Sicily, An Introduction

WELCOME TO SICILY

Words by Jordan Mackay, recipes by Sara Hauman.

A massive island at the center of the Mediterranean, Sicily lies at a major intersection of Western history, culture, and geography. With a northeastern corner two miles from mainland Italy and a southern flank that dips below the tip of Africa, Sicily straddles continents and realms. Consequently, its history was written by a diverse list of occupants, including Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, and Spanish, each of which contributed to Sicily’s dialects, ethnicities, cuisine, and architecture. Geographically, Sicily is varied. The rich, bucolic farmlands lie on the more populous western side, while much of the remaining country is dauntingly hilly and mountainous. Mount Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano, towers over the eastern half of the island. At once rich and impoverished, Sicily’s wealth is not monetary, but elemental, derived from fertile, volcanic soils, and a quintessentially Mediterranean climate that beckons tourism, grows succulent produce, and delivers a bounty from an endless coastline. For these reasons—as well as the infamous grip of the mafia—Sicily remains an object of fascination for the rest of Italy and the world. Its languorous rhythm is suffused with sunlight, delicious food, heady wine, spectacular scenery, and a pastiche of cultures that constantly reminds that you are in a place of consequence.

No visitor exits Sicily without having the intensity of sensation and the freshness of flavor indelibly etched in their memory. Every food item—be it pulled from the sea, herded from the hills, or plucked from a tree—buzzes with a rare immediacy, vitality, and succulence. While elevated, modernist cuisine exists, the soul of the table here is classic Italian cucina povera, the food of necessity, which creates deliciousness via simplicity and intensity. In our menu, as all over Sicily, you find the same quintessential staples mixed and matched throughout many dishes: swordfish, tuna, anchovies, capers, raisins, almonds, pine nuts, olives, lemons. Sicilian food relies on the contrasts between salty and sweet, acid and fat in simple combinations that echo the way the ingredients exist in nature: fatty fish pulled from coastal waters served with capers grown on the windblown shores; citrus, almonds, and olives from neighboring trees. Inescapably, Sicily’s intense socio-cultural diversity is expressed in almost every meal. In this menu we enjoy foods from the Greek and Roman influence (olives, olive oils, and anchovy), as well as Arab (arancini, almonds, citrus, orange blossom water) and Spanish (pepper and chile).

To wash all these delicacies down: wine, of course, which in Sicily is both an ancient tale and a modern one. The archaeological evidence for wine on the island predates the Greeks. In past centuries, however, Sicily was not known for fine wine. Rather, the excellent calcareous and volcanic soils and the perfect winegrowing climate—dry summers, bright sunlight, warm days, frequent wind—made viticulture relatively easy. The relative ease of ripeness and high yields turned the island into a popular source of cheap table wine. Once Italy’s top producer by volume, in recent decades wine production has declined, ceding territory to fine wine production. Famously, the exotic and high-altitude slopes of Mount Etna with its nuanced, world-class reds from Nerello Mascalese and whites from Carricante have led the way, raising the bar across the island, and attracting new drinkers from all over the world. Even Nero d’Avola, the island’s workhouse red grape has found some redemption in new-school quality red wines.

However, while Sicily may yet be associated with fruity reds, in truth, seventy percent of the island’s output is white wine from local grapes like Grecanico, Inzolia, Grillo, and Carricante. Of course, this makes sense, as both the climate and the cuisine—heavy on seafood and fresh fruits and vegetables—just beg for bright, clean, refreshing white wines, such as we might recommend with our menu. As one would at every meal in Sicily, take a moment to savor the wine, then let it flow into the pleasures of cooking, eating, and sharing.

OUR SICILIAN DINNER PARTY MENU

• Snacks: CHERRY & SAFFRON ARANCINI
• Salad: FENNEL & CITRUS SALAD
• Starter: SAUSAGE & RICE STUFFED PEPPERS
• Main Course: OLIVE OIL POACHED SWORDFISH
• Dessert: FENNEL & LEMON GRANITA, CHEWY ALMOND COOKIES

ABOUT OUR AUTHORS

Chef Sara Hauman’s career is sprinkled with culinary accolades: Eater Young Gun, Zagat 30 under 30, and Bravo Top Chef contestant. Having cooked in kitchens from Spain’s famed Asador Etxebarri to San Francisco’s Octavia, she now resides in San Francisco, CA.

Jordan Mackay is a James Beard award-winning writer covering wine, spirits, and food. He has written for the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Food & Wine magazine. Jordan has penned countless books, including Secrets of the Sommeliers, The Atlas of Taste, Franklin Barbecue, Franklin Steak, and the Maison Premiere Almanac.