Another day, another Francesco. Our cooking tour of Sicily has convinced us that culinary guide Elaine Trigiani knows only handsome men. In addition to three Francescos, we have met Paolo, Carlo, Accursio, Pino, Lorenzo, Angelo, Domenico, and Salvatore. Intense, talented and movie star handsome, these are among the rising stars of the Sicilian food community where a return to the ancient yields new and inventive foods and wines. They are farmers, grape growers, wine makers, olive growers, olive oil producers, cheesemakers, chocolate makers and chefs. Welcome to the Sicilian culinary revolution.
They are bold, brash and committed to their craft. They are poetic, sensitive, courageous and emotional as they share dreams of creating perfect wines that are noble expressions of their native soil and artisan cheeses from gently milked sheep grazing on mountain slopes. They cook foods that distill the essence of Sicily onto a plate. They speak of the island’s rich culinary heritage whose intricate layers were created by a parade of invaders since 1200 BC who left behind their foods and their farming practices – Phoenicians, Macedonians, Moors, Greeks, Romans, Spaniards and Normans. New is old and old is new as the young revolutionaries turn back the hand of time to ancient and pure farming practices where farmer and nature join to gently coax the bounty of the earth , not pepper it with pesticides, engineered seeds and invasive practices. Over and over we hear the words bio-dynamic, amore, passione, gentle and nurture. These are not technicians; these are artists working within the scope of history but with the future in mind. And it’s a bright future for Sicily indeed.
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