Sometimes it’s nice to let the images speak for themselves. But I know what the pepper-haired man is saying. He suggests you relax with a gelato or granita. It’s heating up, and half his mustache has melted off.
Ciao from Taormina, the last stop on our Sicilian vacation. We began in Palermo, moved on to Siracusa (Syracuse) and now to this gorgeous city, nicknamed “the Pearl of the Ionian Sea,” and made even more famous recently for being used as one of the settings for the second season of the hit HBO series White Lotus. We wish we had more time here and everywhere else we’ve traveled. As we leave this magical island (I know that’s an overused adjective, but it’s really true about this place), we finally figured out that we didn’t need to try to see everything in the guide book or that friends recommended, but instead should just relax, sip a Prosecco (or Coke Zero for Jeff) while staring at the sea, and plan to come back as soon as possible to see what we missed or revisit what we loved.
Today I’m posting a few photos—mostly food-related—from Taormina. In a week or so I will share more details from our travels, including a great day visiting a farm near the historic town of Noto and making pasta from wheat grown in the surrounding fields and flavored with herbs we picked that day. Meanwhile, enjoy this little “food tour,” and please let me know if you want to know more.
Granita and a brioche at Taormina’s famous Bam Bar. The owner, Saro, said this almond and coffee granita topped with cream is a classic for breakfast in Sicily. Dipping pieces of brioche in it is a must.
Meatballs grilled in lemon leaves at Trattoria Don Camillo, recommended by our kind hosts at the charming B&B Varò. I’m hoping to recreate this sumptuous dish at home!
A mango popsicle dipped in white chocolate, covered in chopped pistachios, the perfect snack while wandering about trying to figure out where to have dinner!
My philosophy exactly!
Marzipan candies (called martorana), faithful reproductions of fruits and vegetables made out of almond paste, can be found everywhere in Sicily.
Omar Chemi with trays of freshly baked apple strudel and almond and cherry cookies his family business, Laboratorio Pasticceria Roberto Chemi. This was our favorite place in Taormina for cannoli—and for the exuberant humor of its friendly owner, Roberto.
In Taormina, this delicious fried, breadcrumb-covered rice ball filled with any of a number of fillings is often pointed like Mount Etna, the nearby active volcano. It’s called an arancino—with a masculine ending. In Palermo, it’s round like an orange and called an arancina—a feminine dish. Whatever you call it, it’s a very popular street food, especially in Palermo, but elsewhere as well. (Photo by Jefferson Graham)
A larger-than-life (fake) cannolo in the window in Taormina—we tasted some excellent real ones here and elsewhere in Sicily. They are a true Sicilian specialty, brought like other signature foods to places where Sicilians emigrated. Those who make them are passionate about doing them right. The best ones, we learned, are made in fresh, crisp wrappers (usually fried in lard), and filled on the spot. (To learn more, be sure to read Anna Muckerman’s entertaining take on the subject in Hungry With Ideas. She also explains the arancino vs. aranchina debate here.)
All manner of citrus is plentiful throughout Sicily, including citron (“cedri” here). We passed lemon and orange groves everywhere. Liqueurs—made from lemons, oranges and other fruits, nuts and extracts are very popular, along with candied fruit, used to decorate cakes and cookies.
And finally, gelato, an Italian invention that has become popular worldwide. It was of course available everywhere we went in Taormina, as elsewhere in Sicily. We had at least one cone a day, often two, and never had a bad one (though of course everyone has a different opinion on who makes the very best!). It’s definitely habit-forming.
And that’s it, folks! There are more stories to tell, not only about food (though there are SO many dishes we didn’t manage to sample—we seemed always to be snacking rather than sitting down to full-course meals!), but also about some of the gorgeous non-food sights we saw (incredible views, architectural masterpieces in multiple styles, magnificent ruins dating to Greek and Roman times), and of course the inevitable frustrations of traveling—like luggage mishaps, missed connections, lost items, and trying to see and do more than is humanly possible.
Here’s one non-food photo from a bus trip into the hills surrounding Taormina—a bit hair-raising, but worth it for the vistas and the small towns we visited, including Savoca, famous for several scenes in Francis Ford Coppola’s first Godfather film.
I’ll save these stories for a future post or two. If you liked this one, please do click the heart button to tell me so, and leave a comment if you’re so inclined. Thanks as always for being a subscriber.
Grazie mille for reading!
See you soon!
Ruth
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Great piece--the Granita looked fantastic, but not in the morning. Can't beat the gelato though!
Wow, I am hungry now…both for the food and for Italy. This was a nice treat to my inbox this weekend morning! I look forward to hearing more Ruth