The Cannolo. Sweet of Carnival

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One of the most famous Sicilian sweets is the Cannolo. Born as sweet typical carnival, now is in the pastry shops in all the days of the year, even in smaller size "the Cannulicchi".

The Cannolo takes its name from the word "canna", which is a shrub with cylindrical stem and empty, but in Sicily is also an old kind of tap. This sweet was invented in a monastery in Palermo, where a priest made a joke of the carnival, he filled one of those taps with cream of ricotta instead of water. No one knows the effect it had this innocent joke for who expected a sip of water and instead saw the white cream, but surely the invention of the famous dessert was the most noble effect.

Cannolo consists of a "scorcia" (peel), the wafer is cylindrical and brown, fried in "Saimi" (lard) with a filling of cream cheese from sheep. Not forgetting the typical baroque style, is adorned with bits of candied fruit.
The cannoli are now exported outside the borders of our island, in this case, the wafer is coated inside with chocolate, you need not to lose its special friability with direct contact with the ricotta. In other cases the ricotta is seasoned with candied fruit, but in the "Cannolo of Palermo" the candied fruit is just a gasket, ricotta is enriched with slivers of chocolate.

The Sicilian Cannolo is in all the pastry of Palermo (and Sicily), but all recognize that the best cannoli are located in Piana degli Albanesi, a small town just 24 km from Palermo, founded in 1488 by a group of Albanian refugees fleeing to 'the Turkish army. A very nice place to visit and to discover the particular traditions, its history, and to taste the cannoli biggest and best of Sicily. A Piana during the Carnival there is an annual festival of cannolo, this year will be on 10 February, they will distribute approximately 10,000 free cannoli, is really a beautiful experience!

Here's the recipe:

The recipe I have chosen to publish is the original of Piana degli Albanesi, where lard is used for the dough for the fry of the "scorcia". Some, however, replaced the lard, by using butter (for the dough) and olive oil (for frying).Vegetarians who prefer not to eat the animal fat, can make this change or if they want to eat in one of the renowned pastry of Palermo, must first ask some information. To make the shape of cannolo are requires 10 cylinders of bamboo canes, metal or wood (12 cm long and 3 cm in diameter), lightly anointed with oil.

photo of Jude Witts

For the wafer (scorcia):

200 g of flour, 2 teaspoons of sugar, 20 gr. of lard, 2 tablespoons of Marsala, 2 teaspoons of cocoa, a pinch of salt.

For the filling:

1 kg of fresh sheep's ricotta cheese, 600 gr. sugar, 1 sachet of vanilla, dark chocolate little pieces, 100 gr. of candied orange peel.

Mix the flour with lard, the Marsala, sugar and a pinch of salt and mix well, you get a soft and compact dough. It stand for half an hour. Flatten the dough with a rolling pin and make thin squares of 10 cm per side, which wrapped diagonally around a cylinder of metal or a stick of wood.
Welded the flaps of the dough with a drop of water and fry in a frying pan in hot oil (or lard). Put in absorbent paper and expect to be cold before you very carefully remove the cylinder that keeps its shape.
Mix the ricotta with the sugar and vanilla. Put it in blender and then add the little pieces of chocolate and mix gently.

Finally fill the wafer of Cannolo with ricotta cream and garnish with slices of orange or candied cherries. Sprinkle the Cannoli with powdered sugar.

Dreaming the sea...

These are pictures taken at the natural reserve of Capo Gallo, near Barcarello (Sferracavallo). A very nice path between Monte Gallo and the sea, near Palermo (10/15 minutes by car). When we want to relax a bit, let's go for a walk in this beautiful place to dream, makes us feel in touch with nature and with ourselves.
Soon after, however, we are going to eat a nice sandwich with panelle or the meusa, or a plate of spaghetti with clams or a risotto with seafood in the nearby village of Sferracavallo, because as I have repeatedly written, over the spirit also has important the stomach !
In the near post I will write something more about the natural reserves that surround us and the village of Sferracavallo, but now I see these pictures and expect a good day for the next walk ...

