Sicily: how to eat and drink your way through this fertile isle

Lydia Forte takes you on a foodie tour of this beautiful island off the the boot of Italy
Lydia Forte29 June 2016

Dolce & Gabbana aren’t wrong about the appeal of Sicily and its latest fashion collection, covered in lemons, roses and oranges, hints at one of the reasons why. Sicilian food is some of the most flavoursome, exotic and exciting of the Italian regions.

This is partly because of the range of influences on Sicilian culture – from the Greeks to the Romans to the Venetians to the Arabs - the Sicilian shores have seen them all. It is also because the island is so fertile and full of amazing, local produce.

Fish, Fish, Fish

The seafood is exceptional, and unlike so many places in the world, still abundant. Yellowtail tunas are caught in the morning off the southern coast of Sicily and are in Japan by nightfall; Mazzaro della Valle prawns with their pinky-red, translucent, sweet flesh; scallops the diameter of a golfball; and innumerable other varieties of fish that are brought in every day to our Verdura Resort in Sicily by the local fishermen are a dime-a-dozen. Sciacca, the nearest town, is Sicily’s second biggest port.

Gardener’s Paradise

Sicily offers almonds, probably introduced from the Middle East before 1000 BC; bright green, hard-fleshed, Noccellara olives; grapes grown in volcanic earth that produce some of the punchiest wines; Pachino cherry tomatoes and blood-red oranges; fragoline di Sciacca e Ribera are wild strawberries, originally not local, but brought back by soldiers after the First World War from the mountain regions of the North of Italy; and a myriad of other fruits and vegetables grow with a sweetness and flavour that’s so hard to find in other parts of the world.

Fry-up

The Sicilians have a way of putting it all together and adding just enough fat and just enough sugar to make the produce twice as good. From cannoli (fried, crispy pastry rolls, filled with sweetened ricotta), to salads livened up with slices of oranges, to arancini or suppli’ (deep fried balls of risotto, with different fillings) to pasta alla Norma (penne with tomato and aubergine sauce in homage to Bellini’s opera, Norma), you could eat typically Sicilian dishes for weeks without trying the same thing twice.

Fulvio Pierangelini, Director of Food

Foodie Weekend?

The stunning Verdura Resort in Sicily is hosting a series of sumptuous foodie weekend with celebrity chefs from around the world, combining their talents to create a ‘6 Hands Dinner’.

This weekend, Fulvio Pierangelini, Director of Food for Rocco Forte Hotels will be cooking with two of Britain's most exciting chefs, Adam Byatt, chef and owner of Trinity Restaurant in London, and Tom Kitchin, Master Chef Judge and owner of The Kitchin Restaurant in Edinburgh.

These three prolific chefs will take Verdura’s guests on a culinary journey through the fresh and seasonal produce of the island.

If you miss this one, Fulvio will be joined by 2 Michelin-starred Chef Pino Cuttaia, from La Madia Restaurant in Sicily on August 23 for another sensational culinary experience. Book here.

Lydia Forte is Food and Beverage Director of Rocco Forte Hotels. Follow her on Instagram @lavitaforte for more food and travel experiences

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