The sea and
the islands.
Gems set in a sea of sapphire.
Tears of lava, limestone plains swept by the wind,
sunny lands the colour of bronze: one by one the islands decorate
the Sicilian coast like a string of pearls on the neck of a
beautiful woman. There are fourteen of these daughters of Sicily,
not including Motya, which at low tide is sometimes linked to the
coast of Marsala. Fourteen paradises of untouched beauty. Some have
an African charm, such as the Pelagie, in the province of Agrigento,
and Pantelleria in the province of Trapani. Others, the uncontested
mistresses of the sea and its secrets, Levanzo, Favignana, and
Marettimo, form the archipelago of the Egadi in the sea off Trapani.
Further north, in splendid isolation, is Ustica, the island of
Circe, with its unspoilt marine reserve. And in the Aeolian islands,
in the province of Messina, water meets fire. Here nature still
dictates. Its rhythms, and travellers can let themselves be
enchanted by the magic spell of the fishermen and farmers who
inhabit these isles, the last custodians of the ancient
Mediterranean traditions. The choice is yours - between the lively
throngs on the Aeolian Islands, the peace and quiet Pelagie, and the
perfumes of the Egadi.
The sea is perennially the colour of sapphire, the domain of
dolphins and swordfish. And so it has been since the dawn of time.
Itineraries of faith.
Devotion suspended 'twixt sky and sea.
Are Sicilians religious? They must certainly be
cautious, if you consider there are almost seven hundred patron
saints looking after the 389 Sicilian towns! Palermo alone has
twenty "ordinary saints", fifteen "principal saints", four female "patron
saints" who can be seen at the Quattro Canti, and one "patron to
watch over all", Santa Rosalia. Why so many saints? Perhaps because,
unlike God, they too were once mortals on this earth and were
considered to be the only ones capable of understanding and
providing for human needs. And then, after all, it's the saints who
perform miracles…The festivities in their honour originate from
ancient pagan cults, rites linked to the solstice and the seasons,
while others may strictly speaking have little to do with religion.
From the tenth to the fifteenth of July, in the sweltering heat of
summer, the inhabitants of Palermo are in a state of frenzy: it's
Festino time.
The Festino is hard to explain.
It is most certainly the peak moment of city life, a gigantic
popular ex-voto dedicated to Santa Rosalia as a thanksgiving.
She it was who saved the people of Palermo from the plague in 1624.
This is the last surviving example of the "baroque festivals" of
Europe, with a triumphal chariot, huge enough to transport a band of
musicians. It is a symbol of the city, unique in Europe,
demonstrating the wealth and splendour of Palermo. An act of
municipal pride, to remind people - spectators and participants
alike - of the City's regal dignity! Still today, for many, Santa
Rosalia remains the Great Hope.
Art and
culture between sun and sea.
The identity of a land born of the waves.
What is the identity of this land born of the
waves?
You may find yourself asking this question after your first
encounter. Indeed it may well happen. For it is not easy to grasp
the meaning of this island, which is itself a continent.
But don't despair - that's how it always is: at first sight you may
well not fully understand.
It is not easy to understand Sicily.
Just like a beautiful woman, Sicily needs a certain type of approach
and cannot be easily won. All you can do is to let yourself be
seduced. Just as the first Mycenaeans were seduced when they came
this way to buy obsidian and pumice-stone in the Aeolian Islands,
when nothing else was known for cutting and polishing. Just like the
Phoenicians, who along these very coasts set up their trading
stations and left them in the charge of people taken on in every
corner of the Mediterranean, people who lived in peace, trading with
Siculs, Sicans, and Elymians.
Why were they called Elymians? Ex limen, in Latin means refugee,
driven from home. This gives an immediate picture of the ancient
island civilization. Everyone was always welcome. Just like the
Greeks, seeking somewhere to live in peace, and hosts of others. As
happens today to many other unfortunates who escape to these shores,
fleeing from poverty, war, famine, and oppression.
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Siracusa - Sicily |
Sicily at table.
Un viaggio all’insegna dei sapori e delle
tradizioni popolari.
Our cuisine is a perfect blend of all the
influences of the various cultures that have followed each other in
the island.
Rather than a cultural residue, it is the most resistant trait of a
whole culture. The dining-table is the place of introspection of all
the different civilizations that have passed through the island. An
ancient pleasure indeed, if it is true that Plato, once visiting
Syracuse, criticized its citizens for "sitting down at table several
times a day".
Sicilian cuisine? There are three sorts: the patrician or baronial
cuisine, that of the ordinary people with all its lively
inventiveness, and street cuisine, i.e. that of the "buffittieri",
as they used to be called, a term originally derived from the French
buffet.
An immense wealth and variety of dishes, since every city, town, and
family has always had its own version of each recipe, reflecting the
island's strong sense of individuality. While the Monsù, the
chef to the great aristocratic families, produced in the palaces
celebrated dishes of soles and groupers, hares and capons, the
people down below could enjoy the aromas and the fantastic
descriptions made by the servants. With great imagination and skill
these dishes were reinvented using ingredients that were often quite
basic. De-boned sardines were promoted to the rank of soles:
"lenguado", in the Spanish of the nobles, meant "sole", and thus
sardines a linguata were created. A certain small bird
similar to the blackcap, when skilfully prepared, became the
beccafico that the Monsù proudly served in jelly with pickles.
Aubergines were thus disguised as "quails" and even as "parmiciana",
which is a dialect word meaning simply a shutter. Nothing to do with
Parma and its parmesan cheese. And from the aubergine also came the
queen of popular cuisine, caponata, the aubergine appetizer served
as a sweet and sour sauce and originally created in the kitchens of
the courts of pre-Islamic Persia.
