Sicily π04 written by Pat Orner

October 11 ≠ 18, 2004

Day 1 ≠ Monday, October 11

Rome ≠ Fiumicino Airport ≠ Terminal A

Elisa Celli, Diva-Chef extraordinaire-our leader

Mark & Jo Lichtman

Joe Cillo & Mary Buttaro

Ed Dudkowski

Pat Orner

Bernard MacElhenny

Windjet to Palermo, Sicily

GRAND HOTEL ET DES PALMES

Via Roma, 398

90139 Palermo ≠ Italia

TEL: +39 091 602 81 11

e-mail: des-palmes@amhotels.it

Dinner: åa cuccagna

Specialties: Swordfish roulades

Pasta with sardines

Aubergine (eggplant) caponata

Demo: canoli stuffing

Day 2 ≠ Tuesday, October 12

Palermo - Mondello

Demo & lunch: åa cuccagno

Hosts: Francesco Paolo Sammarco (father)

Carmelo Sammarco (son)

Chef: Francesco

Gift: Sicilian Cooking, Carmelo Cammarco*

Kitchen demo: Cuttlefish ink pasta (recipe page 63)

Tableside demo: åTaste of Sicilyπ risotto

(secret: blood orange rind)

Francesco: ≥Not only was the pisci fresh, but we know how to do it.≤

≥People with large stomachs we call, Brioche.≤

*65,000 copies - second printing has different cover.

Taxi 10 km to Mondello

Mondello Palace Hotel

Viale Principe di Scalea

90151 Mondello Lido (Palermo)

TEL: +39 091 450001

www.mondellopalacehotel.com

e-mail: mondellopalacehotel@libero.it

Giueseppe Saja, front desk

Mondello-Palermo

Dinner: Charleston

Chef: Nino Tantillo

Kitchen tour with chef ≠ interview in kitchen describing menu

Menu:

Starters: Seafood appetizer ≠ smoked tuna, sardines, carpicio of spada (swordfish)

åSicilian croquettesπ: fried chi-chi beans (chickpeas mashed, cut into triangles, fried), potato croquettes, & pizzaitti (small pizzas)

First courses: Eggplant stuffed with pasta (small shell pasta, diced eggplant, tomato, basil, and mozzarella)

åTaste of Sicilyπ risotto (same as lunch risotto, except no cream and he shakes the pan rather than stirring)

Fish course: åRollitineπ or åInvoltiniπ: Swordfish stuffed with onion, orange rind, canoli nuts, and crushed grapeseed

Dessert: åSemifredoπ (half cake, half ice cream ≠ pistachios inside ≠ topped with wild fruit (berries) from the forest ≠ each plate designed individually with fresh fruit puree outlined in chocolate)

Wines: Prosecco (small continuous bubbles)

åSalgalalunaπ (white)

åMiceli 2001π Nero dπavola (red)

åEntelechiaπ ≠ Passita dπPantellero (dessert)

Sommelier: Georgio

Wine list ≠ 80 pages

Day 3 - Wednesday, October 13

Mondello-Palermo

Ed and Mary film fishing village activity ≠ early am

Grand Hotel Villa Igiea

Salita Belmonte, 43

90142 Palermo Italia

TEL: +39 091 63 12 111

www.amthotels.com

e-mail: marketing-villaigiea@amthotels.it

Ignazio Pennacchio, Vice Direttore

Ernesto Basile, architect

Built 1895

Tour: Sala Basile (smaller salon)

Large salon (walk up from Greek ruins)

Bar (Moorish design ≠ gorgeous!)

Lunch: Rosario LaRosa, Matreπd

Salvo deCarlo, chef

Antipasti: Caponata ≠ marinated tuna, tambali of eggplant, zucchini

rosa (pumpkin), & eggplant parmesian

Bottarga (roe of tuna)

First course: Eggplant alla Norma (åwritten for Normaπ)

Le Margherite con Broccoletti e Passolini (pasta with broccoli and raisins)

Fish: Tuna (stuffed with åTaste of Sicilyπ ≠ bread, raisins, pinole & orange)

Calamari (lightly breaded with beer & flour)

Swordfish

Richolla

Redmolla

Scampi

Dessert: Basil ice cream - wild strawberries

Pistachio mousse ≠ wild strawberries

Semifredo Malvasia ≠ lingenberries

Wine: Bianco ≠ Anginiceπ åCusumanoπ (Insolia Chardonnay) 2003

Mondello - Palermo

Drive through Palermo:

Cathedral ≠ åEl Domo Cattedrale de Palermoπ

The Cappella di Santo Rosalina

La Cubana Pasticceria (pastry shop extraordinaire)

Restaurante La Strascino Pizzeria

Sicilian carts

Fish & antipasti display

Puppet show (knights fighting)

(2 women from Denver staying at Holiday Inn in Palermo)

Day 4 ≠ Thursday, October 14

Mondello-Palermo-Tasca dπAlmerita

12:30 depart Mondello Palace Hotel (10 passenger van)

Met by Lilly LoCascio, Relazioni Externe ≠ Tasca DπAlmerita

Viale Della Regione Siciliana, 401 ≠ 90129 Palermo

TEL: +39 091 6459711

www.tascadalmerita.it ≠ e-mail: l.locascio@tascadalmerita.it

Trattoria Piccolo Napoli, Palermo

Fresh fish display w/live squid & lobster

Mama making espresso

(roasted bread crumbs on pasta ≠ other table)

Shots of Regaleali wine bottle, toast (Elisa & Lilly) & fish boning*

Lunch:

Scampi & calamari salad

Pasta consadi (pasta w/sardines, fennel, pine nuts, saffron, grapeseed) or

Pasta nero di sepia (black squid) or

Pasta con salsa (eggplant, tomato)

Carbonata (eggplant, green olive, onion, tomato)

åSaragoπ (fish)

*Lilly: ≥The most fun is cleaning the fish. If you ask the waiter to clean it for you, you lose half the pleasure.≤

Espresso

Cassata (dessert) ≠ ricotta cheese, sugar marzipan, chocolate chips, cherry ≠ w/ marzipan or sponge cake

Wines: Leone 2003 ≠ Tasca dπAlmerita (70% Catarratto grape varietals

[grows on a hillside 900 meters/6700 ft. above sea level], 20%

Sav. Blanc, 10% Chardonnay)

Regaleali ≠ Sicilia 2003

Van ride from Palermo to Tasca dπAmerita winery accompanied by Lilly

View: åRocca palubaπ ≠ åRock of Dovesπ

Fields of wheat

Tasca dπAlmerita Winery ≠ Regaleali wines

Met by: Anna Tasca Lanza

Giueseppe Tasca

Tour vineyard - grape harvest with Giueseppe Tasca (7^th generation)

Facts: cabernet grapes grow 700 meters/1000 ft above sea level

Good clay soil (holds moisture) + wind + weather

Oldest vine ≠ 1959

Irrigate only 25% (usually July)

Test: ≥hug the vines, if soft ≠ ok, if rustle ≠ need to water≤

≥if you see that theyπre dry, itπs too late.≤

Family meets every 15 days to discuss the business

60 employees + 150 seasonal

Employees åmustπ 1. Smile & 2. Always be free to say anything

Giueseppe anecdotes:

Employee delivering water to workers ≠ åhe has a heart problem so we gave him an easier jobπ

åCommunists came to tell their workers that the owners were taking advantage of them ≠ were off playing ≠ in their villa on the coast, etc. and they were working too hard for the ownersä. The employee said ≥This is my vineyard!≤ Giueseppe was so proud (he has tears in his eyes as he recounts the event).

Giueseppeπs plays his favorite song, åLilac wineπ by Jeff Buckley

Dinner with Anna Tosca-Lanza, Princessa Constanza (dog-Blonde), Marquessa, Jessi at Restaurante St. Vincent.

Dinner: Eggplant parmigiana,

Caciocavallo (cows milk cheese)

Prosciutto

Insalata w/green beans

Mutton & sausage

gelati

Day 5 ≠ Friday, October 15

Tasca dπAlmerita Winery-Taormina

Breakfast in Anna Tasca Lanzaπs kitchen:

Espresso, peaches, persimmons, pastries

Elisa gives Anna åSan Francisco City Scarfπ

Anna and Elisa pick vegetables in garden: eggplant, tomato, pepper, broccoli, basil

lavender and prickly pear* area Anna calls ≥My åGarden of Endangered Fruitπ which is the name of my new book≤

*Pompeo (gardener) uses special tool to pick prickly pear ≠ shows way to peel (cut ends off, then down the side & peel ≠ eat the seeds)

Back in kitchen, Giovanna (sous chef) cooking eggplant

≥This is slow food≤

Anna shows long zucchini ≥This comes from my erotic garden≤

Cucunza soup: long zucchini, leaves of zucchini, basil, pasta (short spaghetti), tomatoes, onion, olive oil. ≥We live on it all summer≤

Ricotta ≠ fresh ricotta baked 8 hours in 150c temp. oven in terracotta mold.