PASTA ALLA CARRETTIERA

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This dish is a very simple and tasty, is part of the traditional vegetarian cuisine of Sicily. Of course the result also depends on the freshness and quality of products and maybe even a nice view of the sea, then eat this pasta in Sicily is another thing ...

Palermo, Barcarello

Ingredients:
A kg of ripe tomatoes, 3 cloves of garlic, red pepper, basil (someone replace it with parsley), extra-virgin olive oil, salt, optional addition of grated cheese (pecorino or ricotta salata). Spaghetti or bucatini (400gr).

Preparation:
Wash the tomatoes and peel (to facilitate the operation make some superficial cuts and put in a pot with boiling water for a few minutes) and remove the seeds. In a bowl, cut into pieces and add the chopped garlic cloves (remove the sprout inside) and the chopped basil. Add oil, salt and red pepper and let rest for at least an hour.

Cook pasta, place it in a bowl with the dressing and mix. If you want you can add the grated cheese.

Are you vegetarian? You can eat in Palermo!

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The cuisine of Palermo, is full of alternatives for those who wish not to eat meat or fish, due to the fact that it is a poor cooking it's great use of vegetables seasoned in various ways.

And now a list of traditional vegetarian dishes that you can taste in Palermo without giving up the taste and tradition:

Starters:
Melenzane parmigiana, caponata, peperonata, pumpkins in sweet and sour, eggplant cutlets, omelette with zucchini flowers, peppers stuffed with breadcrumbs, cheese, raisins and pine nuts.

First courses:
Pasta alla Norma: with tomato sauce and fried eggplant.
Pasta with macco: pasta with a sort of mashed fava beans
Pasta with broccoli arriminati (attention if there are anchovies)
Pasta alla carrettiera
Pasta alla Trapanese.
Pasta with sardines ... "Overboard."

Fast food:
Cardoons, artichokes and broccoli in the batter.
Bread with Panelle and crocchè.
Sfincione (attention to the anchovy).
Arancine with and spinach (not to be misled by those known as "butter" because it contains ham too), mini pizzas.

Seconds:
Vegetarian pizza, vegetable couscous.

Desserts:
All non-fried in lard. Cassata, cassatina, Gelo di Mellone , ice-cream and slush.


There are many places where you can find all these beautiful varieties.
At our favorite restaurant "L'Antica trattoria al Monsù", they make a good Pasta alla Norma and a fantastic caponata.
A vegetarian restaurant that now prepare dishes with meat and fish (so is ok for all) is "Il Mirto e la rosa".
As for the fast food of Palermo, the city is full, simply appoint "L' Antica focacceria San Francesco", "Franco u Vastiddaru", "Nino u ballerinu", "the cuochini", etc.
Those who love the fruit, can go the fruit kiosk at Cala.
For sweets and ice cream, the choice is very wide.

Brociolone o Falsomagro

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The brociolone, also said falsomagro is a dish of meat that is tipical of the traditional cuisine of Palermo, spread thereafter throughout Sicily (with variations).

Prepared for the most important feasts, and generally is on our dinner tables for Christmas or New Year.It is a dish that rises during the Aragonese domain, but that was already present during the previous Angevin domain.

His name, in Sicilian dialect "farsumagro" which has become Italianized falsomagro, comes from the French " farci de maigre ", stuffed of lean. This name was erroneously interpreted as "false lean".The story of this dish is interesting because in some ways is an anomaly in our kitchen, showing once again, the imagination and great culinary art of the "Monsù" in make rich some dishes originally poor.

The meat is not a typical specialties of the cuisine of Palermo, because there were not(and there are not) rich pastures, and oxen were used mainly to plow the land. So the meat was fibrous and hard. Thus the Monsù enriched the meat with these tasty fillings, to make them tasty for the table of French nobles.

As I have said there are many variations, this recipe is one of the more traditional.

