Tag: Palermo

ZUCCA LUNGA SICILIANA – long, green variety of squash

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This squash, the green leaves and magnificent sprigs of basil were a gift from a Sicilian friend: her father grew them in his garden. I feel very privileged to be given these precious vegetables. They are not a vegetable that can be easily sourced; I have seen them only once at a market in Melbourne. 

in Sicilian this squash is called a cucuzza and in Italian I will call it a zucca lunga – long squash or zucca serpente – which is what it is, a long serpent like squash. The tender leaves and tendrils of this plant are called tenerumi and I have written about these previously because both are typically loved by Sicilians and commonly used to make a refreshing summer soup (it could also be classified as a wet pasta dish).

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MINESTRA ESTIVA CON ZUCCA LUNGA SICILIANA, Sicilian Summer soup made with the long, green variety of squash

FRESH PRODUCE (and I did not have to go to SICILY to buy it). The Melbourne Showgrounds Farmers Market

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This time I cooked the soup differently than usual. There was more zucca – I used the produce I was given and I also made it in the same pot (in the other recipe which contains more tenerumi and less zucca, two pans are used).

The next day, we ate the leftovers as a cold soup; it was just as good….and as traditional. It is summer after all.

INGREDIENTS
zucca lunga siciliana ( mine was about 25 cms long)
1 large spring onion, sliced
2-3 tomatoes, roughly cut
3 cups of vegetable broth (I used a broth cube, optional) or water
fresh basil leaves, a good handful
salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil,
1 cup of spaghetti (broken in small pieces)
PROCESSES
Cut the zucca in half, get rid of the seeds and cube it. 
Chop the tomatoes.
Sauté the onion in some olive oil for about 1 minute, add the zucca and continue to sauté for another 2-3 minutes.  
Add the tomatoes. 
Season with salt and pepper, add 2 cups of the stock, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the tenerumi, the rest of the stock and some of the basil; bring the contents to the boil.
Cook the pasta in the same pot; add the pasta and cook it until it is al dente.
Add more basil, a drizzle of your best extra virgin olive oil and serve.

I appreciate this soup’s fresh taste and I sprinkled only a few chilli flakes on top (or use black pepper.)

 

LAYERED SARDINES (CROSTATA DI SARDINE)

Sicilian cuisine includes many recipes for sardines layered and baked, often referred to as a crostata.

In one of Ruth Rogers and Rose Grey’s Cookbooks – River Café Two – they call their layered sardine recipe: Strati di sardine (from strata, a layer). Their recipe is with breadcrumbs, zest of 2 lemons, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil, chillies and parsley. In their recipe the sardines are not fried beforehand.

A CROSTATA DI SARDE

My recipe also has raisins and includes juice of a lemon and an orange and I call my layered sardines a Crostata di sarde. The stuffing is very similar to that of sarde a beccafico, but in this recipe there is no rolling of the sardines – much less arduous to prepare. A crostata is a tart and the sardines are topped with breadcrumbs; this forms a crust when baked (the word for crust in Italian is crosta).

The term “crostata” originally referred to anything with a “crusted” appearance, and the modern tart is known for being more rustic and less fussy than a traditional pie. 

There are plenty of sardines in Australia, they are wild-caught and mainly fished in WA near Fremantle, Hervey Bay in Queensland, and increasingly in South Australia – this makes them available for most of the year.

This crostata can also be eaten cold. You can see how when it is accompanied with a simple salad, it could be a fabulous light meal.

The recipe for Sarde a Beccafico is included below and  the addition of nuts in this recipe is also encouraged.

This recipe is for 4 people.

INGREDIENTS
sardines, fillets, double,12 – estimate 3 per person
extra virgin olive oil, ¾ cup
flat leaf parsley, 1 cup, cut finely
garlic, 3 cloves, chopped finely
salt and freshly ground, black pepper
fresh, bread crumbs, 150g , made from 1-3 day old good quality bread
lemon and orange, juice and zest from both
raisins, 50g
pine nuts, 150g
bay leaves, fresh, 10
PROCESSES
Mix the breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic, zest, pine nuts, seasoning and raisins together. Add a splash of olive oil.
Fry the sardines in some of the very hot oil, just enough time to crisp the skin. Do not overcrowd the fish in fry pan or they will poach rather than fry.
Drain on paper and set aside.
Oil a large baking dish that will accommodate all of the ingredients in three layers. Line it with 5 bay leaves.
Begin with a layer of the breadcrumb mixture; add a splash of oil next a layer of sardines (not overlapping and skin side up) then a splash of juice.
Cover the sardines with a sprinkling of the breadcrumbs mixture, and follow with a splash of olive oil.
Repeat with another layer of sardines and juices, finishing with the breadcrumbs and another splash of oil. Insert more bay leaves between some of the sardines.
Bake in a preheated oven (200°C) for about 20 minutes until a crust forms on top.
Bread shop in Palermo

