This information provides instructions for making a summer Sicilian soup using a Sicilian squash, the tendrils and leaves of the vine.
The tendrils of the Sicilian squash are called tenerumi and this soup is particularly easy to make if you have a Sicilian friend who grows this vegetable in her garden. I have bought some of this squash at a farmers’ market but it is only available for a short time in the season.
The squash is a long, light green trumpet-shaped squash. It is called a zucca lunga (long squash) or zucca trombetta (trumpet squash) or zuccaserpente (serpent squash). she had no squash available but she knew I had some zucchini to replace the squash, and the soup tasted delicious.
simple ingredient_ tendrils with leaves, zucchini, basil leaves, garlic and tomatoes.
It is a summer dish, and red tomatoes, a little garlic (optional) and basil are also added ingredients. Broken spaghetti are used to thicken the soup…when in Sicily you are unlikely to eat soup without pasta.
PROCESS
Strip and use the soft tendrils and soft leaves off the long, hard curly stems.
the tendrils and leaves stopped from the hard stalk.
Place the leaves and tendrils ( and some squash or sliced zucchini) in some boiling water with a little salt.
When they are nearly cooked add some broken spaghetti.
These vegetables are cooked separately.
The tomatoes are left cut in half. Soften the tomatoes in a little extra virgin olive oil with some garlic and basil. It is just a tomato salsa!
The half tomatoes- cut made into a summer salsa.
Add the tomato mixture on top of the pasta. Drizzle on some good extra virgin olive oil, more basil leaves and some chilli flakes if this is your want.
You will find more photos (including the zucca lunga) and information about this recipe and ingredients on previous posts:
The Sicilian summer soup called Minestra di Tenerumi.
I used Hapuka cutlets to cook with Sicilian Flavours, but any fish can be cooked in the same way.
Hapuka fish cutlets.
The Sicilian flavours are simple – grated lemon peel, lemon juice, anchovies, fresh mint and parsley.
Flavours – Anchovies, parsley and lemon.Roasted peppers as a side plate.
Procedure
Cut anchovies into small pieces.
Grate some lemon peel and squeeze some lemon juice.
Chop parsley and mint. Use greater amount of parsley. You will need a double small pile of the herbs: one for pan-frying and the other mixed with the lemon peel for decoration and flavour.
Fry one side of the fish, then flip it and top with chopped parsley and mint and anchovies. Cook the other side until desired, as it’ll be flipped again briefly.
Slices of pan fried fish with Sicilian flavours. Notice the vibrant fresh colour of the herbs.
The anchovies should have softened. Turn the fish over and season the other side with salt and lemon juice. Evaporate the lemon juice and the fish is ready.
Scatter with more chopped parsley and mint mixed with the grated lemon peel for colour and flavour.
Pesce in Saor is one of the iconic dishes of Venetian cuisine, and it is marinated fish. It is also popular throughout the coastal areas of the Veneto region.
Pesce in Saor—describe a traditional method of preserving fish by frying it and marinating it in vinegar, onions and other flavourings, creating the distinctive Italian balance of agrodolce (sweet and sour).
Long before refrigeration, marinating or ‘sousing’ fish extended its shelf life and is still a popular method. Vinegar inhibits microbial growth in a manner like salt while sugar acts as a preservative and softens the vinegar’s sharpness. This practical necessity has evolved into one of Italy’s most memorable regional dishes.
Pesce in Saor – Sweet-and-sour marinated fish, one of Venice’s and Trieste’s most celebrated traditional dishes.
Pesce in Saor and My Family Traditions
The Italian word for fish is pesce, but in the Triestine dialect it becomes pesse. I lived in Trieste as a child, where pesse in saor was commonly prepared with sardines and served with soft white polenta.
My Sicilian grandmother also made marinated fish, known in Sicilian as pisci ammarinatu, but her flavourings reflected the cuisine of Catania in Sicily. She preferred mint, bay leaves and garlic in the vinegar marinade, whereas the Venetian and Triestine versions include raisins and pine nuts.
These regional variations demonstrate how a simple preservation technique became adapted to local tastes and ingredients.
Marinated Fish Throughout Italy
Venice is not alone in its love of soused fish. Similar preparations appear throughout Italy:
Pesce alla scapece from central and southern Italy, with regional versions flavoured with saffron, garlic or sage.