Ingredients:

A single slice of beef around 800gr, so having a thickness of 1 cm, 200 gr of mortadella, salami 200 gr, 100 gr of fresh caciocavallo cut into pieces (or provola), 400gr breadcrumbs, 50 gr of grated caciocavallo, onion, raisins, pine nuts, parsley, 4 boiled eggs, 1 bottle of tomato sauce, 1 glass of red wine, frozen peas, oil , salt and pepper.

Preparation:
Fry half chopped onion in olive oil . Extinguish the fire, add the bread crumbs, grated cheese, raisins previously soaked in water, pine nuts, parsley, salt, pepper and olive oil in abundance, salami and fresh caciocavallo cubes. Make a soft dough.

Flesh fly, add salt and pepper, if you want you can put the butter. Lay the slices of mortadella (alternatively you could use the mortadella into pieces to the stuffing). Distribute the compound previously prepared, creating a sort of central sulcus and add the boiled eggs. Wrap and tie well with kitchen twine.
Bake in a pan uncovered over low heat, with oil and onion previously sliced, mix occasionally. This proceeding is said inPalermo 'ngranciare.
When the onion is soft, pour the wine and let evaporate. Then add the tomato sauce and cook over low heat, being careful if the sauce is too dense.

When is cooked remove from sauce the brociolone , wait when is cool, unlinking, cut sliced not too thin and put it on a platter scope.
Add the peas into the sauce, cook for about 10 minutes. Pour the sauce over the slices of brociolone.

Buccellato, Sweet Christmas

In Palermo the sweet for Christmas is the Buccellato or cucciddatu. Is apparently a simple cake, made with pastry, but it contains within itself flavors that speak of Sicily. Figs, raisins, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts, orange etc.
The form generally is a donut, decorated with honey and pistachios or from icing sugar. I buccellatini (small pieces of buccellati)are also covered in white icing sugar and colored sugar "diavoletti".

This cake originates from the country world, perhaps from the "panificatus" of the Old Romans, its name is derived from the Latin "buccellatum" bread cut in pieces.
As for the filling, you can think of Arab origin since it is an association of traditional flavors of this cuisine.

There are several recipes Buccellato, where there may be slight variations in both the dough (you can use butter or lard, some people put ammonia, but I do not recommend), some people in the filling joins all the ingredients with jam, others with honey, some with an egg yolk, some people add chocolate, cinnamon or cloves. The decor may vary too..

Ingredients:

500 gr. 00 of flour, 300 gr. butter, 200 gr. sugar, 3 eggs, 1 dl milk, half cup of Marsala wine, 300 gr. figs, 200 gr. raisins, 100g. of sultana raisins, 150 gr. shelled walnuts, 30 gr. of pine nuts, 30 gr. of candied orange peel, 100 gr. candied pumpkin, chocolate fondant to 50gr flakes, 150gr of toasted almonds, orange marmalade, a pinch of cinnamon.

Procedure:

kneading the flour, sugar, butter, eggs and milk. When everything is well amalgamated, let stand for about an hour in the refrigerator.

For the filling grind dried figs, sultanas, raisins, tree nuts, pine nuts, the orange peel, pumpkin, almonds, mix and put on fire along with the Marsala wine for about ten minutes. Outside the fire add three tablespoons of orange marmalade and allow to cool.

Pave the dough (1 cm thick) into a rectangle, place the stuffing, distribute the flakes of chocolate and wrap-shaped donut. Affect the surface with cuts that show the filling.
The Buccellato must be placed on a floured baking dish, in preheated oven at 180 ° for about half an hour. You can then garnish in several ways:
Dissolve 4-5 tablespoonfuls of honey, put it on the surface of the
Buccellato to make it glossy and garnish with candied fruit mixture.

Put on the surface of the Buccellato, a tablespoon of orange marmalade dissolved in water, then sprinkle with chopped pistachios and put in the oven for another five minutes.
Put on the surface of the Buccellato icing sugar.

