OTTOBRATA

The Ottobrata festival at Zafferana Etnea takes place on every Sunday during October and is a showcase for food products from the Etna area, local crafts, art and street performers. My friend Carol King and I set out for Zafferana last Sunday and I'm jolly glad we did!

The town perches below smoky old Etna

and we were just in time to see a rainbow in the fountain [well-spotted by Carol]:

There is a model of the crater in the square:

There were stalls as far as the eye could see

 but you still got an idea of what a peaceful place this must be for most of the year:

OK, so Carol [seated left, in headscarf] and I played at being tourists for this shot.  I think I should wear a hat like this every day!

There were tastes of everything on offer and there were so many varieties of honey that I couldn't decide where to begin:

There was no shortage of cheese either!

Then it was on to one of my favourite towns, Militello in Val di Catania, where the Festa della Mostarda e del Fico d'India [prickly pear]  was in full swing.  Luck was with us again as the parade of traditional Sicilian carts began a few minutes after we arrived:

The horses looked so proud of their finery and happy, like us, to be out in the sunshine:

I wonder if I could get some plumes like this to add to my flat cap?

Now I'll let you enjoy more of the colourful parade: 

I was too tired to cook when I got home but some of this "black" bread from Castelvetrano [Trapani] tasted delicious spread with some olive and aubergine pâté that I'd bought. The bread is made with timilia or tumminia wheat, which is becoming rarer.

And this balsamic honey - yes, I did finally choose one - made an interesting salad dressing:

Congratulations to the good folk of Zafferana Etnea and Militello in Val di Catania on their fine festivals.

TREAT OF THE WEEK - 11

As many of you know, I am a night, rather than a morning, person and even 10 am is "dawn" to me.  Because of this, I am not normally in the supermarket early enough to get a loaf of pane condito but today I managed it and it was worth the effort!

This one is "seasoned" with olives, herbs, cheese and, of course, olive oil.

ARCHI DI PANE - BREAD ARCHES

About 38 kilometres north of Agrigento, nestling in hills even higher than the Valle dei Templi [which is not, of course, a valley at all] lies the little town of San Biagio Platani and that is where I headed with two friends on Sunday.

First of all, some views of the surrounding countryside:

These red flowers were everywhere and I'm not sure what they are but I think they might be wild red cyclamens:

But what was going on in San Biagio Platani, a town of 3,547 people?  What was so important that this nocturnal blogger was willing to get up at 4.30 am to see it?

Well, in the second half of the eighteenth century, the people of San Biagio Platani, who at that time numbered less than 1,000, began to make arches and pictures to celebrate Easter:  It was a chance to do something creative and produce objects of beauty in lives which consisted mainly of toil and preparing the decorations allowed the inhabitants to forget their poverty for a little while each year.  They used the materials that nature provided - grain, bamboo, willow, lentils and other pulses, beans and dates - and the women made bread dough and pasta which could also be used.  Rosemary was used as a symbol of death and remembrance, palms symbolised Palm Sunday and bay symbolised knowledge.  The arches and pictures as a whole represented Christ's triumph over death.

The tradition has continued to the present day and two confraternities, the Madunnara [representing the Madonna] and the Signurara [representing Christ] begin preparing the decorations months ahead.  There is no bitter rivalry:  those involved just want to create the most beautiful objects they can and all is unveiled on Easter Saturday morning when the images of Mary and Christ "meet" in the middle of the town's main street.  The Madunnara colour is blue while the Signurara's is red and each confraternity decorates their own half of the main street.  Whilst the overall theme remains the triumph of the Resurrection, a different artistic style is used for the arches each year.  This year it is oriental.

Confraternity banners outside the church

Now, without further ado, I'm going to let you enjoy the sights that we saw on Sunday. Remember that everything you see is made from natural materials or bread dough:

There were 33 of these white bread symbols on Christ's and on Mary's main arches, 

to symbolise the age of Christ at the Crucifixion.

Symbols of palm, rosemary and bay

And finally, who could resist this lovingly crafted bread, decorated with sesame seeds, to take home?

If you are coming to Sicily, the bread arches and other decorations in San Biagio Platini are on show until 1st May 2012.