DROUGHT, DROWSINESS AND DUNKING

 It is Ferragosto, the Feast of the Assumption and the time of year when all of Italy seems to stop. If you are not at the beach in the daytime you are likely to be surrounded by silence which, even after all these years, seems strange in a country normally so animated and nicely noisy. 

This year there are two other factors, however, and the first word in my title leads to the effect of the second. The relentless heat of this summer has made everybody feel lethargic and every conversation begins with the words, "When will it end?"

We did have about an hour's rain on Saturday and it was bliss but, alas, not enough. Of course, only a Brit would stand out in it!

 

You may have read about the drought (siccità) and water rationing is in place in some areas. By mid-July damage to the agricultural sector was already estimated at 2 billion euros while 60% less wheat than normal was produced in the Catania area and 80% less fodder in Catania and Enna provinces. Farmers, as you can imagine, are in despair.

Here in Modica houses in the Old Town were recently without water for four days but this was due to a broken pipe in difficut terrain in the country rather than the drought. Anyone who has followed this blog from its beginning may remember that in my early days here, we always seemed to have water problems around Ferragosto so if I could type with my fingers crossed right now, I would! It is impossible to realise how much we depend on water until we have had to go without it, even for a few hours and especially in extreme heat.

There are, however, compensations for being in Sicily at this time and below are three culinary ones:

A fourth, traditional in the summer, is eating granita or ice cream with a brioche and it's OK to dunk! In Britain it is not acceptable in polite society, although Queen Victoria might have dunked her biscuits in tea privately, but here no one bats an eyelid and granita con brioche or brioscia is a traditional Sicilian breakfast. 

My granita all'anguria

But how did this tradition begin? Well, first of all the brioche used should be the Sicilian brioscia cu' tuppu (that is, it has a knob on the top) and it is not related to the French brioche. It is thought that a chef working for a rich family in Messina - no one knows exactly when but probably in the 19th century - wanted to create a bread for the ladies of the house to spread jam upon and the brioscia was the result. The tuppu was inspired either by the low chignon of the ladies' hairstyles or by the shape of a woman's breast.  Another story is that this happened in Catania. I suppose that, once the brioscia was invented, the ice cream or granita followed it one hot summer. No matter where or how it happened, it is a very good idea indeed!

So Buon Ferragosto and happy dunking!

BEHOLD, THE FERRAGOSTO BUNNIES!

I'm not a "Rise and shine, sing in the morning" type of person. I'm more, "Light, go away!" first thing. Nor do I normally gaze out at the view from my bedroom window at that time of day, as it's all I can do to open the shutters and stumble to the bathroom. But yesterday, perhaps because it was the Ferragosto holday, I did and - still being a bit dopey, you will understand - I thought there were some whacking great bunnies coming to greet me! It was only the shape of the fichi d'India (prickly pear) bush in the field out there, but it cheered me up:

Ferragosto, or the Feast of the Assumption, is when Italy virtually closes down and everybody except grumpy old me heads to the sea. For the past two years, during which we have been in and out of various lockdowns, my local bar closed only for the 15th, not for a week, as before, presumably to try and recuperate some of the takings lost during the Covid emergency but this time they have closed for the full week again. There is a quiet in the streets reminiscent of the lockdowns but happily that backdrop of fear in the air is absent and today I had an aperitivo and a plate of stuzzichini in another local bar with a friend, which helped dispel the memory of those grim times.

In the absence of a celebratory breakfast out yesterday morning, I made myself a granita all'anguria (watermelon granita) and very refreshing it was, too. I had bought a traditional Sicilian brioche for the occasion and Bertie the dog enjoyed a doggie gelato.

I hope you all had a good Ferragosto and look after those August bunnies if they come to visit!

THE END OF SUMMER

Summer has officially ended and, whilst I am not a beachy person and rejoice in everything at last being open again, I will be sorry to see the end of the gelato season and of its companions cremolate and granite.

Left to right:  granita di mandarino; cremolata di gelsi (mulberry); granita di pesche e fichi d'India
(peaches and prickly pear, the latter being a late summer addition to the granita repertoire)

My favourite peaches,  pesche tabbacchierie, get larger and less sweet as August ends but then these delights appear:

Centre:  frutta di Martorana
Right: "cakes" of cotognata (quince paste)

Finally, I cannot let the summer end without sharing this with you:  the other day, a Sicilian friend said he had spotted a British man coming out of the B&B opposite his house. I asked how he had known the man was British.

