Food & Drink

Sicilian cuisine is baroque like its architecture — lavish, colorful, theatrical, and uncompromising in flavor. The basic ingredients reflect the island's history: eggplants (Arab), tomatoes (Spanish), pistachios (Persian-Arab), ricotta (Greek-Norman), almonds (Greek-Arab), and citrus fruits (Arab). From this mix emerged dishes that are among Italy's most exciting.

The Classics

• Pasta alla Norma — Sicily's national dish: pasta with fried eggplant, tomato sauce, fresh basil, and grated Ricotta Salata (salted, aged ricotta). Named after Bellini's opera "Norma" — because the dish is as perfect as the opera. From Catania.
• Arancini/Arancine — Fried rice balls (fist-sized!), filled with ragù, mozzarella, peas, ham-cheese, or pistachio-mortadella. The perfect meal on the go. Cost: 1.50–3€.
• Caponata — Sweet and sour eggplant vegetable with tomatoes, capers, olives, celery, and pine nuts, seasoned with sugar and vinegar. Of Arab origin, every family has its secret recipe.
• Pasta con le Sarde — Pasta with fresh sardines, wild fennel, raisins, and pine nuts. A dish that unites the entire history of Sicily on a plate: Greek base, Arab spices, Sicilian soul.
• Couscous di Pesce — Fish couscous: the national dish in Trapani and western Sicily. North African heritage, prepared with local fish and a spicy fish broth.
• Panelle — Fried chickpea fritters in a sesame bun. Palermo's street food par excellence.

Dolci — The Art of Sweets

Sicilian patisserie is legendary — an Arab-monastic tradition unmatched in any other region of Italy:

• Cannoli — Crispy pastry tubes, freshly filled with sweet ricotta cream, garnished with pistachios, candied cherries, or chocolate. The emblem of Sicilian pastry.
• Granita con Brioche — Sicily's summer breakfast: crushed fruit ice (almond, pistachio, mulberry, lemon, coffee), served in a glass with a warm, soft brioche bun for dipping. Addictive.
• Cassata — Baroque in cake form: sponge cake soaked in liqueur, filled with ricotta cream, covered with marzipan and candied fruits. A feast for the eyes and palate.
• Frutta Martorana — Lifelike marzipan fruits (and vegetables), perfected in monasteries, available in every pasticceria.

Sicily is Italy's largest wine region (over 100,000 hectares of vineyards) and has been experiencing a qualitative revolution for two decades. Once notorious for mass production, Sicily now produces some of the most exciting and highly praised wines in Italy — at prices that are still remarkably fair.

The Main Grape Varieties

• Nero d'Avola — Sicily's great red grape variety: robust, fruity, with notes of dark cherries, plums, and spices. Often compared to Australian Shiraz, but more elegant. The best come from the Noto and Vittoria regions.
• Nerello Mascalese — The Pinot Noir-like grape variety of Etna: elegant, mineral, complex, shaped by volcanic soils. The Etna wines (Etna Rosso DOC) are Sicily's most hyped wines — internationally celebrated and (still) affordable.
• Grillo — Fresh, aromatic white wine, originally used for Marsala, now a hidden gem as a dry wine. From western Sicily.
• Carricante — Indigenous white grape variety from Etna, mineral and elegant. Etna Bianco DOC is one of Italy's most exciting white wines.
• Catarratto — Sicily's most cultivated white grape variety, fruity and uncomplicated. Perfect terrace wine.

Marsala

Marsala DOC is Sicily's most famous wine — a fortified wine (like Sherry or Port), available in dry to sweet variations. Marsala Vergine Stravecchio (aged 10+ years) is a complex, nutty meditation wine that can compete with the best Sherries. Unfortunately, Marsala is often confused with the cheap cooking Marsala from the supermarket — the premium products from the major wineries (Florio, De Bartoli, Pellegrino) are a world of their own.

Wine Tours

The best wine regions for visitors: Etna (Benanti, Planeta, Passopisciaro — tasting with a volcano panorama), Marsala (Florio, Donnafugata — historic wineries), Vittoria (Sicily's only DOCG: Cerasuolo di Vittoria, made from Nero d'Avola and Frappato — an elegant red wine). Most wineries offer tours with tastings starting at 15–30€.