Pesce in carpione from Lombardy, scented with celery and carrot.
Scabeccio from Liguria, featuring garlic, rosemary and peppercorns.
Sardinian versions that may include chilli, garlic and tomato.
The idea extends well beyond Italy. Escabeche is found throughout Spain and Portugal and travelled to North Africa and Latin America. Nordic countries also have long traditions of preserving fish in acidic marinades. Even a German friend of mine prepares soused fish, adding coriander seeds to his recipe.
Part of the bay of TriesteTrieste, Ponte Rosso
Childhood Memories of Trieste
My maternal grandmother always had pottery terrines of marinated fish in her Sicilian kitchen, covered simply with plates used as lids. When she visited us in Trieste, she continued the same practice, and our kitchen would soon fill with the unmistakable aroma of fish and vinegar.
She especially loved eel. We would walk together to the Pescheria on the waterfront in Trieste, where she would select a live eel from a large tank and the fishmonger would prepare it for her. I never enjoyed watching that part, but I loved visiting the fish market overlooking the bay.
The Old Pescheria of Trieste – now EATALY
Today, the fish market building has been fully renovated and found a new life as Eataly, but my memories remain tied to the sounds, smells and traditions of the old Pescheria.
The Old Pescheria of Trieste as I remembered it
Using Coorong Mullet Instead of Sardines
Traditionally, pesce in saor is prepared with sardines that are lightly dusted with flour and fried until crisp. However, many small firm fish are suitable.mullet, sand whiting, garfish, flathead or leatherjackets, cleaned and filleted
On some regular trips from Melbourne to Adelaide, I drove through Meningie at the northern end of the Coorong and bought freshly caught Coorong mullet. Their firm flesh made them an excellent substitute, and I used them to prepare this version.
Traditionally, the fish is lightly dusted with flour and salt before it is fried in very hot, extra virgin, olive oil. Although the flour helps to hold the fish together, the oil used to fry the fish will need to be discarded (the sediment will taint the taste of the oil) and the flour coating will often come away from the fish in the marinade.
Coorong mullet and how it is sold and wrapped in newspaper
Recipe: Pesce in Saor
Serving suggestion: White polenta is traditionally used as an accompaniment for fish and yellow polenta is usually an accompaniment to meat.
Good bread is also good.
Ingredients
Serves 4–6
12–16 fresh sardines or other small fish such as mullet, sand whiting, garfish, flathead or leatherjackets, cleaned and filleted
Plain flour
Salt
Olive oil for frying
2–3 large white onions, finely sliced
1 cup raisins
1 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
White wine (enough to soak the raisins)
250 ml white wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
Method
Soak the raisins in the white wine for about 30 minutes.
Lightly dust the fish with flour and a little salt, shaking off any excess.Fry the fish in plenty of hot olive oil until golden and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper.
Gently sauté the onions in a little olive oil until soft but not browned.
Add the vinegar and freshly ground black pepper and simmer for a few minutes.
In a deep terrine or ceramic dish, place a layer of fish followed by onions, drained raisins and pine nuts.
Continue layering until all the ingredients are used, finishing with onions, raisins and pine nuts.
Pour the vinegar mixture over the fish, ensuring everything is well coated.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving. Like many marinated dishes, the flavours improve with time.
Serve at room temperature, traditionally with soft white polenta.
Coorong Mullet fillets, a very suitable fish to make in Saor
Ragù di capretto (kid) used as a dressing for pasta is a showstopper exquisite tasting dish!
INGREDIENTS and PROCESS
Sometimes, it is easier to tell a story and describe a recipe by photos.
Goat or kid is a popular ingredient in Spring.
The mint on my balcony is thriving, celeriac is in season, the last of the red tomatoes are also in season and there is a glut of carrots in Victoria at the moment. All of these ingredients, are cooked on low heat for a long time and it makes a delicious ragù as a pasta sauce. On this occasion and a good quality Pecorino cheese is essential.
CAprettoKid – lean and pale meat
Kid cut into cubes – you can tell that it is not an old goat by the pale colour of the meat. It is trimmed of fat.
SOFFRITTO
The usual onion , part of the soffritto in most Italian soups and braises.
