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Sicilian Adventure
Over the centuries this beautiful island with its fertile soil and constant sunshine has attracted many covetous foreign predators, and each race has left its mark on the land, the people and their culinary heritage.
Sicilian cooking vibrates with intense colours and flavours and is the quintessence of all the elements that have made Italian food a universal favourite. Here pasta reigns supreme, while fresh herbs, sumptuous vegetables and lambent olive oil are used with flair and imagination. The sea provides an infinite variety of fish, and opulent fruit, honey, nuts and ice cream add to the excitement.
Sitting on a shady terrace, perfumed with orange blossom and jasmine, holding a beaded glass of chilled Sicilian wine, you feel close to the ancient pagan gods !
Our Sicilian adventure follows the ancient Greeks from the beautiful city of Siracusa, birthplace of Archimede, to the majestic ruined temples in Agrigento. We will hunt for antiques in Ragusa, cook fish in the Norman city of Cefalu, and explore the lively food markets in Catania and Palermo.
Dates for 2010 - 8-15 October Price 2250 euros
I am now back in Rome after a very exciting school in Sicily. We visited Siracusa fish market by boat with the Barone Beneventano, dined in his superb, historic palace with incredible wines before we went on to Ragusa, Noto and Modica where we sampled Atzec style chocolate at the Antica Dolceria Bonajuto. In Mandranova we cooked a mixture of monzừ and cucina povera dishes, and watched the new, prize-winning olive oil being made. On our drive up through the Madonie mountains we stopped for a lunch of funghi porcini and ovuli before reaching Cefalu. Here the weather became dramatic. Our hotel was on the seafront and we slept to the sound of thundering waves and crashes of thunder. However the rain held off for our final dinner, eaten outside in front of the lovely Arab Norman Duomo.
When we checked in for our early morning flight back to Rome we had so much baggage with our olive oil , wine and pottery we gave the clerk hysterics so that she became confused and lost control of the situation. This was very fortunate because we all had excess weight on our person and in our bags !
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