This recipe  is inspired by my visit to Palermo

I recently saw an impressive exhibition at The Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane called 21st Century: Art in the First Decade (includes film, photography installations, sculpture, painting and drawing).

In a darkened room, I was mesmerised by a five-screen video installation about a perilous sea voyage. The passengers, worn and exhausted, were on a small, old boat, carrying only themselves. I hadn’t read the information tag, so I only recalled Australia’s asylum seekers and the tragic boat tragedies. I wondered about other lands. The small fishing boats and coastline resembled Sicily, and the refugees could be North African. The content was relevant to Sicily’s current situation on Lampedusa, an island in the Mediterranean Sea. I recognised the stairway of a Palermo hotel I had once stayed in.

This moving and relevant installation, called WESTERN UNION: Small Boats, was created by Isaac Julien, an English artist and filmmaker. Filmed in 35mm and transferred to video, it’s an allegorical account of the hazardous sea journeys of North African illegal immigrants who often wash up dead on Sicily’s shores.

I found this photo of me in the hotel where I stayed in Palermo. It has that  amazing staircase that is also featured in the film. And although Julien’s installation left me feeling sad, I also contemplated the beauty and excitement of Palermo: the eclectic architecture, which reflects several ruling cultures (Norman, Arab. Baroque); the street markets held in long, maze-like, narrow alleys, the piercing shrills of the sellers and the extraordinary array of produce.

 

PANELLE, PALERMO STREET FOOD-Chick pea fritters and the Antica Focacceria San Francesco

These photos were sent to me by one of my readers who lives in Philadelphia (it is very generous of her). They are shots of the small piazetta (small square) in front of the very famous and very old,  Antica Focacceria San Francesco in Palermo.

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Antica (old), Focacceria (where they sell focaccie) and San Francesco because it is opposite the church by that name. The eatery is famous for presenting traditional, local, street food – Palermo is recognised for this very ancient custom.

All around the streets of Palermo there are frigittorie (friggere is to fry, frigittorie (are where the foods are fried). Palermitani can be seen standing around eating and talking around these establishments which are usually just  no more than large vats of hot oil and a simple portable bench. Slices of eggplant, zucchini, artichokes, bits of pre cooked cauliflower are coated with pastella (batter) and deep fried. Cazzili (potato croquettes) pani ca’ muesa (panini stuffed with spleen) and sfinciuni (typical focaccie from Palermo) are also favourite street food.

In this small eatery, in the old part of town, in the warm months customers can enjoy their food in the piazzetta. I love the cart, much more decorated than can be seen in the streets (although the food, may not always be as good).

In Palermo, one street food specialties are panelle – made of chickpea flour, cooked like polenta or porridge, cooled, and then cut into slices and fried in olive oil.

Versions of chickpea flour fritters are also popular in Liguria and in the South of France. In Australia the flour is generally available in Indian and Middle- eastern stores.

INGREDIENTS
chickpea flour 200g,
water 3 ½ – 4 cups,
salt 1 teaspoon,
½ cup of chopped parsley (or wild fennel fronds)
extra-virgin olive oil,
½ cup for the mixture and more for frying
PROCESSES
Make a batter: mix 3½ cups water, salt, and the olive oil into the saucepan and gradually whisk in the chickpea flour until smooth. Add extra water if necessary – it should be the thickness of a batter.
Cook it over medium heat, stir constantly and continue to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan until the mixture is thick and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan (15 mins).
Pour the mixture into the oiled shallow pan (like a baking tin). Press it down and make it smooth on top. Rest it until it is completely cool and firm.
Cut into manageable pieces (large fingers) with a sharp knife, lift the cut pieces carefully and fry in very hot oil. Fry about 3 minutes on each side.
Drain on paper towels and serve warm.
Photo of panelle not from Antica Focacceria
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THE CHARLESTON Restaurant in Mondello (near Palermo)


Having been there on a previous trip to Sicily, we finally made it back to the famous Charleston Restaurant on the beach at Mondello. We did not enjoy our food as much as we expected.