The choice is yours
Allow to cool and good appetite!

"The Cuccìa of Saint Lucia"

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The "Cuccia” is the typical sweet of feast of Saint Lucia (13 December)

Traditional recipe with cream of ricotta:

Ingredients: 500gr of wheat, 200gr of icing sugar, 1.5 kg of fresh ricotta, candied fruit 50gr (preferably cedar,orange or pumpkin) cut into pieces, 200gr of dark chocolate.
Processing: Prepare the grain: put in a pot with cold water for three days, changing the water continuously. The evening before the feast, cook the grain in a saucepan covered with water, add a pinch of salt, drain well.

Prepare cream: to sieve (you can also pass it with the blender) the ricotta, add the sugar and mix well, break the chocolate into small pieces, add the cream of ricotta and candied fruit, chocolate pieces and mix gently (someone also adds cinnamon).
Finally add the wheat. You can also store in the refrigerator.

Recipe with milk cream:

Ingredients: 500gr of wheat, 120gr starch, 1 liter and a half of milk, 200gr sugar, 200gr of dark chocolate,50gr candied fruit into pieces.
Processing: Prepare wheat as above.

For cream, dissolve the starch in cold milk, stirring with a whisk, cook over low heat, stirring constantly. Turn off the fire as soon as it is thickened. Add the grain. Allow to cool and add the chocolate reduced in little pieces and candied fruit pieces.
This is a base for other types of creams, chocolate, cream yellow and so on.

"The Gattò" of potatoes

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The "Gattò" is a typical dish that is eaten in Palermo for the day of Saint Lucia (13 December)

Ingredients:

2 kg of potatoes old, 2 eggs, 50gr grated cheese(caciocavallo or parmesan), parsley, breadcrumbs, olive oil.
For the filling: 500gr of chopped, 1 tin of tomatoes peeled, 200gr for frozen peas, 1 onion, nutmeg, 1 bay leaf, half a glass of wine.

Processing:

Boil the potatoes with the peel. When they are cooked and still hot, peel and crush them. Add two eggs, cheese and shredded parsley. Knead well, if it appears too soft, add breadcrumbs.

For the filling: fry in oil extra virgin olive, a minced onion, add the chopped, then add the wine. After some minutes add the pulp of peeled tomatoes.
Add the nutmeg and add a bay leaf and salt and pepper according to taste. Far cook for about 30 minutes. Then add peas and let cook until they will not be soft. At this point, anoint with oil a baking dish and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Divide into two parts the mixture of potatoes, with one part cover the pan, season with the sauce, cover with the remaining dough. Anoint the surface of “Gattò” with oil and smooth with your hands, finally add breadcrumbs. Put in hot oven at 180 degrees for about 45 minutes.
Bon appetit

Sfinci home-made (swit for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception)

The home-made sfinci are a typical sweet for the feast of the Immaculate Conception (8 December)


Recipe:

ingredients:

150gr of flour 0, 300gr of boiled potatoes, 25gr yeast (for bread), water, 1 tablespoon of sugar.

Mix in a container tall (the batter will rise by volume) flour, boiled potatoes and previously crushed and the tablespoon of sugar. Add water a little at a time forming a thick but soft dough, add to end the yeast, knead vigorously. Cover the container with a cloth and let rise for at least half an hour. Put in a pan abundant oil extra virgin olive oil. When is very hot pour the batter a spoonful at a time. When they are ready put in a tray with paper, and then pass them in a container with sugar to cover the entire surface.

The day of Saint Martin

San Martino and the so-called "summer of San Martino" in Palermo are celebrated with cakes and wine. Not everyone know the history of this saint, but the opportunity to to eat much is not lost.


The rich people celebrate the Saint the 11th of November (San Martino of the rich), the poorest were looking for the following Sunday to celebrate (San Martino of the poor), the most gluttonous celebrate both days!