Celeriac
Add a chopped carrot and instead of celery I used some celeriac, some of the bulb and some of the inner leaves of the celeriac.
Browning the meat (KID/Capretto ) and soffritto has been set aside
Remove the soffritto, add a little more extra virgin olive oil and brown the meat.
Rosemary, sage, bay, cloves
Add the herbs and spices. Recognise them? Salt and pepper too.
A couple of red tomatoes.
KID/Capretto ready to be braised
Top with liquid. I added a mixture of chicken stock (always in my freezer) and some Marsala, to keep it in the Sicilian way of things. On another occasion I may add white wine or dry vermouth.
Cover the pan and braise slowly.
Cooked capretto
It does not look as good as it tasted…the perfume was fabulous too.
Casarecce and ragout/ ragù
Serve with fresh mint leaves and grated Pecorino.
Pecorino grating cheese
N.B. Real Pecorino is made from pecora (sheep)..i.e. sheep’s milk. I used a Pecorino Romano. See how white it is in colour?
POMURORU is the Sicilian word for tomatoes, POMODORO is the Italian, and simple tomato salads feature very frequently in my kitchen.
This is not surprising as local tomatoes and basil in summer are at their best.
ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS in Tomato Salad
When I say simple, I mean made with basic ingredients – in season tasty tomatoes, fresh basil, spring onion, the inside part of the celery, salt and extra virgin olive oil. In fact, so simple that I have not written the recipe for a tomato salad in my blog.
Just writing about tomato salad makes me want to have some – I can taste the fresh bread that I particularly like to use to mop up the juices. Good, extra virgin olive oil is as important as the quality of the tomatoes.
SO many types of tomatoes
A SIMPLE FAMILY AFFAIR
I have inherited my like of tomato salads from my father; it is one of the things my father made well and my parents, especially when they were elderly would eat a tomato salad almost every day for lunch (accompanied with some sort of cheese, smallgoods, frittata, or left over meat or fish from the night before). This sort of tomato salad was not considered special enough to present to guests – it was family, simple, every-day food and to a certain extent it has remained so in my present home.
Beautiful tomato produceABOUT SQUEEZED ONION
Apart from the simple tomato salad made with spring onion, my father excelled in the salad his mother used to make (NONNA Rosa lived in Ragusa, Sicily). this salad was made with squeezed onions or as he used to call it – cipolla dolce (sweet onion) – the onion is made sweet by having the bitter juices squeezed out of it before it is used.
Tmatoes in California. I found so many varieties
The squeezed onion makes the taste of the salad unique and my children and nephews still mention this legendary version of a nonno-tomato salad. When they were in season the large, fresh, salad onions were his favourites (sold in bunches with the bulbs and part of the green stalk still attached) but the ordinary white or the red onions sufficed at other times.
Tomatoes I bought in South of France
HOW TO MAKE squeezed CIPPUDDA (onion) for salad
Cipudda is the Sicilian word for onion and cipolla the Italian.
Probably because it is used extensively in Calabria, red onion is called cipolla calabrese or cipolla di Tropea in Italian, Tropea is a very picturesque, old fortified town built on a cliff overlooking a spectacular beach in Calabria.
I now have the old colander my father used to use to strain the onion – this was one of the very few, kitchen implements that came with us from Trieste where we lived before coming to Australia.
In Italian a colander or strainer is called a scolapasta
Amusing: in Italian a colander or strainer is called a scolapasta – scola means strain…and where would Italians be without an implement to drain their pasta!
RECIPE for PUMARORU CA CIPUDDA (Tomatoes with onions)
To sweeten onion: Expect to shed tears during this process.
Place 2 large, thinly sliced onions in a colander, sprinkle with about 2 heaped tablespoons of salt and leave it for about 30 minutes. Do not be concerned about the quantity of salt, it will draw out the onions’ strong juices. If fresh onions are in season, leave the sliced onions with the salt for about 15 minutes.
Use your fingers and palms to squeeze the onions inside the colander – the juices and the salt will just dribble through the perforations.
My parents have always made tomato salad with firm, slightly golden, unripe tomatoes. Interestingly in Italy, tomatoes (pomodoro) were first called pomo d’oro, apples of gold and these early specimens were not necessarily red in colour.
