Walking in Sicily. Gillian Price
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if somewhat bland, cheeses worth trying are caciocavallo and canestrato – known as tuma when fresh, then primu sali when salted.
Notables in the vast vegetable field are pomodori (tomatoes), which ripened under the African-like sun can be memorable, as well as carciofi (artichokes) and broccoli tossed over pasta. Contorno means a vegetable side dish.
Fruit is dominated by citrus, namely arancie (oranges), arancie sanguigne(blood oranges), limoni (lemons) and the monstrous knobbly fruit known as cedri (citrons), similar to a lemon and excellent for candying and confectionery.
Last but by no means least are the dolci, pastries, ice creams and sweets in general. This class, an art form, encompasses generous mouth-watering cakes made of melt-in-the-mouth pasta di mandorla, a lighter version of marzipan, as well as the famous cannoli, tubes of fried flaky pastry stuffed with a rich mixture of ricotta cheese and candied fruits, virtually a meal in itself. In a similar vein is cassata, often an ice cream concoction, then there’s the superb torrone, alias nougat, which comes in mind-boggling variations based on honey, almond and pistachio. Gelato (ices) assumes a new meaning and dimension in Sicily. The creamy types can be unforgettable and the lighter fruit flavours are usually sorbetto, said to have been invented by the Arabs who used snow from Etna combined with the juice of locally grown citrus fruit.
The granita on the other hand is a marvellous thirst-quenching invention for the hot summertime – a finely shaved ice mixture flavoured with sweetened lemon juice (al limone), pureed strawberries (alla fragola) or whatever takes the maker’s fancy, even al caffè, coffee, popular breakfast fare. Rumour has it that al gelso, or mulberry, is the best and most loved of all. Thick cream is an optional but favourite topping. One special icy treat prepared in Palermo for Saint Rosalia’s feast day (September 4th) is gelo al mellone, made with watermelon and scented with jasmine flowers. Lastly, try latte di mandorla, a sweet almond-based drink.
Climate and history have produced an excellent and currently expanding range of wines. One widely distributed substantial red is Corvo, Duca di Salaparuta, though connoisseurs will appreciate superior full-bodied wines such as Cerasuolo di Vittoria (from the Ragusa province), as well as several recommended reds from the Cefalù hinterland – namely the Passomaggio and Cabernet Sauvignon from Castelbuono. Top grade Shiraz has also recently emerged. Lighter vintages are the red from the flanks of Etna (with a guaranteed DOC rating, also available in white and rosé) or the house red from San Cipirello in the Palermo hinterland, if not special whites such as those from the Castiglione area.
Notable white wines are the Bianco d’Alcamo (Trapani province), Donnafugata (whose place name means ‘spring of health’) and Glicine, unfailingly crisp and hard to beat served well chilled in summer.
Dessert and after-dinner wines are many and varied. Marsala hardly needs an introduction, thanks to its 18th-century ‘discovery’ by English trader John Woodhouse, then there is zibibbo, moscato (Noto district), and malvasia from the Aeolian islands.
Beer, refreshing in the heat, is widely consumed.
TOURIST INFORMATION
Masses of helpful information and useful links can be found on the Italian National Tourist Authority web site www.enit.it. The island’s main tourist offices are listed here, while other relevant offices can be found under individual walks.
Catania: Via Etnea 63 Tel 095-311768 turismo.provincia.ct.it
Cefalù: Corso Ruggiero 77 Tel 0921-421050
Messina: Piazza Cairoli 45 Tel 090-2935292 www.azienturismomessina.it
Palermo: Piazza Castelnuovo 34 Tel 091-583847 or 091-6058351 www.palermotourism.com
Siracusa: Via S. Sebastiano 43 Tel 0931-67710 www.apt-siracusa.it
Trapani: Piazza Saturno Tel 0923 29000 www.comune.trapani.it
Flowers and Trees
Visitors in spring will be overwhelmed by the multi-coloured masses of wild flowers in Sicily. A huge variety of native Mediterranean and introduced plants flourish on terrain that can be both harsh and extraordinarily lush. The range embraces delicate insect orchids, the unusual Orchis italica whose straggly pink petals resemble outstretched men, broom shrubs with explosive clusters of golden blooms, bright wild irises, rare white peonies, resplendent sun or rock roses (Cistus) and spiky pink-bloomed caper plants straggling over old masonry, not to mention a generous array of aromatic herbs, the likes of thyme, rosemary, sage, marjoram, oregano (‘splendour of the mountain’ in Greek) and pungent seaside wild fennel – a dream for any cook. In spring hillside fields are carpeted with carmine velvet crops of Hedysarum, like sainfoin, grown for forage.
Memorable surprises also come in the form of minuscule alpine plants that bloom on the blackened lava terrain of Etna up to a record 3050m above sea level, a mere incandescent stone’s throw from the very active central craters! The vast slopes of the volcano, in fact, host an astonishing variety of unique flowering plants (Astragalus or milk-vetch) and trees (the pale Scandinavian-like birches) endemic to the mountain, along with dense forests of chestnut and majestic Corsican pines.
In all a mere 4% of Sicily’s territory is estimated to be occupied by forests. Medium-altitude mountainous zones mean vast woods of downy and evergreen holm oak and their affiliates, together with areas of the silvery-barked Aleppo pine with long, bright green needles – as it is drought resistant, it is often used for reforestation, particularly on rocky terrain close to the coast. A special mention is due the curious manna ash, a flowering tree long cultivated in both Sicily and Calabria for its sugary sap containing mannitol, a white alcohol once used for medicinal purposes (a mild laxative) or in dietetic sweets, now all but substituted by synthetic substances. Long slashes were made in the bark of tree in August and the manna (not to be confused with the biblical substance, a lichen in all probability) was scraped off then dried as cannoli tubes. The Madonie and the Zingaro Reserve are good places to see old trees still marked with the cuts. Abandoned carob trees are also common, the seed pods fed to livestock or cooked up for confectionery. A further example of man’s inventiveness can be seen in the exploitation of a mountain variety of the ubiquitous euphorbia, or spurge, whose acrid milky juice, an irritant, was employed to stun river eels.
Orchis italica is a rare delight
Back in the lowlands, the unusual dwarf fan palm, the sole native palm in Europe, is widespread in Sicily, and its dried fronds are still woven into robust baskets, as in the past. A stockier, orange-tinted ornamental palm which harks from the Canary Isles can be found in many a public garden. The spiky fleshy leaves of the monstrous agave, or century plant, punctuate the Sicilian landscape nowadays, far from its native Mexico. Its impressive candelabra-like flowers, marking the end of the plant’s life, appear on stems reminiscent of gigantic asparagus, straight out of a science fiction film. The very first agave in Italy was planted in the botanical gardens of Padua in 1561.
Pretty rock roses
Zàgara is the Arabic/Sicilian name for the heady scent of oranges and lemons in blossom, a familiar delight to springtime travellers. The trees were imported from Asia long ago and now form the backbone of the agricultural world in Sicily. Loquat trees laden with their refreshing orange globe fruit, a 19th-century arrival from Japan, are a common sight alongside the citrus orchards. Another staple, the olive, native oleasters were improved by grafting cuttings from related cultivated types which came with early Greek settlers.
Another colourful immigrant, bougainvillea, from Brazil (introduced to Europe in 1829), brightens many a garden wall and terrace, its papery flowers ranging