All by myself...

Once again, I've let a huge amount of time lapse between posts. I was gone for a month, now I'm back in Balestrate, but this time I'm alone - Ang is staying in Philly for a few more months to help out her sister with her new baby and work and save a little. Last summer was great, but we pretty much relied on public transportation to get around Sicily. The trains here are somewhat reliable, but s...l....o.....w. (And occasionally they break down. In the summer. When it's 1000 degrees outside.) Towards the end of the season we rented a car and it was great - we drove to the other side of the island and the puttered around to a bunch of little spots that we normally wouldn't have access to. Anyway, the thought behind Ang's 3 month working stint is that we could do more of that this summer if we had a little extra saved up. Plus, we'd like to fly up to Milan to see my friend from high school and Africa is literally a short boat ride from here. We like to joke that we can see Gaddafi's house from here...

So I am on my own. It has been hard so far, I've only been back for two weeks, but it feels like much longer. I decided that I would start this blog up again - I know that it won't be widely read, but without having someone here to talk to at night, it's either this or watching Season 2 of Mad Men over and over and over (that wouldn't be so terrible - that show is pretty amazing). Plus I am rededicating myself to learning Italian - I've set a goal to practice at least for 45 minutes a day, I'm writing down words that I don't know and generally just trying harder to listen. It has been more difficult than I imagined; my vocabulary could be a lot better, but every now and then, when I'm not really thinking about it, I'll just start having a conversation in Italian. They are usually pretty short and I'm sure grammatically incorrect, but I'm able to get my point across, understand the response and not get flustered. If I can grasp on to those moments, hopefully they can power me through the tediousness of learning the basics of a language from a textbook.

I've been doing some cooking as well. It may come as a surprise, since my profession is food, to learn that I am not the world's greatest chef. Hell, let's knock me down a peg or 10. I just learned how to dice an onion the other day. But I do love to eat, and for the past 4+ years I've been completely spoiled by the love of my life, who also happens to be a damn amazing chef.

It's been so amazing to be here in Sicily with Angela and see what she can do with the local ingredients available to her. I'll never forget, after we had been here only for a couple of months, when we invited two of our friends from Balestrate over for dinner. I have a photo of them from that night, but what I wish is that I had taken a picture of their faces when this American girl served them caponata - a dish that originated centuries ago several kilometers from here and that they had grown up eating. I could see the skepticism in their eyes - then they tasted it and their faces changed - and they went back for seconds.

Angela left me a couple of quick and easy recipes to start with, one for pastina, which is just pasta cooked in chicken stock, with an egg mixed in at the end and another for cous cous with steamed veggies, cumin and soy sauce. I've made both twice and tonight I made a soffritto (simply onions, celery, carrots and garlic sauteed in olive oil until golden) and then tossed in some canned tomatoes, tomato paste and anchovy paste. I tossed the sauce with some bucatini, grated some Parm (I was desperate for parm last Wednesday, all of the other stores were closed and for some reason the banco di salume only had preportioned cuts of parm in shrink wrap. I'm trying to use this stuff up so I can get another hunk of the real stuff. Bleech...) and drizzled some of our friend Nunzio's olive oil on top. With some bread from the 2nd best panificio in Balestrate - it's closer to the office than the best - it made for a pretty nice meal. The way I see it, I'm using these three months as a test period, kind of like America's Test Kitchen. I'm going to figure out what I can and can't do well in la cucina and then knock my lady's socks off with my skills when she gets back. That and my funky dance moves.

SoSushi - why sushi in Palermo is so good...

Angela and I have been in Sicily for well over a year now and as you all know, we've been eating pretty well. While Balestrate is pretty quiet in the winter, we're not that far from Palermo, so most weekends we hop on the train and go to the city - we love to go to the market (usually Ballarò, our favorite), or just grab a snack and walk around. The street food in Palermo is famous for good reason - you can easily eat awesome stuff like panelle, pane ca' meusa, boiled octopus, and sfincione on the cheap. Palermo is a town for eaters, and so far, we've never left the city hungry.

