Sicily: 5 unknown dishes that you cannot fail to know

2023 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:20

Caponata, pasta alla norma, arancini, cannoli and granita. Sicilian food but now global that the world often shows: stuff to make purists indignant.

The quarrels, even if funny, would lead us astray. The flavors we cook today they are not for export but they reflect the Sicilian character no less than those universally known.

Based on simple products, which do not need complex culinary elaborations, they are found only in some places in the Sicily.

We point them out and tell you where to go to savor them at their best.

SPAGHETTI WITH PATELLA

The limpets in Sicilian dialect, frying pans in Italian, are seafood attached to the outcropping rocks. To live, they need the warm sun and sea water that bathes them in a slow coming and going.

With a diameter between 1 and 3 centimeters, they are found on the Etna coast, where thanks to the lava rocks, the meat, even if tough, acquires a unique flavor. The less valuable ones of the Pantelleria sea reach up to 10 centimeters in diameter.

TRATTORIA DON SARO - CAPO MULINI

To taste them as a condiment for a spaghetti that you will not easily forget, you can go to Capomulini from Don Saro, a good restaurant with a dream view of the stacks of Acitrezza.

There they offer delicious grilled masculine.

The little waiter will do everything you can to serve you as quickly as possible under the stern gaze of Gaetano, the owner.

The bill at Don Saro is within reach of all budgets, so much so that the journalist and writer Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, who professes to be an admirer, rather than having dinner at La Rosetta, an all-fish and all-vip Roman restaurant, prefers to pay the plane Rome-Catania, the taxi to Capo Mulini and the bill of the real trattoria.

He spends the same money and on top of that he enjoys the sea.

BULL EYES ON THE COOK

More precious and expensive than limpets are the ox eyes, another delicacy of the Etna coast. They are seafood with a mother-of-pearl shell in the colors of the volcanic rock, which cost an average of 80-100 euros per kilo.

To fish them you have to dive into depths of up to 5 meters, in apnea, and overturn the large boulders of volcanic rock, the natural habitat of bull's eyes.

THE CAVE - SANTA MARIA LA SCALA

Callose and firm but not hard, they are the best seafood you can taste. The strong and exquisite mineral flavor suggests eating them raw or grilled and seasoned with oil and lemon.

Or in a seafood salad together with octopus, squid, shrimp, as they are found from "Uncle Carmelo" of 'La Grotta "of Santa Maria La Scala.

Managed by father and son, the restaurant is located right inside a small lava cave, with a small number of seats even outside, along the sidewalk and in the pitch overlooking the small port of the fishing village.

Watch out for suggestions if you have read 'I Malavoglia'.

To prepare ox eyes at home, buy them da Nitto, in the Ognina district of Catania, also in this case near a marina.

The fishmonger fears no rivals when it comes to seafood.

MAURO

Forgive the frankness, but the taste seems that of a round lick on a sea rock. We are talking about "mauro", an edible seaweed that grows between the rocks of Acireale, at the points of convergence between the salt and fresh water of the underwater sources.

In the past it was tasted in the makeshift stalls along the road, raw, seasoned only with oil and lemon. Today, when the sea is less clear than in the past, the forbidden sale can still be found, on the quiet, in the markets of Acireale or Catania and in some places that use it to dress spaghetti and sea urchins.

If you are daring try to find it but first familiarize yourself with the seller: he must give you a more than sure "mauro".

PASTA WITH SPARACOGNI SAUCE

From a sea grass to a mountain grass. In Cesarò, a village perched on the Nebrodi mountains where on August evenings it is not uncommon to wear a duvet, in spring there is no shortage of dream shooters on the tables of families, or “sparici i liaras”, as they are called in the area.

It is a spontaneous plant that grows in the uncultivated countryside between Etna and Nebrodi. The shoots, thin and long, similar to asparagus but with a more bitter and wild taste, are sold in bunches by street vendors.

In Cesarò they are used for one of the most popular dishes of local gastronomy.

To cook them, just a sauté of garlic mixed with white wine, then a tomato sauce (preserved in September) to sweeten the flavor, in addition to the abundant salty ricotta typical of the Nebrodi which gives the dish an extraordinary balance.

Some variations include tomato paste or the addition of meat, but the simple version remains the best.

FRATELLI MAZZURCO - CESARO '

Gianluca Barbagallo, owner of the restaurant Mazzurco Brothers at the entrance to the town, right under the rock, he offers them on a pizza that has no equal.

You can also try them with white pasta, but to experiment with the traditional recipe with sauce and salted ricotta, ask for an exception to Zia Vicenzina, founder of the Mazzurco family, or opt for his homemade Macaroni "alla Riolo".

PISCISTOCCU ALLA MESSINESE

“Tri so never mancunu in Missina, ventu, malanova and piscistoccu”.

The last dish, 'piscistoccu alla messinese' or 'piscistoccu alla ghiotta', is typical of Messina. It deserves a special mention for its character: it is the typical dish that you hate or love deeply.

In this case, more than daring you must be true adventurers: forget the elegant flavors and sensual textures because the stocco fish, dried in a natural way, has a strong personality and an aroma that can be recognized. Even by those who hate it.

TRATTORIA DON NINO - MESSINA

In the city of the strait there is a long tradition in this area but among all the restaurants the real specialist is " Don Nino ”, Of the homonymous restaurant in viale Europa, self-defined as“the wizard of the stocco”.

The solid aspect, even a little grim, of a real trattoria of the past with the plastic walls decorated with stamped stone, is amply offset by the kitchen and the courtesy of the owner and waiters.

Don Nino proposes the " stocco trio ”, Three different recipes served in as many abundant courses. The first is the salad fish stocco, that is raw chunks, seasoned with tomatoes and raw onions.

The greedy recipe follows: capers, potatoes, onion, celery, an infinity of green olives and abundant tomato sauce. In the third version, the stockfish is accompanied by cherry tomatoes, garlic and many aromas.

Since you are in Sicily after lunch, a granita is a must, as well as necessary. Maybe with lemon to refresh the palate, the stomach and, after so many libations, even ideas.