Eating Well in Sicily

Eating Well in Sicily

Sicilian cuisine is one of the oldest in existence, going back to Siracusan cooking competitions in 600 BC. The Sicilians even have a reasonable claim to the invention of pasta; present-day maccheroni (long, thin pasta tubes) may bear the closest resemblance to the original. Today's cuisine represents Sicily's unique cultural mix, imaginatively combining fish, fruits, vegetables, and nuts with Italian pastas and Arab and North African ingredients such as cus cus (couscous).

In Sicily, naturally, you'll enjoy some of the freshest seafood in all of Italy. Pasta con le sarde (an emblematic dish that goes back to the Saracen conquerors, with fresh sardines, olive oil, raisins, pine nuts, and wild fennel) is different at every restaurant. Grilled tonno (tuna) and orata (daurade) are reliable coastal staples. King, however, is pesce spada (swordfish), best enjoyed marinated (marinato), smoked (affumicato), or as the traditional involtini di pesce spada (swordfish roulades). Delicate ricci (sea urchins) are a specialty, as is spaghetti alla Norma (with a sauce of tomato, fried eggplant, ricotta, and basil). Meanwhile, the Sicilian bitter almond (mandorla), the pride of Agrigento, plays into everything from risotto alle mandorle (almond risotto) to sweet almond liqueur to incomparable almond granita, an absolute must in summer.

Long neglected, Sicilian wines are some of the most up-and-coming in the world, but they're still the bargains of Italy. The earthy Nero d'Avola grape bolsters many of Sicily's traditionally sunny, expansive reds, but lately it's often cut with cabernet or merlot. The islands of Lipari and Pantelleria offer sweet, golden dessert wines, Malvasia and Passito. Marsala remains Sicily's most famous dessert wine. Look for anything from the world-renowned winemaker Planeta.