My father was making salad well before the heirloom varieties of tomatoes were available – he would have enjoyed using these tomatoes that come in a multitude of colours and variety of shapes. Interestingly, not all are coloured red.
In most parts of Sicily, the most common tomato salad is as follows:
6-8 tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil at least ½ cup
fresh basil (or dried oregano)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 stalk of celery from the inside part of the celery and include some of the pale green leaves – all sliced thinly
1 spring onion sliced thinly or replace the spring onion with the sweetened onions
Cut the tomatoes into bite size pieces and add everything else and serve.
My son’s Alex’s tomatoes
REGIONAL VARIATIONS by other Sicilians
From Comiso and Vittoria (towns south of Ragusa) and popular inland (in Enna and Caltanissetta) it is common to cut large tomatoes called (cuore di bue — ox heart), horizontally into halves, remove the seeds and stuff each crevice with chopped garlic, salt and extra virgin olive oil. On visits to the South of France I found that these tomatoes are popular and eaten in the same way. Surprise, surprise!
In my last post I made reference to Sicilian tomato salad. See post:
Summer is the season for ricotta, tomatoes and basil. When tomatoes are sweet and fragrant, and basil is growing abundantly, very little else is needed to create a memorable dish.
One of the pleasures of eating out is returning home inspired to cook my own version of something I have enjoyed. Often it is not only the flavours that stay with me, but also the presentation.
That happened after a meal at Gauge in Brisbane. Among the dishes my friends and I shared was Cow’s ricotta, sansho pepper, heirloom tomatoes and olive. It was beautifully balanced, elegant in its simplicity, and it immediately sparked ideas.
In summer, my parents who lived in Adelaide enjoyed a tomato salad almost every day. The salad was accompanied by fresh cheeses purchased from their local cheese factory, including ricotta, Formaggio Fresco, Bocconcini, Mozzarella and Ricotta salata. Occasionally, the ricotta was still warm.
The tomato salad with Asian herbs in Brisbane – Cow’s ricotta, sansho pepper, heirloom tomatoes and olive.
The Magic of Fresh Herbs
The restaurant used an Asian herb, but what fascinated me most was how easily the character of the dish could be changed simply by choosing a different herb.
Each herb brings its own personality. Thyme adds warmth, oregano and sweet marjoram a Mediterranean fragrance, tarragon a gentle aniseed note, dill freshness, while the many varieties of basil available today each contribute something different. The ingredients remain the same, yet the flavour changes completely.
That flexibility is one of the pleasures of cooking.
Whipped Ricotta
A Summer Favourite at Home
The evening after I returned from Brisbane I was cooking for friends. I had excellent tomatoes, fresh cow’s ricotta and an abundance of basil growing on my balcony. The inspiration from Brisbane became my own version.
Presentation mattered almost as much as flavour. My photographs do not quite capture how attractive the dish looked, but it was fresh, colourful and full of natural flavours. Served with good bread or crisp crackers, it made a perfect summer starter.
Recreating the Dish
The restaurant’s version was:
Cow’s ricotta, sansho pepper, heirloom tomatoes and olive.
The ricotta and heirloom tomatoes were easy enough to source.
Sansho pepper (also known as Japanese pepper) has a distinctive citrus freshness, reminiscent of lemon myrtle. It is readily available from many Asian grocers, but there are plenty of alternatives. I enjoy experimenting with different peppercorns and with dried Mexican chillies that I grind fresh. Some are smoky, some earthy, some fruity and others wonderfully hot.
On this occasion I chose pink peppercorns. They added gentle spice, subtle sweetness and looked beautiful against the white ricotta.
The basil oil, pink peppercorns, fresh small leaf basil and tomatoes
Olives — Or Just Their Flavour?
Interestingly, the restaurant did not use whole olives. Instead, the olive flavour came from black olive salt.
More recently I have seen another restaurant use dehydrated olives, which provide an intense burst of flavour and wonderful texture.
For my version, whole olives felt too dominant, so I scattered over a few tiny capers instead. They added the salty contrast I wanted while keeping the presentation delicate. Small leaves of Greek basil completed the dish.
A Sicilian Touch
I also added finely sliced spring onion for freshness.
