Five dishes that are never lacking on the tables in Sicily during the Christmas and New Year holidays, from calamus stew and squid with potatoes to finish with fish couscous and Modica chocolate.
La Sicily is a magical land, halfway between a continent, Europe, and another, Africa, suspended in the middle of the sea, is home to the highest active volcano in Europe, it seems parched and sterile, but contains very green areas and so fertile that Frederick II of Swabia called it the garden of the Empire.
A land like this cannot fail to have a cuisine that reflects it: rich, luxuriant, contradictory and above all appetizing. Wanting to take a short gastronomic tour of Sicily, focusing on the dishes that adorn the tables of the Sicilians during the Christmas and New Year holidays, here are 5 delicious dishes and a challenge: will you be able to read the whole post without planning a holiday in Sicily?
The Sicilian scacce
Typical of the Ragusa, Modica and Ispica area, but not only, they are a kind of pasta "pockets" filled with every possible delight you can imagine.
You want them vegetarian? They are perfect with tomato pulp, boiled potatoes in chunks and caciocavallo cheese, preferably.
Do you want them with meat? They go perfectly with pork.
Do you like eggplants? Try the scacce with aubergines and basil.
Do you prefer stronger flavors? Then don't miss the version with anchovies and onions or ricotta and sausage.
But the real strength, incredible to say, is the closure, or rather the border which must be done with care and skill, because the pasta of the border, in fact, must skillfully alternate a pinch of the filling, so that those who bites is already foretaste, but not completely, even the surprise that awaits him later in the bite.
Sicilian-style fried cod
Did you think that cod was a priority in Veneto? Mistake.
Il fried cod never fails from the tables set for Christmas, but especially for New Year.
How a fish from the great Atlantic ocean arrived in Sicily is easy to say: migrations.
The Sicilians often ended up as fishermen on the great Atlantic fishing boats, staying away from home for many months. When they returned, they brought with them pieces of cod that Sicilian women learned to prepare in the most diverse ways, using local ingredients.
One of the ways is, in fact, frying, one of the most delicious ways to prepare it, of course, but not the only one. Cod and broccoli fritters are also no less delicious, right?
Cous Cous in murisca
The scent of Africa? Then choose the cous cous, the steamed wheat semolina whose tradition comes from Northern Africa, but which has spread throughout the Mediterranean basin, so much so that we find it in Sicily, especially in the area of Trapani (remember the Cous Cous Festival in San Vito Lo Capo in September), but also in the South of Sardinia and on the southern coast of France, as well as, of course, the Maghreb countries.
You can enjoy it with your favorite vegetables, but also with meat, especially chicken.
Delicious the couscous with fish both in the version with seafood (according to the people's voice, the months that contain the “r” in the name are the recommended months for mussels) and with fish steaks (scorpion fish, gurnard, etc).
A specialty of the Egadi islands? And the cous cous alla moresca or with the game that was prepared only in this period, exploiting the migratory routes of the birds to Africa for their capture.
Stewed squid
Do you eat it only in frying or at most with peas?
Very bad.
You are missing out on a true delight with the sensual flavors of sun and sea.
Stewed squid, precisely stewed, are delicious and the recipe, for example, with slices of orange and marsala combines the aroma of citrus fruits, the heat of marsala and the taste of the sea: perfect for making your taste buds and your mind, right? Another very common recipe on Sicilian tables and not just for holidays?
Squid with potatoes. Delicious and also act as comfort food, which never hurts. Especially if you remember to "make the shoe" with bread. Could we have ended without a sweet note?
Chocolate of Modica
Have you heard of it? It is the Muricana ciucculata, a typical specialty of Modica, in the Ragusa area.
An ancient recipe, which seems to date back even to the pre-Columbian Maya and Aztec populations, gives to food of the Gods, as chocolate was called by these populations, a particular grain and taste.
According to tradition, the cold working some chocolate seeds would have reached Modica through the Spaniards who dominated Sicily for a long time.
And if until a few years ago the Modica chocolate had the aromas of cinnamon and vanilla, today there is no limit to the imagination of "master chocolatiers": pink pepper, chilli, Himalayan salt, ginger, cedar peel or orange and so on. A riot of flavors for every taste and for every sweet tooth.
Are you ready to go to taste Sicilian Christmas dishes directly in Sicily?
