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December 9, 2012 Yesterday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It’s a quiet celebration in the village. A line of faithful (mostly women) wend their way over the cobbles with candles, up and down hills, chanting Ave Maria, piena di grazia…, winding up at the Chiesa San Francesco all’Immacolata.
I was not raised Catholic, but I’m intrigued by the mystery and ceremony. *** December 7, 2012
*** These photos were taken in the charming old part of Siracusa called Ortigia. A place not to be missed! **** Click to subscribe to BaroqueSicily. Come see me on Facebook. December 3, 2012 There’s been a lot of talk recently, with the whole Euro-zone mess, about the “idle hordes of civil servants” in Sicily. Lest you think that nobody is lifting a finger on the island, here are some Sicilians hard at work.  Would you like a little tobacco with your beef?  We both wore blue today to match the scaffolding.  Signora? Signora? Can I help you?  One must maintain bella figura on the job.  Who needs virtual files when you can bury your desk with real ones?  Hey! Where’s MY caption? *** Click to subscribe to BaroqueSicily. Drop by BaroqueSicily’s Facebook page.
December 1, 2012 What to do when you have nothing in the house but stale bread, a few (great) tomatoes and a fresh egg? And not much energy to cook? This is the dish for you:
1. Heat olive oil and and a clove of unpeeled garlic over a medium flame until fragrant. 2. Add several peeled & chopped tomatoes and a pinch of salt. 3. Cook for 10 minutes and remove the garlic clove. 4. Put the tomato mixture into a blender. Blend. 5. Bring water to a boil in a smallish pot. Add a good pinch of salt. Poach your egg(s) in the boiling water for a few seconds (if you’re Italian) or longer (if you’re like me). 6. Add the warm tomato sauce to a shallow bowl. (OPTIONAL: Spoon on a dollop of fresh ricotta.) Carefully place your egg(s) on top. Garnish with fresh basil or thyme & serve with toast drizzled with a yummy oil. *** This recipe was adapted from the recipe for cuciniello in Roberta Corradin’s gorgeous book, Taste and Tradition (2): A Culinary Journey through Southern Italy. Thanks, Ro! *** November 28, 2012 I’ve had a lot of guests in Sicily. One spoke no Italian at all and kept roping me into doing her linguistic dirty work. She loved shopping. We entered Max Mara, a high-end clothing shop. “See if you can haggle with them!” she said, fingering a leather jacket. I demurred, but she insisted. So I sheepishly asked for a discount on a jacket that was not on sale. The shop clerk looked stunned. Later, at a bar with a caseful of glittering pastries, she pointed at a pretty little ricotta-filled number. “Ask if it is fresh!” she kept insisting. Reluctantly I did. “Of course it’s fresh, signora,” the barista said with an offended look in his eye that his extreme politesse could not hide. “It is our specialty.”
The experiences reminded me of a time at a business dinner when I was called upon to translate dirty Italian jokes into English. Stutter. Blush. Torture. Have you ever been pressured to translate words you’d rather not say? *** |
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