Next time I may include one of those tender pale-green inner celery stalks, finely sliced. In my family, tomato salads always included onion and celery — the traditional Sicilian way of preparing them. It is a combination I still love.
Bringing Everything Together
I whipped fresh cow’s ricotta with a little salt until smooth and creamy.
The basil oil was simply good-quality extra virgin olive oil blended with basil leaves picked from my balcony and a pinch of salt.
The tomatoes came, as they often do, from one of my trusted fruit and vegetable stallholders at Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market. Starting with excellent produce is what makes a dish like this shine.
With good bread and a glass of chilled wine, it was everything I want from summer cooking: simple, fresh and full of flavour.
Spaghetti with prawns and zucchini is a quick and impressive dish.
I do not purchase prawns frequently, but when I do I prioritise sustainability.
Having lived in South Australia before moving to Melbourne, I have always been drawn to prawns from the Spencer Gulf, particularly from the Prawn Trawl Fishery. In December, some were available at the Queen Victoria Market, but I had to search for them. Around the same time, I discovered the T.O.M.S Sustainable Seafood stall at the South Melbourne Market. This small stall offers a limited selection of certified MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) and FOS (Friend of the Sea) seafood. I purchased sustainable prawns from Queensland from this stall.
I buy green peeled prawns to cook, those that are sold with their tails.
Spaghetti with Prawns and Zucchini sprinkled with pangrattato
Last year I purchased a spiraliser, which transforms zucchini into strands similar to spaghetti. I found the device enjoyable initially but the novelty wore off. It is stored in a cupboard in a spare room, so it is out of sight and out of mind. Prior to using the spiraliser, I used sliced zucchini, which provided the same taste but a different appearance.
Spiralizer and Zucchini spaghetti shapes
When I use the spiralizer, rather than short pasta I use spaghetti to compliment the long strands of zucchini.
Zucchini strands/ spaghetti
What makes this pasta and zucchini dish ultra special is the topping of toasted breadcrumbs – an embellished “mollica” or “pangrattato” – breadcrumbs made with day old bread and made golden in a hot frypan in olive oil. To this I add pine nuts, a little cinnamon, sugar and grated lemon peel – flavours of Sicily.
Pangrattato ready for the cooked dish
RECIPE for fried breadcrumbs (often called mollica or pangrattato in Italian) use 1-3 day old good quality white bread (crusty bread, sourdough or pasta dura).
The term for breadcrumbs, in Italianispane grattugiato/ grattato – it means grated bread. Mollica is the white inside part of the bread.
Remove crust, break into pieces, place into a food processor and make into coarse crumbs. They can also be crumbled with fingertips or grated. You will need about 1 cup.
Heat about ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan and add breadcrumbs . Stir continuously on low temperature until they are just beginning to colour.
Add 1/2 cup pf pine nuts and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, stir until the nuts and breadcrumbs are an even, light golden brown.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and grated peel of one small lemon.
Remove from the pan when they are ready otherwise they will continue to cook; set aside until you wish to use them. they can be made and stored in a glass jar with a lid in the fridge up to a week.
A mezza luna cuts parsley and garlic very efficiently
RECIPE: Spaghetti with Prawns and Zucchini
For 6 people
400g spaghetti
extra-virgin olive oil
4 green zucchini, use spiralizer or sliced thinly
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
600g green prawns, peeled
a large handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped finely
salt and pepper to taste
Add some olive oil in a large frying pan on high heat. Add the zucchini, salt and pepper and cook until slightly softened. Remove from the pan and place them aside. If the zucchini have released liquid drain the liquid and set aside.
Add more olive oil to the same pan and on high heat add the garlic and prawns. Toss them around until they begin to colour. Add the parsley, a little salt and pepper and cook until the prawns are cooked and the parsley has wilted.
Cook the pasta.
Sometimes the prawns release liquid. If this is the case remove the prawns and set them aside and evaporate the liquid to concentrate the flavours. The zucchini juice can also be added to be evaporated.
Once the juice has been reduced, add the prawns and zucchini and heat through.
Dress the drained pasta.
Serve with the pangrattato sprinkled on top. Add torn basil or mint leaves for visual effect and a fresh taste.