"Because he was wearing sandals and socks", came the reply.

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SOLIDARI-TEA, SICILIAN STYLE

In Britain and around the world, if you are a BBC Radio 4 fan it cannot have escaped your notice that a domestic abuse story has been running on the radio programme The Archers for some time now, gripping [and often exasperating] many. This week is "trial week" in the story and, in order to express their support for the character Helen and other victims of domestic abuse, listeners have been invited to share photos of themselves drinking tea, using the hashtag #soldaritea , on twitter. 

I have never been a victim of domestic abuse but I do know a little of what it is like to have someone play with your mind and lead you to doubt your own sanity. Recently the offence of "controlling and coercive behaviour" has been added to the Statute Book in Britain and this should mean that sufferers like Helen in The Archers will have more recourse to justice.  

So, I raise my glass of iced tea with a dash of Sicilian granita to you and all who suffer the effects of this heinous crime, Helen:

GRANITA, ANYONE?

Now I must admit I'm an ice cream rather than a granita girl - granite are flavoured sugar syrups which have been frozen - and I haven't acquired the Sicilian habit of dipping bits of my morning brioche into either.  On the hottest days, however, I do like a goodly dollop of lemon granita in a very cold peach or lemon tea and if I am going to have a full glass of granita, I'll usually go for a gelsi [mulberry] one.

I was interested to read today that in last year's Dissapore ranking of the top 25 establishments offering granita in Italy the first 21 were in Sicily, with the Caffè Sicilia in Noto topping the list. Modica makes an appearance at no. 13.

Ok, so who's for dunking?

"O, MACHINE!"

"O, Machine!" exclaims Vashti in E.M. Forster's short story The Machine Stops and I must admit, that is how I felt when my repaired fridge was delivered back to me the other day. 

I am old enough to remember a time when the domestic fridge was deemed an innovation but I don't really remember how my mother kept food cool before we had our first one. We did have a pantry and that helped and as, until I was nine, we had a sweet shop, my Dad used to plonk scoops of ice cream from the shop freezer into glasses of lemonade in summer - much as Sicilian bar-keepers will offer you a scoop of granita in your cold tea on the hottest days.

As far back as the Greek era, Etna snow was being used to cool wine and that must have been lovely provided you had servants to go and fetch it for you. Rich Victorians had daily deliveries of ice but how did the less fortunate manage? It is important to remember that food shopping for more than one's daily needs is a fairly recent development and there are still countries today where not even staples are stored in the home. Those who dwelled in the countryside often grew vegetables and raised their own livestock but, in places like Sicily, meat was considered a luxury. When it was used, it was often washed in milk and boiled several times.  

The stone houses which many Sicilians lived in were cool and then there were the myriad means of preserving food, above all, in olive oil but also by salting [the technique of salting fish was brought here by the Arabs] spicing and using sugar [also brought by the Arabs] in sweet preserves. Some food was kept in cellars or even nearby caves and there were also ceramic water coolers. Those lucky enough to live near a lake or river sometimes kept food in it in well-sealed containers, too.

All of this sounds quite exhausting so I'm off to coo, "O, Machine!" to my dear old fridge once again before bed.

I

PAUSA GRANITA

I normally prefer gelato to granita but by the time my friend and I finally found a bar open in Polizzi Generosa a couple of weeks ago, we were gasping for anything thirst-quenching!  A granita of anguria [watermelon] for me and mandarin for my friend:

TREAT OF THE WEEK - 16

Strawberry granita and brioche

TREAT OF THE WEEK - 7

A Modican breakfast on the go in 40°C comprises lemon granita with brioche.

LATE SUMMER BREAKFAST

Lemon granita and a pastry. 

THREE SUMMER FAVOURITES

A glass of iced tea with a goodly dollop of lemon granita in it:

The last of the spring lemon crop.  These are so big and round that they could almost be mistaken for grapefruit - until you are close enough to enjoy their scent, that is:

And my favourite fruit of all, the tabacchiere ["snuff box-shaped"] peaches from Etna:

SICILIAN SUMMER BREAKFAST

A mulberry granita topped with cream for my friend and a chocolate and pistacchio ice cream for me.  We shared the brioche to dip into these naughty treats. 

 The calories, like those in chips, do not count when you are out.

PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ

Last night I had supper in the company of an 86-year-old man: He entered the garden where we were seated and, in a move worthy of Fred Astaire, threw his walking stick onto the bamboo, sat down and proceeded to regale us with tales of old Modica. This gentleman has more energy than I do!

And how about this for an incongruous, yet delicious combination? Peach granita served with melt-in-the-mouth, crumbly Scottish shortbread [and served on a traditional pasta-making tray]. Viva fusion cooking!

FOODIE FRIDAY: GRANITA DI ANGURIA - WATERMELON GRANITA

I sort of created this yesterday and it was a lot simpler than I thought it would be. It was also rather good, though I say so myself:

500 gr [prepared weight] watermelon, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
250 gr caster sugar
250 ml water
juice of 1 lemon
mint leaves, ice and slices of watermelon to decorate

Put the sugar and water in a pan and bring to the boil, stirring. Add the prepared watermelon chunks to this mixture, stir, bring to the boil again and let it all simmer for 30 mins. Let it cool, then add the lemon juice. Chuck it all into a bowl and liquidise with a hand blender. Now bung it all into a plastic container and freeze. Some granita recipes will tell you to fork the mixture through every 20 minutes or so while it is freezing but that is quite bothersome. Anyway, I believe in freezing things overnight so that is what I did. So, about 20 mins before you want to serve the granita, remove it from the freezer and fork it through as soon as it starts to soften. Now, my mixture began to soften very quickly in the heat of a Sicilian afternoon but if you decide to make this on a freezing winter's day in Britain [and I've been mad enough to make similar dishes in those conditions] it will take longer! Put it back in the freezer and get your garnish ingredients ready. OK, now fork the mixture through again, pile it into serving glasses, decorate and serve. This amount should give you 4 servings.

Relax and enjoy!

AFTERNOON TEA, SICILIAN STYLE

Hot, hot, hot today, with the Sacro Cuore thermometer registering +40C as I walked back at 5pm. So just what I needed on the way was this ice-cold tea with some goodly dollops of lemon granita [water-ice] in it.

DAILY DOINGS - 6

After a very rainy Thursday – quite possibly the last rain we shall see until about October – today has been beautiful and my glum mood has cleared along with the weather.

Lunch at the Altro Posto today was excellent, consisting of roast chicken thigh with grilled vegetables. I was amused to overhear a customer asking the owner whether he was serving granite [water ices] yet and the proud response, which was , “Ah, when I begin to serve granite, I begin!” – indicating that he does nothing by halves. The granite, like everything else in Sicily, will have to await their true “season”.

At work my boss popped into a class to ask my opinion of a draft she had written. Amazingly, the sentence she had doubts about included the very grammar point I was working on with an advanced level student at the time! We drew the student into the discussion and he was relieved to know that even mother-tongue English speakers have to think about that particular structure! [I don’t know why this sort of thing is a surprise to anyone; if it were not so, crosswords and other language games would hardly exist, would they?]

And finally, I just have to share this example of impeccable Italian logic with you all: explaining and setting a homework task in which the aim was for students to write in an enthusiastic and encouraging tone [“You are organising a charity run for your sports club. Write to the members giving details and emphasise the fun aspects of the event”] I couldn’t work out why they all looked perplexed. Then a student enlightened me: “That is difficult, teacher. We never write about a future event in an enthusiastic tone. This way, if it goes badly, no one is disappointed.” The mind boggles not only at the pessimism but at the thought that my charges would be perfectly happy to continue organising an event which they privately thought would be a shambles. Oh, well: “Cu’ ad àutru ‘nzigna, acquista più sapere.” [Sicilian proverb: “S/he who teaches, learns.”]

TWO BOOKS ON SICILIAN PASTRY COOKERY

It was clear from the comments on Friday’s “lemon made from almond paste” post that many of you were interested in the frutta di Martorana so I thought I’d talk some more about them and take the opportunity to tell you about two books on the sweet produce of Sicily as well.

Before I visited my lovely island for the first time, I had read about Martorana fruit but nothing prepared me for the shiny beauty of these replicas of fruit, nor for their delicate taste: they are made from pasta reale [almond paste] but “marzipan” is a very inadequate translation which does not do justice to the work involved in its making. Legend has it that the first ever batch of Martorana fruit was made on the orders of a certain mother superior, who wanted to impress her Bishop during his visit. So the nuns prepared the “fruit” and hung it from the cloister trees; so “real” did it look that the Bishop declared that a miracle had happened, as all the fruits had appeared in the same season! Oh, I hope with all my heart that this story is true!

