I PARCHI LETTERARI "IN THE DIMENSION OF THE JOURNEY" - THE FOOD

The journey could not come to an end without having spoken of the pleasures found at the table in this land of marvel, which continue to amaze the sense of taste, today as in the past...

“The abundant tables of the inhabitants of Agrigento were famous throughout the world”
(Empedocle)

The combination of routes with the culinary specialties from the individual locations.

“Agrigento’s cuisine offers a rich and flavourful variety, resulting from both the influences, also with regard to the cuisine, of the dominations that took place throughout the territory, and the diversity among the various areas of the province.

Along the coast and on the Pelagie Islands, the culinary tradition is naturally associated with fish and the sea, while inland and in the mountain areas products from the earth prevail – oranges from Ribera, peaches from Bivona, grapes from Canicattì, cantaloupes from Licata, olives and oil from Caltabellotta, Bugio and Lucca Sicula – as well as animal products such as meat and cheeses, both fresh and aged, from Cammarata, S.Giovanni Gemini and S. Stefano di Quisquina.

In the first example, included among the traditional dishes are: cuttlefish soup, from Siculiana Marina, sole “alla saccense” from Sciacca, sardine fish balls from Licata, and from the distant island of Lampedusa, spaghetti “all'isolotto” and baked snapper in meat broth. Inland and in the mountain areas the offerings are even more rich and varied: pasta di S. Giuseppe from Ribera, pasta with artichokes from Menfi, pasta with fava beans and ricotta from Montevago, pasta with chickpeas from Favara; the “cavatelli all'agrigentina”; sweet and sour rabbit from S.Angelo Muxaro, the stigghiola (some sort of lamb gut) from Racalmuto, "u pitaggiu" from Castrofilipppo" and perhaps the most original specialty in the Province of Agrigento, the "macco" (a broad bean soup) from Raffadali and the "tagano" from Aragona.

To this is added a tradition of wine-making that in recent years has received numerous and important recognitions.

Throughout the Province of Agrigento, ricotta and almonds dominate the tradition of pastry-making: cassatelle (small ricotta cakes) from S. Margherita Belice and "minni di virgini" from nearby Sambuca, almond and pistachio curled and square-shaped biscuits from Canicattì; a rare specialty from the Provincial seat is sweet couscous, while melon ice cream can be tasted in the little town of Joppolo Giancaxio.”
(from the book "Culinary Itineraries in the Province of Agrigento" Published by the Chamber of Commerce of Agrigento).


Patrick Brydone, “Travels to Sicily and Malta”
Here is the description of a midday meal offered in honour of the Bishop of Grigenti, Antonio Lanzi, by the nobility of Agrigento, to which he belonged himself. A brilliant page of literature that is also testimony to the culinary traditions of the city’s wealthiest classes during the second half of the 18th Century:

“We dined with the Bishop, as it had been decided, and we left the table, convinced that the ancient inhabitants of Agrigento could not have known the true art of the banquet any better than their descendants, to whom they had handed down a good dose of their virtues and their societal vices... There were exactly thirty of us at the table, but I can swear that there were no less than one hundred dishes. They were all dressed with the most succulent and delicate of sauces, which left us no doubt as to the truth of the old Roman proverb, Siculus coquus et sicula mensa: it is no less valid today than in those times. Nothing was lacking that could stimulate and tantalize the palate, nothing that could be invented to create an appetite that was not there, as well as satisfy it. During the sumptuous meal, some of the favourite foods of the Roman epicureans were served, in exactly the same manner: specifically, the moray eels, so often mentioned by the ancient authors...
... But, I realise that I have omitted some elements of the banquet. I should have told you that it was the sumptuous meal that the nobility of Agrigento offers each year in honour of the Bishop. It was set up in an immense granary at the seashore which was half filled with wheat: a location that was chosen as refuge from the heat. All of the serving dishes were made of silver. Almost all of the fruit was brought to the table along with the second course, a system that is undoubtedly better than our own, even if it seemed strange to us. The first dish to be passed around was strawberries. The Sicilians were very surprised to see that we ate them with cream and sugar; nonetheless, after a taste, they found that the combination was not at all bad. Dessert consisted of all types of fruit. The ice creams, which were even more varied, were in the shapes of pears, figs, oranges, walnuts, et cetera, and the similarity to the fruit was so amazing that one who was not expecting them to be made of ice cream would have been fooled.

... Around six we cordially left our happy friends from Agrigento and we boarded the speronara (a kind of ship) at the new port.”


and the journey continues...