Round zucchini
Another simple pasta and zucchini recipe (posted in 2009):
TROTA CON OLIVE VERDI, LIMONE E ACCIUGHE – Pan fried trout with green olives, lemon slices and anchovies, is one of my favourite ways to cook trout. I also used the same ingredients to pan fry other types of fish.
Anchovies are one of the quiet flavour builders of Sicilian cooking. Rather than standing out, they melt gently into olive oil, adding a rich savoury depth that enhances fish without overpowering its delicate flavour. In Sicily, anchovies are often tucked into slashes cut into whole fish before cooking or dissolved in oil to create a simple but intensely flavoured sauce.
Because trout has soft, flaky flesh, I prefer not to slash the fish. Instead, I let the anchovies slowly dissolve in the pan with the olive oil before adding the trout, allowing their flavour to infuse the fish as it cooks.
Green olives and lemon are classic Mediterranean companions to fish, bringing brightness and a gentle acidity that balance the richness of the anchovies. For this recipe I have added fresh sage. Although sage is more commonly associated with veal and pork than with Sicilian fish dishes, I enjoy its earthy fragrance with trout. If you prefer a more traditional Sicilian flavour, rosemary is an excellent alternative.
Use good quality olives, green or light brown (not too processed or ripe).
RECIPE: TROTA CON OLIVE VERDI, LIMONE E ACCIUGHE – Pan fried trout with green olives, lemon slices and anchovies
INGREDIENTS
Whole fish, one large trout (for 2-3 people)
lemons, 1-2 whole – ends trimmed, sliced into thick circles
extra virgin olive oil, 2-3 tablespoons
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
anchovies, 3-6 cut finely
green olives, a couple of tablespoons, well drained
sage or rosemary
Trout with olives, lemon and anchovies
PROCESS
Prepare the fish – clean, dry and stuff a few herbs in the cavity.
Add a little oil (about one tablespoon depending on your pan) to the frying pan and over medium heat. Add the lemon slices and pan fry them until lightly browned – turn once. In order to brown the lemon slices they should not be overcrowded so you may need to pan fry them in two batches.
Remove the lemon slices from the pan with the oil and any of the juices.
Added to trout are fried lemon slices
Add a little more oil to the fry pan, heat it and add the anchovies. Stir them around in the pan over medium-low heat until they dissolve.
Add the trout. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (remember that the anchovies are salty) and add the sage. Pan fry the fish on both sides and only turn once.
Add the olives half way the cooking.
Toss the slices of lemon and the juices back in the pan and heat through.
I once cooked this dish for friends in Paris.
Smeg fridge – Dolce&Gabbana
When I was in Paris a couple of months ago I saw this hand painted Fridge in a store window. This fridge is part of Sicily is my Love, a colourful collaboration by Smeg fridges and Dolce&Gabbana’s signature decorative style. Each of the 100 fridges illustrate Sicilian folklore in bold, vibrant colour and are hand-painted by Sicilian artists. They were released during the Milan Design Fair, Salone del Mobile di Milano in 2016.
Sea urchins and they are now available (July) at the Queen Victoria Market at George The Fish Monger.
They are called ricci in Italy (di mare means from the sea) and are considered a culinary delicacy – the two most common ways to eat them are very fresh and raw with a squeeze of lemon juice (like oysters) or in a dressing for pasta. The roe (the edible part) is never cooked directly – it is much too delicate in flavor and consistency. In the pasta dish it is the hot, cooked pasta that warms (and ‘cooks’) the roe – flip and toss the roe over and over until all of the ingredients of the pasta sauce are evenly distributed.
PESCE CRUDO,RAW FISH IN SICILY, AND THE ISLAND’S FISH MARKETS
Eating raw fish- pesce crudo – is a serious business in Sicily – of course, it is also cooked in many ways.
Pesce Crudo in Sicily
Pesce crudo has long been part of Sicily’s coastal food culture. Fresh fish is treasured on the island and enjoyed in countless ways—grilled, baked, fried, stewed and, increasingly, served raw.
Today, raw seafood appears on menus throughout Sicily, but traditionally it was rarely eaten completely untreated. Instead, it was first marinated in fresh lemon juice before being dressed with extra virgin olive oil. This simple preparation is known as condito in Italian or cunzato in Sicilian, allowing the freshness of the fish to remain the star.