True or not, it is recounted in both the books that I am going to tell you about tonight and the first is Sweet Sicily by Victoria Granof. In this beautifully illustrated tome Granof, inspired by the idea that in Palermo granita [ flavoured, crushed ice] is presented inside a brioche for breakfast [and indeed it is, in summer] tours the island and interviews many pastry chefs. Unusually in an English-language book about Sicilian cookery, my adopted town of Modica gets a chapter all to itself, so of course the volume has pride of place on my kitchen bookshelves! Recipes are given, their origins are discussed and there is a helpful historical timeline of Sicily which helps the reader place the recipes in their historical context. I dip into this book whenever I feel low and it reminds me how lucky I am to be here.

Some of you may recall that my favourite non-fiction author on Sicily is Mary Taylor Simeti and I have said before that no volume on culinary Sicily in general compares in scholarship with her Sicilian Food. In Bitter Almonds Simeti interviews the famous Ericean pastry chef Maria Grammatico and watches her at work. The book tells the fascinating tale of Maria’s early life and I reread it in one sitting last night, as preparation for this post. I appreciated the book very much when I first read it in 2003 but I am glad that I have read it again here, for I can relate to so much more of its detail now. Poverty forced Maria’s mother to send her and her sister to the San Carlo convent in Erice in the 1950s. There the girls lived under a severe and harsh regime but they learnt a skill which has remained with Maria all her life – that of making frutta di Martorana and other Sicilian pastries. Maria now runs a famous pastry shop in her beloved Erice and the tourists flock there.

The book contains some of Maria’s recipes, Simeti’s observations, an insight into Sicilian frugality [for nothing was wasted in the convent kitchen, and this is a trend I have observed myself here]. We also learn a little of Maria’s philosophy and I leave you with this, for I cannot paraphrase this wonderful lady:

“What we value has to be inside of us. This sort of work, making the Christmas hearts, embroidering them with marzipan, it’s an art that’s disappearing….. Young people today don’t want to learn these things. For me, sitting here and and making these things is really relaxing. They’re so beautiful! And I like it because I’m creating something with my own hands, it’s not like machine work…… You can’t think about the money… [because] then you can’t put in all the love that it takes.” [My bolds.]

That is very Sicilian – so wonderfully Sicilian that it moves me to tears, reader – and very wise indeed.

A GOOD SUBSTITUTE...

... for an espresso at breakfast time in the heat: a granita di caffè. By the way, M of Laughter, Loving and Living was asking about a lemon granita recipe: M, if you can get hold of a copy of Floyd on Italy, there is one in there. You will also find one in Ursula Ferrigno's Italian Cakes and Desserts.

GRANITA DI MANDORLA

I forgot to say yesterday that, although my contribution to the 'strattu making was precisely nil - all I did was take photos and ask questions - I was nevertheless rewarded with a dish of Giovanna's granita di mandorla [almond water ice]. You can buy almond milk in supermarkets and smaller food shops here and very good it is, but Giovanna, like Irma, will have extracted the milk from the fresh almonds herself.

It was so refreshing that I could certainly have done with some after all the dancing I've done at the Blogpower Awards Ceremony in Second Life today: although I am stupid technically, everyone was very patient and I had a lovely time. We danced, drank and talked both nonsense and serious politics. Here I am, in green, revving it up earlier. James is to the right of me in the middle picture, looking very suave, don't you think? I would like to thank Tom and James in particular, and everyone else who helped, again here.

GRANITA DI GELSI

40 C in Modica Bassa at midday and this morning I awoke to find that the water supply was off in the condominio. We had our last fill-up last Thursday evening and, as no one in this building has a family, I don't see how we could have exhausted the contents of the cistern by 8 am today, even allowing for the extra we all use during a heatwave. I made my usual desperate call to the Water Office at 9am and by the time I came back at 1pm the supply was functioning again. [Newer readers may like to look here for an idea of our summer water sagas.] There's nothing worse than coming home feeling all hot and sticky and not being able to jump into the shower. Now the whole of Sicily is waiting for the electricity supply to fail.

You will note that no one was about in this Modica Bassa street this morning, although I took the photo at a busy time. I thought I'd better post a couple of food photos or my friend Mutley will worry: here is one of the Altro Posto's cooling salads and, as promised, a picture of a refreshing mulberry granita, this time from Bar Ciacera in Modica Bassa.