Amidst all of this great food the one thing we've been missing is sushi. We were serious sushi hounds back in Philly, making frequent trips to our favorite restaurant in New Jersey, Mikado (good and cheap), or occasionally splurging at some of the nicer spots closer to home. Actually, the best sushi I've ever had came from our friend Han - when I was working at Di Bruno Bros., my desk was in the basement, far away from the rest of the offices (it's not as bad as it sounds, I enjoyed the peace and quiet). My work area was right next to the prep room where all of the sushi for the store was prepared by Han, who had come to work for Di Bruno's from Genji. Han was a little crazy, with a thick Indonesian accent that made him hard to understand half of the time, but he was pretty skilled when it came to making awesome sushi. I would take a couple of minutes to sit down at my desk and Han would come out of the prep room, ask me if I wanted anything and then come back with a plate of sushi, regardless of my answer, the rice still warm, everything really fresh and clean. I'd wolf everything down and go back out on the floor happy and full.

Anyway, I miss those days and I know Ang misses getting her sushi fix as well. You can imagine how excited we were when I found out about a new sushi restaurant that just opened in Palermo a couple of months ago called SoSushi. SoSushi is a fast growing chain of Italian sushi restaurants, mostly focusing on take-away and delivery service. We hopped on a train yesterday and headed to the city, with the sole intent of trying this new place out.

Without going into every little detail about our lunch, I have to say that SoSushi was very good. The owner, Andrea, and the head chef, Shien (not sure on the spelling, but I'm pretty sure he's not related to Martin or Charlie) were very welcoming - our excitement was pretty obvious and it was rewarded with a couple of extra items that we didn't order. Shien talked about how they have to keep everything pretty standard for now, as people in Palermo warm up to the concept of sushi (for a population with such access to exceptionally fresh fish, you'd think they'd be lining up for this stuff), but the fatty tuna sashimi and the additional plates that we tasted gave us a pretty outstanding example of how good sushi could be in Palermo.

The key to all of this is the fact that the local fish merchants don't normally have much of a market for some of the key cuts used to make the finest sushi and sashimi. For example, I was surprised to see tuna belly as part of the standard lunch combo. Shien explained, with a devilish smile, that most restaurants in Palermo don't use the belly, so he can buy it for much less than you would expect. I haven't had a lot of experience with tuna belly, but this was a real "wow" moment for me - it was so buttery and silky, I felt like all of my senses were switched on to appreciate this moment of pure enjoyment.

This was also true for tuna cheek, which we watched Shien prepare with a pocket blowtorch, lightly cooking the outside for a warm exterior and a cool interior. Tuna cheek is another rarity - normally a costly ingredient that merchants reserve for their best customers. Here in Palermo, Shien knows what to ask for and the merchants are generally happy to sell a part of the fish that otherwise might go to waste.

The other standout was the sardine - a more widely utilized ingredient in la cucina povere - served sashimi style with a tiny dollop of minced pickled ginger and chive. Pretty, delicate and delicious - Ang and I turned to each other, smiling, our mouths full, our stomachs happy. When we left, we walked on to our next destination, going over each dish, feeling like we had discovered something new and exciting about Palermo - we want to spread the word, but don't tell the guys selling the fish!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

So, we haven't written an entry in a few months. We've been a little busy sucking up the Sicilian sun, drinking lots of garage wine and eating plenty of tomatoes. Scott's been busy with work and I've been busy with my casalinga duties, you wouldn't believe how much dirt accumulates on the kitchen floor everyday.

September is here. Most of the tourists have left town, there is no longer live entertainment every night in the piazza and no more late night parties on the beach. The fall is officially upon us. Usually the end of summer and beginning of autumn is my favorite time of year. Probably because I'm usually in Philly and I'm just not a huge fan of summer at home. I hate being stuck in the city and having to endure sweltering heat and no beach in sight. Ugh. Being in Sicily during this change of the seasons has had the opposite effect on me - there's not as much to do in town, no more summer visitors staying at our place and the sneaking reminder that I won't be home for Halloween or Thanksgiving, my 2 favorite holidays.

