FRIDAY FRITTELLE

 Tomorrow is the Ognissanti (All Saints' Day) holiday, prior to the Giorno dei Morti (the commemoration of those we have lost) on Sunday. In Sicily, a holiday or saint's day usually means there are frittelle to be enjoyed and what is better than one frittella? A cascade of frittelle, of course! These, in flavours of apple, walnut and raisin, appeared in the Cicara Caffeteria this morning:

Photo: Cicara Caffeteria

Happy Halloween and Happy All Saints' Day.

AN ACCESSIBLE SAINT

As I mentioned in my hurricane pasta post last week, Sicily has suffered some very bad weather lately. Just one week after the almost total devasation of Catania, floods hit the province again last night, affecting Agrigento and Siracusa provinces as well. Even Ragusa did not escape this time. So there was no "St Martin's summer" ("Indian summer") for us this year.

I have written about this favourite saint of mine before and long-term readers may remember that I explained that the term "St Martin's summer" is used for good weather which lasts into November because of the legend of St Martin's cloak:  In the fourth century, Martin met a beggar at the gates of Amiens on a very cold day and cut his cloak in two with his sword to give half to the poor man. It is said that the sun came out and began to shine brilliantly at that very moment, hence the term estate di San Martino, a phenomenon which I have enjoyed many times in Sicily.

The Feast of St Martin is celebrated on 11th November, the anniversary of his funeral in 397 ( he had died on 8th November) and, because this is also Remembrance or Armistice Day in Britain and my mind yesterday was on my paternal grandfather who was blinded in action in 1918, I'm afraid I had forgotten about St Martin until I was offered fritelle in his honour in my local bar. Fritelle are often served on feast days but are particularly appropriate for St Martin's Day because they can be fried  using the season's new olive oil and go beautifully with the vino novello which is opened on this day. Fritelle are akin to doughnuts but are much smaller and lighter and can be sweet or savoury. They can contain ricotta, walnuts, sultanas and / or fennel seeds, among other ingredients and I must say they are just what you need on a blustery, rainy day like yesterday.

Fritelle

I think St Martin is a very accessible saint for several reasons: we know quite a lot about him and he is a multicultural saint, having been born in what is now Hungary, brought up in Pavia, joined the Roman army and been posted to the Amiens area. He eventually became Bishop of Tours and founded the monastery of Ligugé, the first monastic community in Gaul. As Bishop of Tours he kissed a leper and cured him ( hundreds of years before St Francis did so) and he is credited with encouraging wine-making in the Tours area and introducing the Chenin blanc grape there. I discovered by accident yesterday that the Capetian dynasty of French kings probably owe this name to St Martin because the early kings were lay abbots of the Basilica of St Martin of Tours where part of the cappa (cloak) was kept and it is likely that the name Capet comes from this.

Going back to the weather, I like the the line in Carducci's poem about St Martin's Day in which he describes a miserable, cold day on which the aroma of wine  - presumably the vino novello - manages to "touch the soul with glee." This is what the story of this very human, accessible saint always does for me. I hope it warms your hearts too.

SAN MARTINO

I will tell you the most famous legend associated with St Martin again because I like it: In the 4th century, the saint met a starving, freezing beggar at the gates of the city of Amiens. He cut his cloak in two with his sword and gave half to the man. For that reason, Martin is a saint associated with the poor. It is also said that at the moment he tore his cloak, the sun came out and that is why an Indian summer here is known as an estate di san Martino.

The 11th November is the festa of this favourite saint of mine and traditionally the day when the novello [new] wine is opened, so it was off to Maria and Luca's home for the celebration: A gorgeous aroma greeted us, as Luca was already barbecuing sausages and pancetta in the garden, whilst inside the women were gathered around Maria, who was happily making fritelle [ akin to doughnuts but much lighter] of three different types: savoury ones containing anchovies, which we were offered as an antipasto, some containing ricotta and others containing walnuts, sultanas and fennel seeds [the last two were served as dessert]. Fritelle are made for this day as in times gone by they were a delicacy that could be made by rich and poor alike, for they contain few ingredients and can be fried using the new oil of the season.



The pictures show:

1. My own contribution: I again made the chick-pea flour patties, filled with a mixture of cooked pepper and aubergine, basil, pinenuts, lemon juice and oregano. I spent hours wondering how to garnish them without getting the lids soggy, then at around 3 am the inspiration of using basil and almonds came to me!

2 - 4: Fritelle preparation: I was glad to see that the batter is quite messy. I find that idea comforting as I create such chaos in the kitchen myself. Maria handles it determinedly and roughly, fearlessly throwing the shapes she has formed into the hot oil.

5 - 6: Finished fritelle.

7: Novello wine from 2 different batches.

8: Pappardelle pasta with a sauce of cream, zucchini and speck especially brought from the Alto Adige.

9 - 10: Barbecued sausage and pancetta.

The children present decided that it is already Christmas, for, having first dressed up as St Martin, they then appeared as La Befana and finally as Babbo Natale. Perhaps they are right.