetime for you and your family!

Photo Courtesy of “alifayre” at Flickr

One of the most famous pastries of Naples, the sfogliatella is a delicacy celebrated by locals and visitors alike. As the old saying goes, “A Napoli tre cose sono belle: ’o mare, ’o vesuvio, e sfogliatelle” (In Naples there are three beautiful things: the sea, Mount Vesuvius, and sfogliatelle), and when you visit Naples and many cities in the region of Campania, you will quickly discover the passion and appreciation this small seashell-shaped pastry has garnered.

In cafés and pasticcerie, Italy’s tempting pastry shops, you will find sfogliatelle tempting you as the perfect snack or accompaniment for an espresso. The sfogliatella comes in two traditional varieties, both filled with a sweet, often cinnamon-infused, ricotta cheese mixed with candied fruit. The most popular are the riccia (curly), made with a puff pastry that when baked forms a crispy shell of paper-thin layers of delicate pastry. The classic riccia with accordion-like layers gave the sfogliatella its name, which means “little layers.” The frolla, often ordered simply as “pasta frolla,” is a softer, doughy version of the sfogliatella prepared with short crust pastry and often round in shape. Both are dusted with a powdered sugar that makes them a delight – and challenge to eat neatly as well!

After you decide if you prefer your sfogliatella “riccia or frolla,” you can set off on your next adventure – to uncover the origins of the sfogliatella. First you must track down a sfogliatella santarosa. Slightly larger than a traditional sfogliatella, it is filled instead with a crema pasticcera and garnished with a bit of crema di amarene (sour black cherry). This creamy pastry holds the key to how the sfogliatella as we know it today was born.

As it turns out, this luxurious and rich dessert was created in a monastery. If we go back to the 1600s, to the Monastery of Santa Rosa tucked high up in the mountains in the small village of Conca dei Marini on the Amalfi Coast, we find a story of a nun working away in the kitchen one day. By chance she created a pastry that became well-known in the surrounding community as la Santarosa, named after the monastery. The cloistered nuns retained this special recipe, and it wasn’t until the 1800s that a man by the name of Pasquale Pintauro in Naples got his hands on one of these pastries from Conca dei Marini. He created his own version filled with a rich fruit and cinnamon-infused ricotta mixture, and the sfogliatella as we know it today was born.

While undoubtedly a symbol of Naples, the sfogliatella has become a traditional pastry throughout the region of Campania, including the Sorrentine Peninsula and the Province of Salerno. For the people of Conca dei Marini on the Amalfi Coast, there remains a special connection with the sfogliatella. They celebrate their famous pastry and their city’s important role in its history during the annual Festa della Sfogliatella di Santa Rosa on the first Sunday in August. Much like other sagre, or food festivals, throughout Italy, this event is an excellent opportunity to enjoy a festive and fun taste of the Amalfi Coast and an excuse to sample some of the country’s best sfogliatelle.

Whether you prefer to order a sfogliatella riccia instead of a pasta frolla – or simply cannot resist the creamy sfogliatella santarosa – what is certain is that experiencing these Neapolitan delicacies you will return again and again to discover all the other gems that are awaiting you in the region of Campania.

This could possibly be my favorite thing about Italy: No matter where you go or what time it is, you can always find something new and intriguing here in il bel paese.

I’ve been living and breathing Italy for three years now, and this little fact never ceases to amaze me. Here’s this week’s example:

Last week I drove from Rome to L’Aquila, one of my favorite Italian cities. L’Aquila is the capoluogo of the absolutely breathtaking region of Abruzzo. (Are you Abruzzese? If so, lucky you!)

I parked my car in Piazza Duomo, the main square in L’Aquila, and decided to stop to get a quick bite at a food vendor – one of the many types of merchants who set up shop in the Piazza Duomo mercato every morning.

Walking up to a “panino-shop-on-wheels” – the Italian version of fast food – I started to order a simple sandwich for a quick pranzetto; but then I saw this sign – Pizza con [gli] Sfizzoli.

BINGO! Something new to me – I had to try it.

(Before I continue, I should say that this “panino-shop-on-wheels” was immaculate and contained an enormous rotisserie BBQ pit, an entire roasted pig for succulent porchetta as well as a complete offering of various delectable contorni.)

Is your mouth watering yet? Well get a napkin, because I’m about to continue!

I started a conversation with Silvio, one of the owners, who explained a little about this specialty to me. As it turns out, it’s typical of Southern/Central Italy and is formally a peasant dish, as many modern delicacies are. Pizza con gli sfizzoli is extremely rich, made using simple but heavy pizza dough and fat from leftover cooking (Nonna always said that you don’t waste anything!), and was meant to help battle the harsh Apennine winters of Central Italy.

This tasty, modern-day variation contained bits of porchetta; although I’m nostalgic, I felt it made a worthy substitute to old, leftover lard!

Pizza con gli sfizzoli, as it’s known in the regions of Abruzzo and Lazio, turns out to be known by a few different names throughout the rest of Central Italy as well.

In the regions of Marche and Umbria, it’s found in the form of the P.A.T. product crescia con i ciccioli (in dialect, crescia co’ li sgrisciuli). For those who may like to know, crescia is the tasty, focaccia-like bread you often find grilled when visiting Central Italy. Mmmmm!

In other parts of Italy you’ll find it simply as pizza con i ciccioli, pizza con i ciccoli or pizza con i grasselli. All of these simply mean “bread and fat,” but only in Italy can you find the same dish with 10 different names in a radius of 100 miles!

Long story short: If you see the “Rosticceria di Gianni” food stand in L’Aquila anytime soon, be sure to say hello to Gianni’s sons Davide and Silvio and order a slice of pizza con gli sfrizzoli! Then, do like I did – take a minute to soak up the enchanting, snowcapped mountains of the Gran Sasso National Park, stroll a few of the tiny vicoletti of L’Aquila, and enjoy everything else the wonderful region of Abruzzo has to offer!

Would you like to explore your ancestral roots in the Abruzzo? Whether it’s taking you there on a custom design Heritage Tour, researching your family tree or even finding your long-lost Abruzzesi relatives, italyMONDO! can help!