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Weddings and food in Sicily

September 21, 2014 8 Comments Filed Under: Food, Uncategorized

Sicilian on a vespa, Palermo, Sicily
Ciao!
Mural on side of building, Palermo, Sicily
Palermo
Sicilian eating ice cream sandwich, Palermo, Sicily
Brioche and gelato, everyone was eating these.
Prickly pears, Palermo, Sicily
Prickly pear, the vendor will peel it for you so that you don’t get pricked.
Green figs, Palermo, Sicily
Green figs sold in boxes lined with fig leaves
Long zucchine, Palermo, Sicily
Long courgettes/zucchine
Large green cauliflowers, Palermo, Sicily
Giant green cauliflowers everywhere
sun dried tomatoes with pistachios, Palermo, Sicily
Sundried tomatoes with pistachios. These soft tomatoes tasted of the sun unlike the desiccated sulphur dried tomatoes we have in the UK.
Black olives with rosemary, Palermo, Sicily
Black olives with rosemary sprigs
Salted capers, Palermo, Sicily
I bought a ton of salted capers and caper berries
tins of sardines, Palermo, Sicily
Sardines are an important ingredient in Sicily, leading to  typical dishes such as pasta con la sarde, pine nuts and raisins
dried beans, Palermo, Sicily
Dried broad beans and la madonna
Fresh oregano, Palermo, Sicily
Fresh bunches of Oregano
Pine nuts and raisins, Palermo, Sicily
The pine nuts were longer than usual
Street trader, Palermo, Sicily
Salvo runs a lunch stall in the food market de Capo on the Antica sede dei Beati Paoli, selling battered broccoli florets, pumpkin in oil, grilled vegetables. For five euros, you can pick four dishes.
Sicilian children dressed up, Palermo, Sicily
Wedding guests
Sicilian calender, Palermo, Sicily

Sicilian children, Palermo, SicilySicilian children, Palermo, Sicily
aperativo, Mondello, Sicily
 Very 80s, fruit in a vase to go with my Americano cocktail
Cannoli,  Palermo, Sicily
Cannoli as in “Leave the gun, take the cannoli”
Sardines, Mondello, Sicily
Sardines at the port of Mondello
Wedding dress fashion show, Mondello, Sicily
Wedding dress fashion show
Ice cream poster, Cefalu, Sicily
 Ice cream sandwich menu
Tagliatelli with tomatoes and sea bream, Cefalu, Sicily
Tagliatelle with tomatoes and sea bream
Crema di cafe, Sicily
Crema di caffé, my addiction on this trip, a kind of coffee granita or slushy
Bruschetta, Mondello, Sicily
Bruschetta classica
Cefalu ceramics, Sicily
Cefalu is famous for ceramics
Beach huts, Mondello, Sicily
The beach huts at Mondello
Mondello, Sicily
Mondello port

What did I eat and drink in Sicily?

