June 11, 2011
Early evening.
Vittoria, Sicily.
A man pedals by.
Sad.
Wistful.
Why?
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June 7, 2011 When you hear “Maltese food,” what do you think of? Come on, quick!!! Do you think honey rings? You should. (Made with black treacle. Mmm.)
Sample one outdoors at Caffè Cordina in Valletta, the place to see and be seen.
Do you think ftira?
Buy this flatbread piping hot from the oven, and see if you can resist eating the whole damn thing in three minutes flat. According to one national survey, the Maltese eat about a kilo of bread a day. Easy to see why.  Borg Bakery in Valletta Do you think pastizzi? They’re the national snack: melting puff pastries stuffed with mashed peas or creamy ricotta. Drink with a glass of milky tea.
How to prepare this snack? Take a Tunisian glass of sweet tea, and add some British milk. Stuff Sicilian ricotta into a French puff pastry and give it a good Maltese twist. Talk about fusion cuisine! Malta may have invented it.  Enjoy your pastizzi with the good old boys at Crystal Palace Bar in Rabat, or at any old-fashioned bar. Do you think fenek (rabbit)? You should. It’s the national dish of Malta.
 Chef Andrew Pace of Salvino's in Valletta, Malta
June 4, 2011 So I abandoned my beloved Sicily for a few days and ran off into the arms of Malta. My new love lies some 90 kilometers south of Sicily, a 90-minute catamaran trip from Pozzallo. xxxx Views of Valletta: Accented in Vermillion, Violet & Verdigris.
*** The boat trip is €58 round trip on virtu ferries (don’t try to access this via Safari). Recommended hostel in Valletta: Palazzo Sant Ursula. *** April 23, 2011 (first posted April 2, 2010) Easter morn in Modica: The resurrected Christ threads his way through back alleys, seeking, seeking. The black-shrouded Virgin comes forth, searching, searching.
High noon: Bells peal. Mobs mill. Families hang from balconies. Mother and Son reunite. Her black mantle slips off to reveal a cape the color of a Sicilian sky. Wooden arms swing open. Doves fly. Statues kiss.
12:05: The crowd, warmed by the spectacle and the Easter sun, kisses, too. Then home they go to the family extravaganza to fatten themselves on ricotta ravioli, Easter lamb pies, sweet breads, salads, marzipan lambs, ricotta-rich cassata, and everything else you can think of.
Buona Pasqua! Have you seen a moving Easter tradition in Sicily or elsewhere? February 4, 2011
This is Monterosso Almo in Southeast Sicily (population 3300), where tourists dare not tread. Go, if you like tumbledown places with warm-hearted folks and heart-stopping views. This is OLD SICILY, folks. Step into the surprising chiesa madre in the upper part of town and have a drink at the bar across the street with the charming old onion farmers, then wander down into the lower (older) section of town and hunt for the stone fountain where women once scrubbed clothes. You’ll think you’ve stepped way back into a bygone time, except for the windmills taking over a nearby hillside like so many nasty weeds. In season, ask for directions to the mushroom (funghi) restaurant just outside town. *** Click to subscribe to BaroqueSicily. *** Head over to Dianne Hales’ Becoming Italian site for a chance to win some cool Italy-related prizes. |
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