Sicilian food

Today’s article is about Italian regional recipes. In particular I’m going to write about Sicilian food.

Sicilian food is incredibly rich since it brings with it all the traces that all the different cultures that have inhabited the island have left – Greek, Arab, Spanish, etc.

So, it’s pretty difficult to choose only some Sicilian recipes to present in this article. Thus, I’ve decided to present the ones I believe to be the most famous.

ARANCINI

Arancini are absolutely my favourite Sicilian food.

In Sicily, arancini are traditionally prepared the 13th of December for the feast of Saint Lucy. The reasons why arancini are eat during this feast are unclear. Some people believe that it’s a way to celebrate the end of a big famine that took place in 1646. In fact, the 13th of December 1646, a grain supply ship entered the Sicilian arbour, providing Sicilians with some food to eat.

However, due to the increasing popularity of this dish, nowadays arancini are cooked all the year.

The name of this dish comes from their shape and colour after they have been cooked. Indeed, in Italian arancini means little oranges.

Arancini are fried croquettes made with rice and filled with different ingredients.

There are many versions of them. The most traditional recipe is arancini filled with ragu sauce, mozzarella and peas, but you can find also arancini filled with ham and cheese, arancini filled with mushrooms, arancini filled with aubergines, and so on.

If you want to try to cook arancini at home, here’s a video recipe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDAbKAjXzu8

PARMIGIANA

Parmigiana is another typical Sicilian food – although also the reagion of Campania claims to have created it.

This Italian dish is known almost all over the world.

Its structure is similar to that of lasagna. Indeed, parmigiana is made with fried sliced aubergines layered with cheese and tomato sauce.  

Athough in America, the name parmigiana is linked with another dish – chicken parmigiana – in Italy this food doesn’t exist. The only parmigiana available in Italy is the one made with aubergines.

The recipe of parmigiana is very simple to prepare at home. Here’s a video:

SICILIAN PIZZA

Pizza is one of the most famous Italian dishes in the world. However, how many of you did know that in Italy there’s also a pizza made in Sicily that is different from all the other pizzas you’ll find in Italy?

Sicilian pizza, also called sfincione, is a typical Sicilian food mainly cooked in Palermo.

Sicilian pizza is generally a street food. It’s usually rectangular and it’s topped with both caciocavallo cheese and a sauce made of tomato sauce, onions, anchovies and herbs.

If you want to try to cook it, here is a recipe of Sicilian pizza.

CASSATA

Cassata is a typical Sicilian dessert. This Sicilian food consists of a sponge cake moistened with liqueur or fruit juices and layered with sheep ricotta cheese, and candied fruits. Cassata is then covered with marzipan and other eatable decorative elements.

Here is the recipe:

CANNOLI

Cannoli are another famous Sicilian dessert. Cannoli are made with a fried tube-shaped pastry dough filled with some sheep ricotta-based cream.

The filling can be made with many different ingredients. It can be made with ricotta cheese, ricotta cheese and chocolate drops, ricotta cheese and pistachio nuts, and so on.

The recipe of cannoli isn’t difficult. So, if you want to cook cannoli at home, here’s a video recipe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6I8gtPHFP0

 

Did you already know Sicilian food? What’s your favourite Sicilian dish?

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Credits

Original image by TesaPhotography