The must-have of Sicily
Gastronomic Highlights of Sicily
Led by our food & wine journalist Damiano, we offer a customized tour of the best of Sicilian cuisine, from world-class restaurants to places that specialize in the best of Palermo and Catania street food, to remote cheese farm cooking, to the renowned masters of Sicily pastries and gelato, to winery visits, to Alessia’s cooking experience( visit cooking experience).
For fine dining,there are fantastic Michelin-starred restaurants in Palermo and Ragusa. In the countryside, the Slow Foods movement has taken root, which we are eager to support, and agriturismi (farmhouse B&Bs) offer delicious traditional cooking with the freshest, locally foraged ingredients.
Our profession has allowed us to find the best restaurant owners, farmers, and winemakers across the island. Italy is famously regional, each region jealously guarding its uniqueness. This is true within regions as well. In the Siracusa region we focus on the huge variety of seafood dishes (swordfish, octopus, and specializing in mussels) and the Pachino cherry tomatoes (best in Italy). In the rolling interior of the island, we’ll explore Sicily’s incomparable ricotta, including the process of ricotta-making, and, as central Sicily is wheat country, an infinite variety of breads. The Plain of Catania has award-winning oranges and lemons, which appear in a surprising varieties of recipes. The slopes Etna grows most of Italy’s pistachios and their the lava-soil influenced wines are increasingly famous. In the Southwest we’ll discover the Arab and Spanish influence on Sicilian cuisine, especially couscous. And then there is Palermo, where all the richness of Sicilian cuisine comes to its fullest glory.
Come in season, and we can attend the vendemmia, the grape harvest, or, a month later, the pressing of olives, where olive oil quality is as carefully scrutinized as wine. Southeast Sicilian olive oil won best in show in Milan in 2015.
The uniqueness of Sicilian cooking largely comes thanks to the medieval Arab occupation a thousand years ago. Their legacy is evident in many things, from citrus and dried fruit in many dishes, to nut sauces on pasta, to the famous Sicilian desserts. By the way, forget what you’ve heard about Marco Polo bringing pasta from China, we have contemporary accounts of the Arabs inventing pasta in Sicily in the 9th century.
This tour customized to your schedule and your specific culinary interest. , tailored to your. Contact us to set this up.