In Palermo in this day we eat three types of cookies, the simplest are the triccotti, round shape and flavored by fennel seeds. These cookies are very hard and we eat with the wine Moscato, a sweet wine made from grapes inzolia.

The same cookie (with a dough slightly 'softer), is drenched in rum and seasoned in two different versions. One is with ricotta and chocolate and covered with sugar veiled.

The other version seem a decorative element of a Baroque church! It contains the jam, is covered with white or pink frosting, adorned by sweet almond, from chocolates wrapped and silver decorations.



The day of San Martino in Palermo, but not only, was celebrated in the years because it coincided with pre and rural cults, which celebrated the last warm days before winter, which was called the summer of San Martino.



Furthermore, the name of this saint was linked to the production of wine, because around early November is produced the new wine. Hence the saying " in San Martino every must is wine." Became a good opportunity to taste the wine in the many taverns of the city, and drank to accompany boiled eggs, fried cardoons or biscuits.

In these beautiful days you could still eat outdoors roast beef, pork, sausage and drink so good wine! All this has made the holy very "friendly" and "famous" in the eyes of people from Palermo, that even in poverty, have in them the desire to celebrate and eat in the company of family and friends!

Some biographical to remember who was Martin of Tours.

Martin was a Roman soldier (not baptized). During one of his expeditions met a beggar with whom shared his cloak. During the night he had a vision in which Jesus returned him the mantle, why he don’t take cold (the mantle may also be a symbol of a more warm night) and praised him with the Angels because despite he was not baptized he had covered the beggar (that was the same Jesus). Next day Martino shocked by this vision is baptized, became Monaco and his work was mainly to convert to Christianity the people of Galli, to preach and to destroy pagan temples.

sacred images in Palermo

Capone apparecchiato

It is an ancient dish of the kitchen of Monsù, which elaborated a special sweet and sour sauce (based on philosophical concepts of harmony and balance), which had pre Islamic origins. With this sauce French cooks seasoning dishes of meat or fish, putting together ( "appareiller") ingredients. The fish was the capone, a fish that's in our fishmongers in autumn.

The sweet and sour sauce is the same that is used to season the famous eggplant caponata, a delicious dish that is part of the poor kitchen (in fact in this case, slices of capone were replaced by cheaper pieces of eggplant). It is possible that the name caponata origins from the original plate capone, although there are several hypotheses about the origin of the name caponata.

Ingredients:

1kg of fish, celery, 50gr of capers, 100 gr.of green olives, 1 onion, extra virgin olive oil, 100gr. tomato concentrate (you can also use peeled tomatoes), salt and pepper, 1 tablespoon sugar, 3 tablespoons of wine vinegar.

Recipe: Clean and cut into pieces the capone. Clean the celery and cook in boiling water. Rinse the capers. Wash, pitted and cut into pieces olives. Chop the onion. In a saucepan fry the onion in olive oil. Add the tomato concentrate diluted with a little water, chopped celery, salt and pepper, and cook in moderate flame.

While the sauce cooks, pass into flour the slices of capone and fry in a pan with olive oil hot. When they are ready, put them on a plate covered with absorbent paper. Add to the sauce, olives, capers, vinegar and sugar, cook for a few minutes, until the vinegar is evaporated. Add the fish and cook for a few minutes. This dish is better cold.

I prefer transform the red Halloween pumpkin in this way…

"Ficatu di sette cannola." (Pumpkin in sweet and sour)
“Liver of the Sette cannola neighbourhood”

This is a dish of the "palermitana poor cuisine". It was born from the processing of a more "rich" dish, cooked by the Monsù (refined chefs who cooked for the noble French), the main ingredient of this dish was liver (breaded and fried).

Probably in the neighborhood of “sette cannola”, where the poorest people rarely ate meat (though it was offal), some good housewives of Palermo came to know of this delicious dish and so decided to reinvent itself, replacing the liver with a cheaper ingredient, pumpkin red. The result will envy the best Monsù!