Cooking class:

Angel hair pasta (cook 2 min., stir w/fork, no oil, water & salt (donπt

rinse ≥Youπll rinse all of the salt off≤) Add small amount of sauce & parmesan

Involtini: pan of fried eggplant ≠ roll fried eggplant around pasta ≠ arrange on top on sauce in glass baking dish ≠ layer on top with mozzarella, sauce (marinara sauce ≥donπt know why we call it that ≠ it means mariner), & parmesan ≠ bake 15 minutes

Involtini served with Chickpea fritters (1 lb. chickpea flour (Farina di Ceci) + 1.5 liters water, salt/pepper ≠ boil until thick (cook like polenta) ≠ spread in pan (refrigerate until ready to use) ≠ cut in triangles ≠ cook in olive oil.

Wine bottles: Nozze DπOro (old label ≠ picture of parents - only in Italy)

Anna: ≥We use mint more because we can grow it without any effort or care. We are lazy.≤

Jessi ≠ assistant - attended Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park

**She would like an uncut VHS copy of this segment**

Mail to: Jessi Tannenbaum, 333 NW 36^th Ct. Boca Raton, FL 33342

Tasca dπAlmerita Winery-Taormina

Anna Tosca Lanzaπs cookbooks:

Publisher: DennisPistone@wbrtl.com

å25 Centuries of Food in Sicilyπ, by Mary Taylor Simeti

Toured plant & viewed grape crush:

White wine:

1^st crush is called Fiori (flower) ≠ natural running - not pressed

For the finest white wines ≠ superior quality.

Then grapes pressed ≠ 2^nd quality ≠ table wine.

Chestnut barrels ≠ they are trying to resurrect an antique technique ≠ they are using water pressure to clean the tartaric acid off the inside of the barrels.

Tasca dπAlmerita Winery-Taormina

Taormina

Hotel Villa Diodoro

Via Bagnoli Croci 75

98039 Taormina ≠ Sicily

TEL: +39 0942 23312

www.gaishotels.com

e-mail: diodoro@gaishotels.com

Stefania DeLuca, Driector of Sales & Marketing

Via Bagnoli Croci, 77 ≠ Taormina - Sicily

e-mail: gais@tao.it

Sebastiano DeLuca

Via Bagnoli Croci, 77 ≠ Taormina ≠ Sicily

TEL: +39 -942 24644

e-mail: gais@tao.it

Dinner with Sebastiano & Isabella DeLuca

Accademia Italiana della Cucina

Achille Conti, President

Wines: Cena ecumenical 2004

Delegazione di Taormina

Camastra ≠ Nero DπAvola ≠ Merlot 2001

Day 6, Saturday, October 16

Taormina

Hotel Caparena

Tour Wellness Club and grounds.

Spa treatments: Massage - aromatherapy w/honey, orange & lemon essences.

Hydromassage in aromatherapy & algae-therapy with

underwater jet bath

Lunch: Pesci marinara (salmon, swordfish, & prawn)

Risotto arragosta (lobster)

Involtini: Cernia (stone bass) stuffed with bread/herbs

Capanata: eggplant, olives, tomato, yellow peppers, celery

Dessert: Cassata

lemon sorbetto

fragolini di bosco ≠ wild strawberries

Tiramisu

Free time for gym, pool, or beach

Ed shoots wellness center and grounds:

Caparena Wellness Club

Front desk: Francesca (friends in NY ≠ wants to go there for 1 year to learn the spa business)

Mark walking down the hall (flash) with Francesca

Jo walking from massage to hydrobath.

Joe on treadmill and bike

Pool ≠ man closing/opening pool cover

Garden

≥Spiaggia Beach≤

Hotel lobby

Taormina

Elisa interviews Sebastiano DeLuca before dinner.

