Sicily in the kitchen

Sicilian cuisine is the cuisine of the curtigghiu, or the courtyard, with recipes being passed from door to door, from balcony to balcony and, literally, from mouth to mouth. Yet, at the same time, Sicilian cuisine is a cuisine which competes with the greatest of gastronomic traditions: the Arab tradition of sweet and sour, the French tradition of creative chefs, the farming tradition which skilfully uses the produce of the land. While there are a thousand variations each one is naturally the best, triggering endless arguments regarding authenticity of ingredients, cooking methods, the gallantry of suppliers, the proud boasts of a market. And so the task of describing and demonstrating a cuisine which is a world of flavours and ingredients proves to be not just difficult but, literally, “dangerous”.