  • Campari: with orange juice, with soda, as an Americano cocktail with Martini Rosso
  • Ice cream sandwiches: French women don’t get fat but Italian women don’t care. For lunch everyone ate buns filled with ice cream. 
  • Granita: like a posh slushy. My favourite type was coffee flavoured, eaten in the morning with brioche or lemon flavoured, after dinner. These cost 2.5 euros.
  • Aubergines: their aubergines are round, sitting squat, the size of footballs. They are eaten in pasta alle Norma (pasta with tomato and aubergine sauce) or Caponata, an agrodolce (sweet sour) aubergine and caper stew, sometimes with swordfish.
  • Pistachios: green slivers, in pesto, on pasta, as a snack, as a spread, also in sheep cheese. 
  • Oranges: I wasn’t there in season for the famous blood oranges but they are delicious sliced with either dark anchovy fillets or boquerone style anchovies in a salad, again that whole salt/sweet thang that I love.
  • Bruschetta: pronounced brusketta, with diced ripe tomato or slices of aubergine sprinkled with cheese
  • Cannoli: a kind of fried pastry filled with ricotta or ice cream. 
  • Artichokes: god I love artichokes. I can consume them by the jar. Big Sicilian ingredient.
  • Coffee: no one does coffee like the Italians, nobody. The cappuccino, the expresso, but I also made a discovery, ‘latte’ just means milk, you have to order caffe latte to get coffee in it. Plus I had coffee flavoured yoghurt, like all your breakfast in a small plastic tub. 
I went to Sicily because of a wedding that I wasn’t invited to. My mum and dad were going and I asked if I could come. “You’d better not”, they said darkly. “You’ll cause ructions. You know what this family is like, a vendetta can start from the smallest thing”. My dad’s side of my family is Italian/Scottish/Irish. Everybody is an uncle, an auntie or a cousin, even if they are not. I heard family history recounted, old stories repeated, and the odd new one. How my dad, as a fatherless British orphan, was sent to Switzerland for a month as a child, a gift from the Swiss to celebrate the Queen’s wedding. How Nanny Savino, who was born a Criscuolo from Sicily, moved to Naples and then England. How she adopted a son who was not ‘blood’ (this said sotto voce). Something about two brothers who set off from Naples and wrecked their father’s boat and were too scared to go home to face the music so became part of our family instead. How Gennaro ‘Gancio’ (nicknamed the hook because he would pull the girls) Contaldo was courting a girl in Minori and my aunt had to chaperone them & how he stayed with nanny when he first came to England.
(Even my very English mum is not ‘blood’. Nor is Auntie Sandra’s partner who is clearly ‘English’ too. The English wives and husbands huddle together protectively at family occasions, rolling their eyes.) My family are supposed to be English but we are not. We are loud, expressive and emotional and most of us are fat and short like vibrant little cuboids made of flesh. But we dance well. This wedding was that of a second cousin, the son of Uncle Dixie who was a boxer, so I was not offended not to be invited. I arrived at midnight Saturday night as the wedding finished. Then I couldn’t be accused of being a wedding crasher. 
Sicily is full of weddings; people get married mid-week. Every time we passed a church, a wedding party would exit, once simultaneously with a cloud of white doves. The men are sharp in dark smart suits, with the whitest shirts gleaming at the collar, a glint of diamond on their cuffs or even in their ears, hair slicked back. The women are a treat for the eyes; extravagantly beaded hair, tall shoes, flaming nylon dresses, floral sleeve tattoos. Like TOWIE but with a real tan rather than spray-on. The children are decked out in frou-frou prom-style frocks.
I was staying near Mondello, on the outskirts of Palermo. Mondello doesn’t have many restaurants or shops, but has a clean sandy white beach with yellow umbrellas and pastel beach huts, shouldered by looming cliffs. Palermo is worth a visit, particularly the old town, with a food market and Romanesque architecture. I wish I’d known about this particular food tour around Palermo. We drove to Cefalu, along the coast, which was pretty with some good restaurants, rather more lively than Mondello. But a warning: if you miss your turning on Sicilian motorways, it will be miles before you can turn around. I wanted to visit Corleone in the interior, where the Godfather was filmed, despite the warnings that it was mafia country, but my mum doesn’t like windy roads. Next time.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cate Lawrence

    September 21, 2014 at 8:18 am

    I've so enjoyed looking at these pictures, what a wonderful trip! And isn't it fantastic to eat local food abroad!

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      September 21, 2014 at 9:03 am

      Still so many foods to be tasted in Sicily, I need to go back at a different time of year.

      Reply
  2. Anonymous

    September 21, 2014 at 9:55 am

    Ciao Kerstin,I love those colours 🙂 I'm lucky enough to be one if your floral lunch guests today..i know the road and password but not house number so please could I ask you to send me quick email with it- [email protected] REALLY sorry to give a job mid cooking, Can't wait,Anne

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      September 21, 2014 at 10:37 am

      Just emailed you Anne. We got tickets do send out the address, maybe it's in your junk. See you later x

      Reply
  3. catherine trudel

    September 21, 2014 at 1:29 pm

    Great pictures and I really enjoyed your article, you have a great style of writing.

