Italian Food Artisans in Sicily

PART ONE

Euro 2950/person, double occupancy
Arrive Palermo/ Depart Catania
Includes all meals, classes, visits,
tastings as described in the attached itinerary
Includes ground transportation
Includes 5 Nights accommodations in four-star accommodations
•
Palermo, Erice, Trapani, Marsala, Castelvetrano, Selinunte,
Menfi, Agrigento, Modica, Ragusa Ibla

PART TWO
optional addition to the above program

Euro 1850/person (double occupancy)
Includes all meals, classes, visits,
Tastings, ground transportation
Includes 3 Nights accommodations in four-star accommodations
•
Noto, Siracusa, Catania, Mt Etna

ISLAND HOPPING

Euro 2450/person (double occupancy)
Includes all meals, classes, visits,
Tastings, ground transportation
Includes 4 Nights accommodations in four-star accommodations
•

Pantelleria and the Egadi Islands: Favignana, Levanzo and Marettimo

-or-

Aeolian Islands: Lipari, Salina, Stromboli, Filicudi, Alicudi, Panarea, Vulcano

Itinerary on Request

Day One

3:00pm: Put on your walking shoes for a walk to Palermo’s historic and colorful market, Capo. Along the way we will taste some of Palermo’s famous street foods: panelle (chick pea fritters), pani cu’ la meuza (spicy spleen sandwiches), and arancini (rice fritters). We will choose from the season’s best: artichokes, asparagus, blood oranges, strawberries, fava beans… Once we have selected the days freshest and best ingredients, our host Signora Lucia will invite us to cook with her. We will have a break for some free time in Palermo, then return to Lucia’s for dinner.

Day Two

This morning we  drive for about an hour to the hilltop town of Erice where will will meet Maria Grammatico, an internationally known pastry chef (profiled in Bitter Almonds by Mary Taylor Simeti). In fact, we will be accompanied this morning by Mary Taylor Simeti, a noted authority on Sicilian history and longtime resident of Sicily. After a delightful presentation by Signora Grammatico on frutta di Martorana, the artful creations made with almond paste, we will have time for a walk around charming Erice. We reconvene at Monte San Giuliano (next door to Signora Grammatico’s pastry shop) to learn about the Sicilian tradition of couscous.

After lunch, we go back down to the coastal town of Trapani for a visit to the saline, the salt harvesting pans. As we travel along the “Salt Road,” it is not hard to imagine the importance of salt in early times when there was no refrigeration.
 
Thanks to the favorable conditions of high temperatures, shallow  waters, and a constant wind, evaporation occurs rapidly making salt one of the Sicilian more valuable economic resources. The restored windmills recall a time when they were used to pump the water and for grinding the salt.

We continue our southward coastal drive through Marsala, the town known for the fortified wine that was made famous in 1773 by an Englishman, John Woodhouse. Today the process of making Marsala has become quite industrialized, but a few artisans still exist. Our visit will be at the family winery of Marco De Bartoli, one of Sicily’s more interesting producers. After a visit to the cantina, we will have a guided tasting of their wines, including his high quality aged marsala, Vecchio Samperi.

Drifting on south, we end our day in the olive groves of Castelvetrano.

Day Three

This morning, those who are willing to rise early (7:30) will go to the fish market in Mazara del Vallo, where we will also grab a cappuccino and brioche. The fish we select will be part of our morning class back at the villa, where those who have slept in will meet us.

Dinner will be back in Mazara del Vallo at the charming La Bettola. We will leave  the villa around 6:30 to have some time to stroll around Mazara.

Natalia Ravida

Day Four

Producer of an award-winning olive oil, expert Natalia Ravida invites us to her family villa for a cooking class and discussion of  the art of tasting olive oils to better sense the defects of a faulty oil and attributes of a good oil. The Ravida family tree goes back to the 13th century as producers of cork, wine, and olive oil.

Lunch in the villa, but no lingering as we have a drive ahead of us!

The three-hour drive to Modica  will be broken up with a stop at the Greek Temples of Agrigento.

On arrival to Modica and our charming accommodations, once we have checked in, we are invited to have an aperitivo in the fashion studio of Signora Ottavia Failla..

Day Five

This morning we will visit a cheesemaker to learn about the local cheese and ricotta. A stop at an old water mill, then drive to Noto for a light lunch.

After lunch, we return to Modica for a *hands-on cooking class* of local dishes at charming and authentic Locanda del Colonnello.

then down to lower Modica to the chocolate artisan Bonajuto…

a walking tour of Ragusa Ibla, then return to Modica for dinner.

Day Six

Departure after breakfast for flights from Catania.