So, to cheer myself up right now I'm going to do a short recap of the summer fun-ness that we had but didn't blog about. Here are the highlights:

-Hiking up Mount Etna with Reen and Mike. Dressed very inappropriately, we all decided to drive as far as we could up the volcano and then start walking. Reen and I were wearing ballet flats, big sunglasses and scarves, the boys were wearing equally silly footwear, but we did it anyway. I should also mention that we were surrounded by goats for the entirety. It was surreal. During our 2 day road trip we also managed to fit in Céfalu, Ortigia, Siracusa, Alcantara and dinner at a crazy pizza place in Acireale. Not bad, eh? Thanks for driving like a total lunatic, Mike! We never could've done it without you. Look at the picture closely, we are dressed like idiots AND we're standing on a volcano AND there's a bunch of animals behind us.
-Riding bikes at Favignana. We took a hydroil to an island just off the tip of Trapani and rented bikes. It was absolutely gorgeous.
-Alex Case. He decided he wanted to come for a visit and booked the flight a mere week before. He came in like a tornado, turned this town upside down and had us out nearly every night until 5am for 10 days. Can you believe that there is a bar in town that serves pasta and sandwiches at 5am? Well, Alex found the place and I think we drank them out of Birra Morretti, too.
-La France. I hit up Paris and Chartres with my Mom and sister and we had a blast. We walked, talked and ate for 3 days straight. I couldn't have asked for anything better!

One good thing about the fall here in Sicily? The olive harvest is coming soon. Yum.

Mi manca la mia mamma e papà

Patty and Tommy hit Sicily on Thursday, May 21. We had a hell of a time with a few minor setbacks due to the awful train system in Sicily. We tried to go to Trapani on Friday, but after the train was 50 minutes late we decided to blow it off. Instead we went home and had a fabulous lunch, drank some cheap wine and waited for the arrival of Uncle Nick and Barb. We drank more wine, ate again and slept a little. On Saturday we all tried to get the early train into Palermo - also with a minor transportation glitch. The train broke down in Partinico so we had to wait about an hour for a bus. The bus took us to another train station - where we had to board another train to Palermo. The funny thing is that if we had a car we would've been there in 40 minutes, but since we have to rely on really old trains to get around it took us nearly 3 hours to get there. Thank God we weren't trying to catch a flight! Actually, I guess that wouldn't have mattered because the flights are always late here too. Whatever!

We visited the temple at Segesta on Sunday and took it easy on Monday. A great few days, but I wish it could have lasted longer. My Mom can party, she had me up until 3:30 am and we were just chit chatting away the whole time.

Mom, please come back and help me with my casalinga duties! Dad, please come back so that the vino lady's sales can skyrocket again! Between my parents' visit and Terry and Jamie's visit we've ensured a bright future for the wine lady's children. Salute!

Ti amo mama e papà. Molti abbracci e baci. Ci vediamo presto!

Why did you leave?

We miss you and the terrazza is calling your names. Please come back!

"The Pioneering Parent" - or "My Mom Comes to Italy"

It's been an interesting 8 months. We've moved 3 times. We've been through, according to my friend Erik, the rainiest winter in Sicily in 100 years. We've learned some Italian (still working on the Sicilian!) and eaten a lot of gelati (and in Ang's case, more spleen sandwiches than are probably recommended by the Surgeon General*). But last week was the probably the most special - my mom came to visit us here in Italy!

It was a great trip - we still can't believe how much we did in a short week. First, Ang and I flew to Rome to meet my mother. We stayed at a nice little hotel (thanks to Katie Parla's recommendation) called Hotel Grifo. It was located on a quiet little street called Via Boschetto, just around the corner from a metro stop and a short walk from the Colosseum, the Forum and Piazza Venezia.