    Reply
    • theundergroundrestaurant

      September 21, 2014 at 8:55 pm

      Thanks Catherine!

      Reply
  4. Aj

    September 21, 2014 at 5:33 pm

    Another great post K, always fancied Sicily, good stuff.

    Reply
    • theundergroundrestaurant

      September 21, 2014 at 8:56 pm

      You've got to go! x

      Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

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Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Me as a punk. #pinkhair @caplanmelissa Me as a punk. #pinkhair @caplanmelissa
Sniffin’ glue: Me n @Jaybladesmbe at the Loctite Sniffin’ glue: Me n @Jaybladesmbe at the Loctite pop up yesterday. I’m all about repairing and upcycling my brocante finds: this time a beautiful pale wood lamp shade stand which had broken off at the bottom. I’m going to rewire it with 2 core sky blue twisted fabric wire, pop on my hand sewn pleated lampshade I learnt to do @workshopminerva and it shall be beautiful. Don’t chuck out your chintz: repair it! #therepairshop #selfie #interiors #popup
in June I’m having my first supper club in two y in June I’m having my first supper club in two years: here is the link to book: https://msmarmitelover.com/product/midsommar-supper-club £50 18th June  Saturday night. Byo.
#chelseaflower coming up. Last year I bought these succulents and planted them in a vintage zinc garden sieve. Now they are flowering. My balcony is like a little greenhouse: I can grow aubergines & other plants that usually need to be under glass. #londongarden #may #plants #succulents in the garden
Lemon drizzle cake. The trick is not to stint on t Lemon drizzle cake. The trick is not to stint on the citrus. I used 7: 2 Italian lemons (from Lidl):some ordinary lemons and some limes (18p) at Lidl. Don’t be afraid to mix and match your citrus. I also used buttermilk from @fenfarmdairy in Suffolk from their honesty shop. Last night we ate it still warm from the oven. #cake #lemondrizzle #homebaking #citrus #buttermilk
A Simple tomato, goats cheese and basil salad, spa A Simple tomato, goats cheese and basil salad, spanking fresh asparagus / fried in olive oil, season, then add a little boiling water, not too much, put on the lid, dressed with lemon zest & Parmesan, @fenfarmdairy baron bigod cheese, good bread. This is how I like to eat. Claire’s plates found at the beccles brocante. #suffolk #suffolkfood #supper #dinnerwithfriends  #vintageplates
Can’t wait to see what they will be like when th Can’t wait to see what they will be like when they are fired. All my favourite themes: gingham and scallops. Thanks to @clairebelljar for a wonderful weekend and pottery workshop. Such fun! #workingwithyourhands #playtime #creativity #ceramics #pottery #suffolk
Making plates with talented potter & old South Ham Making plates with talented potter & old South Hampstead girl @clairebelljar in Suffolk. She has the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen. Such a joy to be reunited with her. #friendsreunited #makers #potters #scalloped #wildflowers #cowparsley #pottery
Another budget gourmet recipe, the Sicilian capona Another budget gourmet recipe, the Sicilian caponata, which is like a more interesting ratatouille, in which you add capers, olives & vinegar. £2.50p. I was asked to develop a series of recipes which were delicious enough to serve at a dinner party but also cheap. I shopped at Lidl. #costoflivingcrisis #budgetgourmet #recipe #vegetarian #vegan #lidluk
Mackerel pâté, a recipe that cost under £2.50. Mackerel pâté, a recipe that cost under £2.50. Lemon & herb smoked mackerel fillets from @lidl (take off skin)3 big scoops creme fraiche from Lidl and juice of half a lemon. Blend. Plenty of black pepper. Serve with bread. #budgetgourmet #costoflivingcrisis #eatorheat