However I did find the conversation that I had at the end of the meal with the waiter very interesting. I’ll get back to that.

The restaurant has changed hands in the last two years and the owner has decided that the Charleston’s menu of enduring, traditional favourites, needed refreshing. So alongside the menu Tradizionale, there is now a selection of dishes labelled Innovazione (Innovation).

Allowing ourselves to be rushed into ordering – fatal mistake – we thought we would honour the experiment and chose from the menu Innovazione. This after all was 2009 and I was ready for Innovation having appreciated the traditional food at this restaurant  at an earlier visit.

Good waiters recommend and advise – but maybe we looked too much like tourists who did not belong . We should not have been intimidated by the waiter standing at attention, pen poised over the pad, waiting to write our order. He looked impatient.

This is first of the innovative dishes I ate. It is called a Tououlet Con Verdure.
It is a small sformato (mould) of couscous topped with slices of very young squid (lightly pan fried) Surrounding it was a strong reduced fish sauce with some balsamic reduction for effect. The red blobs on the corners of the plate were the verdure (vegetables) and these were just sliced unseasoned tomatoes, which were not particularly tasty. It was a modern take on the traditional cous cous – the fish, the couscous, the concentrated fish stock – I had eaten an excellent the night before on the waterfront at Castellammare del Golfo. ( Broth, couscous and fish presented separately- traditional).

The rest of the food we ordered was just as unappealing. Where was the innovation?

The waiter who gave us the bill at the Charleston (there were several standing around and each had a different function but I have to say, little to do), when questioned about the quality of the food, admonished us for ordering from the menu Innovazione, as much to say we got what we deserved/ what did you expect. He explained the new owner’s demand for change, but said the menu Tradizionale was still the thing to eat at the Charleston, and that it was going to take the chefs another couple of years to get the innovations right .

Sicilians are good at cooking traditional dishes and these are what Sicilians like to eat. The menu in some restaurants may not look very exciting, but cooked well, the simple becomes a masterpiece. True…. and especially on this occasion.

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SFINCIONE DI PALERMO (A pizza/focaccia type pie)

One of my regular readers (from Philadelphia) is passionate about Sicily. She has sent me some wonderful photographs from her trip (mainly from Palermo) and she has very kindly given me permission to use them on my blog.

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I asked her about this particular photograph because I could not identify what was being served. The photo was taken in front of Antica Focacceria San Francesco during Sunday brunch (al fresco). The piazzetta in front of the Antica Focacceria is across from the wonderful church of Saint Francis of Assisi which has the sculpture of Serpotta.

She has identified it as a sfincione di Palermo. It is a type of focaccia /pizza sold in the streets of Palermo but also known in some other parts of the north- western part of the coast. There are many bread dough /focaccia like pastries made all over Sicily with different fillings and called by different names.( See  ‘MPANATA (A lamb pie, Easter treat)

Sfincione is definitely a recipe from Palermo. It has a bit of a unique appearance and is baked for a short time with about 1/2 of the sauce, then taken out of the oven and recovered with the remaining sauce, “dredged with fried bread crumbs” and baked again.

It is the bread crumbs in the end that give it the look.

A typical recipe for Sfincione is:
500 gr. bread dough, 500 gr. fresh tomatoes, 100 gr. fresh caciocavallo or provola cheese (cubed), 50 gr. pecorino (grated) 50 gr. bread crumbs, 4 anchovy fillets, 1 large onion, a bunch of parsley 125 ml olive oil.

Prepare a basic pizza dough using fresh or active dry yeast, warm water, a little salt and approx. 3 cups of good quality unbleached flour. Leave it to prove in a bowl covered it with a folded tea towel/ tablecloth for about an hour.
Work about 1 glass of olive oil and the grated cheese (the pecorino) into the leavened dough. Leave it to prove again till doubled in size.

The tomatoes are made into a salsa: soften the sliced onion until golden, then add the parsley and the peeled, chopped tomatoes. Simmer till thickened
(about 20 minutes). Allow to cool slightly.

Add the anchovies and the caciocavallo.

Oil a deep sided baking pan and spread out the dough to about 3cm thick. Using your fingers make a few depressions into the dough.

Pour half of the sauce over the dough and bake it in a hot oven. After about 15 minutes, pour on the remaining sauce and dredge with fried breadcrumbs.

Drizzle with a little more oil and bake it for about 30 minutes.

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