We were really happy to be able to show my mom around Rome. Sometimes I forget that the best travel experiences are those that are unplanned/unexpected - I think I wanted to show my mom as much of the city as we could in the short time that we had, but in reality, the most memorable part of the trip was walking up the hill next to the Arch of Constantine. We weren't really sure where we were going, but something propelled us up that hill, until we reached a church at the top, with its doors wide open to the street. There was a wedding going on inside - the bride and groom were standing at the altar and there was the most sweet sounding, hypnotic music coming from the inside. There was a live band playing (including someone on the bongos!) and the audience, including the groom, started singing. The music sounded like it was african or caribbean inspired - definitely not something you'd expect to find coming from a church in the middle of the Forum. Anyway, we all agreed, this was the most memorable moment of the trip. Really, really beautiful.

Anyway, the rest of Rome was great and a lot of fun. It was definitely a lot more crowded over a holiday weekend in May than it was our first time through over Christmas. We discovered one nice thing, however, and it seems that tourists en masse haven't found it yet - the new glass elevator that takes you up to the top of the monument to Vittorio Emanuele - a.k.a. the Wedding Cake. It offers incredible views of the city and a bird's-eye view of the Forum - I would say it was worth it for 7 euro. Of course, we did some of the touristy things as well. Ang and I downloaded a couple of Rick Steves podcasts that actually ended up being really helpful at St. Peter's, the Pantheon and the Colosseum (the forum was a little confusing, especially since Ang had the IPod and my mom and me opted for the audio guide at the main gate - which I thought was pretty terrible). Ang lead us on a great walking tour of the Jewish Ghetto, where we ate lunch and got screwed by our own people - we were rushed making a decision for lunch (we waited too long to decide on a place to eat and then they were all closing) so we ended up getting a little bit of food and wine and paying 8o euros for it. Thank you, fellow members of the tribe!

Of course, we more than made up for that the next day by finding a cool little place called Lo Zozzone near Piazza Navona that served pannini made out of pizza bianca, sliced in half then stuffed with the fillings of your choice. Excellent with a beer and also really cheap!

Anyway, the rest of the trip was a bunch of meandering and hilarity, but I won't bore you with all of the details - there are some fun pictures up at http://picasaweb.google.com/sbcase/MomSTripToRomeAndSicily#.

I will write more about the Sicily leg of the trip later on. Ang told me that its time to give the blog a rest - its 11pm here on a Saturday. What can I say, we are nerds.

Ciao,
Scott

* I'm not sure the Surgeon General ever said anything about eating spleen sandwiches. If you are the Surgeon General, or have ever been the Surgeon General, please don't sue me.

Old Friends, Ancient Traditions

On Good Friday a very, very old friend came to visit. After some catching up over lunch we jumped on the train to see La Processione dei Misteri in Trapani. The famous Easter procession begins on this day every year and it is the longest in Italy - 24 hours. Huge wooden sculptures representing different moments in the Passion of Christ are slowly walked throughout the town by groups of men called "i portari". The men huddle together and hold each other and their statue up while walking slowly and swaying side to side. Each statue is accompanied by a group of local musicians. One statue was being followed by a group of singing children. I think Cathy and Scott would agree with me when I say that it was unbelievable...to say the least. It's pretty difficult to describe, so click on the above link to watch a video of it.

On Saturday we visited Palermo, the craziness of the markets, the cheap street food, the grafitti and trash... it never gets old and I love it even more every time I go back. Dinner that night was at the new Venezuelan/Sicilian restaurant in town. Yes, you read that correctly. Arepas, 2 pizzas, salad and a liter of wine - not bad for €10 each. After dinner Cathy and I ducked into midnight mass to check it out - a huge turnout and the whole town really seemed alive that night. A raucous night of drinking more wine and discussing deep subjects such as circumnavigation, honey and faith followed. Don't ask.

On Easter Sunday we took a nice long walk on the beach, caught up on the newest episode of Lost and made a fantastic dinner: risotto and steamed artichokes. It was a great weekend and it seemed only fitting that I spent it with a friend I've had for nearly 20 years. It felt as close to home as we could get.