Just wrote a very personal piece for @hamandhigh o Just wrote a very personal piece for @hamandhigh on my decade as a single parent on benefits, how I learned to cook & how things are so much harder now because not only are ingredients pricier but the cost of cooking them is too. 3 budget gourmet meals serving 4, for £2.50 each. #costoflivingcrisis #budgetgourmet #povertyshame #singleparents #foodblogger
Easter Sunday. Daffodil skeletons. Easter Sunday. Daffodil skeletons.
Just made @davidlebovitz recipe for blood orange u Just made @davidlebovitz recipe for blood orange upside down cake as I had some to use up. It tastes very marmeladey. Probably used too deep a pan. #sundaybaking #recipe #thelastofthebloodoranges #april #easter
Today learning how to build a dry stone wall in t Today  learning how to build a dry stone wall in the cotswolds which is famous for the picturesque walls & hedgerows. My teacher, Richard Gray, told us about the different stones: face, foundation, pin & coping. It is a mortal ( mortar?) sun to use cement on a dry stone wall- it means the stones can’t breathe. These walls last 100 years- they cost £300 a metre. A pro can build 3 metres a day. Richard once did a quote for kylie Minogue. His firm is Hillrise stonework. This course is run by @notgroveholidays There is a world championship for drystone walling. #craft #building #drystonewall #cotswolds #staycation
Ukrainian inspiration: cabbage rolls stuffed with Ukrainian inspiration: cabbage rolls stuffed with rice, mushrooms, garlic, dill. Baked with sauerkraut & mushroom stock for 1.5 hours. Delicious comfort food. #cookforukraine #vegetarian #cabbagerolls #sauerkraut #easterneuropeanfood
Getting there. Making a pleated lampshade for @sie Getting there. Making a pleated lampshade for @siennamarla’s living room. Fabric from @clothshoplondon training by @workshopminerva frame #making #craft #sewing #lampshade #interiors
Stuffed peppers with roasted buckwheat, feta, dill Stuffed peppers with roasted buckwheat, feta, dill and a sour cream, tomato & smoked paprika sauce. Kasha or buckwheat can be bought at polish shops. It’s a grain but full of protein. I did a recipe with it in v is for vegan - a stuffed cabbage. You can buy plain or roasted. #cookforukraine #buckwheat #kasha #stuffedpeppers #vegetarian #visforvegan
Ukrainian quick cucumber pickles dipped in honey. Ukrainian quick cucumber pickles dipped in honey. Strangely addictive. Recipe from next weeks column in the ham and high. #cookforukraine #supperclub #slavaukraini #pickles #dronedowner #ukraine #recipe
An etched glass window in my bathroom to replace t An etched glass window in my bathroom to replace the very fashionable fluted glass I had. Thing is this glass works better in a flat dated 1906. Glass by @baronglass  #interiors #etchedglass #bathroom #trellis #londonflat
Making Ukrainian Easter bread, with sour cherries Making Ukrainian Easter bread, with sour cherries and saffron, adapted from a recipe in Mamushka by Ukrainian chef @oliahercules #slavaukraini #easter #baking #sour #sourcherries #supperclub
Making some Ukrainian inspired recipes for my next Making some Ukrainian inspired recipes for my next column. Quick pickled mini cucumbers & a herring, Granny Smith & egg salad from Black Sea by @edentravels on the way is the Ukrainian Easter bread by @oliahercules and in the oven are roasted kasha (buckwheat)stuffed peppers with a sour cream, paprika & tomato sauce by me. I’ve only been to Kyiv as a stopover on the way to Georgia but I’ve done various Eastern European influenced supper clubs in the past. Maybe I should do a Ukrainian one as a fundraiser? #slavaukraini #supperclub #sunflowerseeds&hope #stopthewar #blue&yellow
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