One of the best examples is fresh anchovies. After being cleaned, filleted and trimmed, they are left to marinate in lemon juice for several hours. The acidity of the lemon gently changes the texture of the flesh, a process often described as “cooking” the fish without heat.
In Sicily, these marinated anchovies are sometimes called anchive cotti d’a lumia—anchovies “cooked by the lemon”. Once drained, they need little more than a generous drizzle of excellent extra virgin olive oil to become a perfect antipasto.
Fresh sardines
Beyond Tuna and Swordfish
For generations, tuna and swordfish were the fish most commonly served raw in Sicily, particularly as appetisers. Today, however, Sicilian chefs are embracing a much wider range of seafood.
Influenced by international cuisines and contemporary dining trends, they prepare many varieties of local fish and shellfish as pesce crudo. Yet the philosophy remains unmistakably Sicilian: start with exceptionally fresh seafood and treat it with restraint.
Writing About Sicilian Pesce Crudo
I was commissioned to write an article on Sicily’s pesce crudo for Great British Chefs, a food multimedia company that publishes recipes and other culinary content via its website. Great British Chefs has expanded into Italy with Great Italian Chefs, and the article published on their website is titled PESCE CRUDO.
No matter how beautifully the fish is presented, it all begins with extraordinary ingredients.
Palermo Fish market, swordfish and tuna are among the treasures of Sicily’s fish markets
Sicily’s Fish Markets
One of my greatest pleasures in Sicily is wandering through its fish markets. They are lively, colourful places where fishermen, fishmongers, chefs and local shoppers gather each morning in search of the day’s catch.
Although there are excellent fish markets throughout the island, the famous market beside Piazza del Duomo in Catania is one of Sicily’s finest. The sounds of vendors calling to customers, the scent of the sea and the dazzling displays of seafood create an unforgettable experience.
The stalls are filled with remarkable variety—from octopus, squid, cuttlefish and shellfish to sea urchins, edible seaweeds and the celebrated gamberi rossi (Sicilian red prawns). Buckets teem with live seafood, shells glisten in the sunlight and every display reflects the freshness that Sicilian cooks insist upon.
Swordfish and tuna remain the undisputed centrepieces. Whole swordfish are often displayed upright, their long bills pointing skyward, while enormous tuna are expertly broken down before customers’ eyes. Every cut is carefully displayed, reflecting the Sicilian respect for using the whole fish and providing unmistakable proof of its freshness.
Whether you enjoy pesce crudo in a seaside restaurant or prepare it yourself at home, Sicily reminds us that outstanding seafood needs very little embellishment. Freshness, good olive oil, lemon and restraint are often all that is required.
The famous fish market in Catania, where Sicily’s freshest seafood arrives each morning.
I have always enjoyed fish markets in Sicily.
Fresh Squid as sold in Markets in Sicily
This is a small segment from the article PESCE CRUDO:
Walking through the fish markets in Sicily is always a joy; the hustle and bustle of locals seeking out the best produce among the colourful stalls and traders is what makes the island such a charming place. There is more than one fish market in Catania, but the principal market in the southwest of the Cathedral Square is one of the largest in Sicily. However, wherever you are on the island will never be too far from fresh fish.
Sicily’s fish markets have vast, colourful, varied displays of exotic specimens such as sea urchins and edible algae to the more conventional octopus, squid, tuna and swordfish. Small, live fish swim circles in buckets of sea water, snails crawl about and all types of shellfish, especially the gamberi rossi (red prawns of Sicily), look dazzling. You know the fish is fresh – their shells and scales glisten in the sun.
Swordfish and tuna, the traditional staples of Sicilian cuisine, are the centrepieces of the market stalls. They are often displayed whole, the swordfish bill like a spear thrusting upwards. At other times, their massive round carcasses lie like a trunk on the fishmonger’sbench, while the tuna is sliced vertically and horizontally before being filleted along the length of its spine, while all its parts are laid out, testifying to its freshness.
The photos in this article were taken over my numerous trips to Sicily (Thank you also to Bob Evans and Angela Tolley). Some of these photos are in my book Sicilian Seafood Cooking.
Catania Fish MarketFish can be presented in an elegant manner.
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