Dinner at Hotel Villa Diodoro with Sebastiano & Isabella DeLuca

Dinner: Shellfish appetizer (prawns, crab & lobster w/ blood orange

sauce & citrus wedges

Risotto (zucchini flowers, red peppers, chopped vernacho (sp? ver-na-cho) (clams)

Dentice (fish) ≠ red snapper in salt/pastry crust

Peaches flambÈ on ice cream/gelata (melt sugar, add peach

halves, peach puree w/lemon juice/lime rind, Bacardi rum ≠ flame ≠ turn over, cook 10 minutes ≠ top with chopped hazelnuts)

Wines: Angimbeπ 2003 ≠ Sicilian ≠ Insolia + Chardonnay

Malvasia Della Lipari ≠ from Salina, Italy (dessert wine)

Dancing in Bar lounge: Sebastiano and Isabella dance the Tarantella.

Isobella sings a Sicilian love song.

Day 7, Sunday, October 17

Taormina

Walking tour of Taormina ≠ Nicole, guide

Comune di Taormina

Parco Duca di Cesaroπ

giaidino pubblico (public garden)

donated by: Florence Trevelyan (marr. Dr. Cacciola Trevelyan) 1852-1907

Tower built from Greek and Roman ruins (greek/roman theater)

Eucalyptus trees planted to dry up the ground ≠ stop malaria (time of Mussolini)

Mt Etna: 1^st snow yesterday ≠ last big eruption 2002-03 ≠ destroyed ski lift

≥eruption gives and it takes away ≠ lava flow destroys then fertilizes earth≤

Lava flow slow - enough time to leave.

WWI monument next to WWII submarine (two men ≠ kamakazi mission)

Taormina began 358BC ≠ Greek viewed the tower of the mountain ≠ it reminded them of a bull (Tauro) and named the area åTauormenionπ: (Tauro = bull / menion = live) åto live above the Tauroπ

On the hill above Taormina is Castello Saraceno (castle of the Arabs) and below that is Madona della Rocca (Madonna of the Rock) ≠ to the right is a hillside town of Guardini or Naxos (1^st Greek colony - 735BC).

Across the way is San Domenico Convent ≠ now the San Domenico Palace Hotel.

Walk through Taormina ≠ alley with morning glory and caper plant

Walk up Via Timoleonte

Symbol of Sicily: Trinacria (head, 3 legs, wings) was able to slay Medusa by looking at her in a mirror ≠ from the head of Medusa came Pegasas.

Greek/Roman Theater: Teatro Antico Taormina

Carob tree ≠ carob seed uniform in weight ≠ used to weigh gold.

Built by Greeks ≠ 3^rd century BC ≠ carved our of mountain

Romans built on top of Greek base ≠ 2^nd century AD

Looks south toward Mt. Etna ≠ sun would never be in the eyes

2 parachanium ≠ changing rooms on either side of the stage

Typical wall ≠ brick outside ≠ cement & rocks inside ≠ marble covered walls (now recycled into churches and park buildings)

Orchestra ≠ from Greek word meaning dance and music

5400 seated + 600 standing spectators = 6000 capacity.

St Catherina Cathedral ≠ 18^th Century

Inside: during restoration they found Greek temple foundation

Palazzo Corvaja: tower built by Arabs 9th-10^th century

Transferred to:

The San Domenico Palace Hotel

Piazza San Domenico, 5 ≠ 98039 Taormina ≠ Italy

TEL: +39 0942 613111

www.sandomenco.thi.it

e-mail: san-domenico@thi.it

Lunch by the pool: Caprese

Pasta w/shrimp

Dessert: Vanilla ice cream, Grand Manier, orange rind, mint

leaves ≠ whisked together until melted ≠ served in flute glasses.

Aperitif: San Dominico: [vodka (2), Cointreau (1), kiwi (1), grapefruit (1),

pineapple (3)]

Bellini: [peach puree, prosecco]

Dinner: Vecchia Taormina Osteria-Pizzeria

(secret ≠ lemon tree wood fires in the ovens)

Day 8 ≠ Monday, October 18

Taormina ≠ Roma

The San Domenico Palace Hotel

Breakfast: full breakfast buffet

Typical Sicilian breakfast: brioche w/ granite (fruit ice ≠ peach) and whipped cream.

Interview with Guisse, Hotel Marketing Director

Spoke of hotel, food, her diet.

Taxi to Catania airport

Interview with Windjet manager.

Windjet flight to Roma.

Arrivaderci!!

The Travelers/adventurers:

Elisa Celli

Joseph Cillo

Mary Buttaro

Mark & Jo Lichtman

Ed Dudkowski

Bernie MacElhenny

Pat Orner