500 grams of red pumpkin, olive oil, 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 2 cloves of garlic, mint, pepper, salt

Peel the pumpkin and remove the red part with the seeds (if you like, the seeds can be dried in the sun and transformed into what we call "semenza"). Cut it into slices and a cm thick. Fry the pumpkin slices in olive oil on a slow fire, turned gently (will take a brown color). Add the cloves of garlic cut into slices. When the pumpkin are just fried, you must remove the excess oil, raise the heat, and pour over the vinegar (which will be done dissolve a teaspoon of sugar). When vinegar has evaporated, put them in a plate and add salt, pepper and especially mint leaves. Let cool is more tasty!

Traditions in November

In Palermo every month, we have a good reason to lay the table for a banquet!

The month’s of Novembre starts with the feast of “all Saints”, but the most important feast is the day after, the 2th of November, The celebration of the deads, that we call “la festa dei morti”.

In the past, during this day, in the morning the people of Palermo, went to the Cemetery and they taked with them “a muffuletta” a bread with oil of olives, anchovies, salt and pepper, to eat fast in the oper air.

During the day the people of Palermo eat many kind of sweet things, tetù, reginelle biscuit with sesame,

the fruit of Martorana (Marzipan),

and the “pupa a ciera”, puppet of sugar.

The families prepared a basket full of these sweet things and many toys, and the child believed that was a present of the deads.

In November is important too the “Festa di San Martino”.
In Palermo we use to eat the “biscotti di San Martino”, hard biscuitz with aniseed to soak in the wine “Moscato”., or the same biscuits with cheese and chocolate, or with jam and icing, sugared almond, in a perfect Barocco Siciliano style!

photos by Judy Witts and Igor Scalisi

Palermo seen by us

Walking through the streets of our city, sometimes we remain impressed by some details that maybe until the day before, we had not noticed.

Some small hidden treasures, strange things camouflaged among the most common things that at first sight are those that prevail and affect the attention of a passing distracted.

Theatre Massimo

There are wealth deteriorated by the time, but still retain their charm, decadent churches,

decorated balconies, mysterious alleys,

walls marked by time or by phrases of love,

posters of saints and politicians.

Streets with strange names,

churches converted into shops, trees that hug,

or details of Monuments and Churches.

It is interesting to observe these small details,

follow a different path, be guided by the city. And in Palermo, really every corner can hide something mysterious, curious to see.

Theatre Massimo

Just be careful, forgetting for a moment the hectic life of the great city, let carried by the imagination.

Today, another “memorable day”

mercoledì 22 ottobre 2008

Massimo and I, with our friends Igor and Maria Pia, was again at the open market Capo, but this time with a group of 23 people from Kansas City-USA ( Slow Food KC ) to help our friend Jude to show them the market.They are really nice people and we spent a very beautiful morning.
We tasted many different kind of food, like the Frittola (beef bits cooked in the lard, that a man with a particular basket take and put in a piece of paper),

or the Sfincione ( a particular pizza, with tomato-sauce, onions, anchovies, cheese and bread crumbs), olives (green and black), and bread with spleen and cheese.

They really liked all!We see many kind of fruit, and fish, tables with bread,

counter with meet,

table with aromas (oregano, saffron, raisins, cinnamon, etc).

And finally we was in the pastry-shop

where we finded the “frutta martorana” (fruit of marzipan) and the “Pupa a cera” (puppet of sugar) typical during the day of the “Celebration of the Deads” (2th of November).

We see together the beautiful church of Sant’ Anna, in Barocco style, they was really impressed!

When we was out of the open market, we went at the “Antica trattoria del Monsù”,

and had a really good lunch with a rich Menù (pasta with anchovies, “pasta alla Norma” with tomato and aubergines, “panelle e cocchè”, “caponata” with aubergines and a particular

sweetand sour sauce, tripe, etc).

This was really a beautiful and rich of emotions day!

Evelin

photos by Igor Scalisi Palminteri and Judy Witts