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Sicily's Tantalizing Bouquet of Spring
Flavors
Palermo, Sicily --- Driving from Palermo into the center
of Sicily on a day in early May, this largely rural
island put on its very best show. Pristine and agrarian,
the land offers an incredibly lush palate of spring
colors. Look to the left, at troughs of bright red poppies;
tiny modern whitewashed farmhouses with their crisp
arched porches; voluptuous rolling hills of grain; baby
artichokes with their very best posture standing tall
on their slender stems; towering medlar trees already
laden with their apricot-toned fruits; lush fields of
fava beans. Turn right and there appear vast purplish
red patches of the clover like flower, sulla; healthy
groves of cedro, the citron-like fruit, whose candied
rind is used in all the island. s fine confectionary;
and of course roadsides lined with feathery fronds of
wild fennel, an essential to the cuisine of Sicily.
We arrived at Anna Tasca Lanza. s estate . Regaleali
. just as the cheesemaker was preparing the morning.
s batch of ricotta from the estates flock of testa rossa
sheep. Greeting us in blue jeans and with an I Love
NY button attached to her navy vest, the lean, grey-haired
Sicilian was elative: . My garden is only perfect for
five minutes a year, and you arrived during those five
minutes,. suggesting that this lush greenery of May
will turn a drab, dried brown as the summer sun wilts
the effusiveness of spring.
Walking into the blue-tiled cheese house on the vast
estate, we were greeted with that warm, clean, lactic
aroma of cheese in the making, as the cheesemaker separated
the curds (which will go into their farm Pecorino) from
the whey (which is what is used to make the fresh ricotta.)
Nothing goes to waste in Sicily. As we dig our spoons
into the warm, supple lily white mass ricotta only seconds
old, the room is filled with one vast, choral-like hum.
Satisfaction at its finest.
Later, at the huge square table in Anna Tasca Lanza.
s kitchen, we shared in a local feast, the likes of
which are served at her cooking school, The World of
Regaleali, Cooking, Culture, and Country Life in a Sicilian
Vineyard. Guests can visit for a briefly as an overnight
stop (for dinner, breakfast, a demonstration lesson
and lunch the next day); or for one, three, or five-day
programs.
Our lunch began with Sicily. s most famous pasta dish,
pasta con le sard, or pasta with sardines and wild fennel.
Our group of six agreed we had never had a good version
of this dish but soon found what all the fuss can be
about: Fresh sardines, onions, tomato sauce, pine nuts,
dried currants, anchovies, saffron, nutmeg and massive
amounts of that ubiquitous wild fennel combined to make
a rich, complex, highly seasoned homogenous sauce for
the lean strands of hollow, spaghetti-likes perciatelli
pasta. In a single bite, I GOT Sicily.
There were platters of onions and baby artichokes,
sauteed in oil with a touch of white wine; a cold fritella,
a verdant sautéed mix of fava beans, peas, and
Swiss chard; wild fennel sauteed with artichokes, sun-dried
squash and olives; tiny potatoes that had been boiled,
sliced, sprinkled with bread crumbs and sauteed in rich
Sicilian olive oil; two-month old baby lamb from the
estate, roasted in a roaring oven, sprinkled with hot
pepper flakes and salt, then once seared sprinkled with
orange juice and white wine. Golden hard wheat went
into the rich and fragrant focaccia, flavored with rosemary,
olive oil, and a touch of white wine.
And the feast rolled on, all wetted with the estate.
s famed wines, from the crisp, dry, young whites from
the Inzolia and Catarrato grapes to the late harvest
Nozzo d. Oro white, the color of a yellow diamond, with
a Burgundy-like richness and on to the classic red Regaleali
rosso, jammy, with black cherries and a delicate almond
aroma.
And there was cheese. And more cheese. Aged pecorino,
aged pecorino with whole black peppercorns or with whole
grains of coriander. And of course ricotta, seasoned
with honey and jam.
As we depart, the landscape puts on another brilliant
show. Beneath a cloudless, pale blue sky, we see what
must be 1,000 shades of green. And, as background music,
there is the crisp, determined chirp of the ever-present
sparrow.
Anna Tasca Lanza
The World of Regaleali
Viale Principess Giovanna
9, Palermo 90149 Italy.
Tel: 39 934 814654 Fax: 39 921 542 783.
Prices vary from $100 to $2,000 per person.
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