The food of Sicily Recipes from a sun-drenched culinary crossroads

Who could not fall in love with the cuisine of Italy? Author and cooking-school owner Lanza (Olive, 2011; Coming Home to Sicily, 2023) deliberately constructs a book that espouses Sicilian food via both slow cooking and slow reading. Page by page, content and colorful photographs delight: easy-to-peruse treatises on native Sicilian foodstuffs like olives, the drink Amaro, salt, gelato, almonds (250 types), and many others. Photographs not only illustrate Lanza's nearly 100 recipes but also capture a slice of the island and its customs. Each section, through introductory commentary, celebrates the art of local ingredients. Fish, for instance, zeroes in on the most available varieties: sardines (stuffed with breadcrumbs and raisins), tuna (with ragu), swordfish (a double-crust pie). Desserts address the obvious (gelato and granita) and the not-so-ordinary: rolled fig cookies and Modican chocolate for two. Not necessarily an easy feast to deliver, but a mouthwatering one.

Culinary instructor Lanza (Coming Home to Sicily) skillfully weaves history, geography, and culture into this fascinating portrait of Sicilian cuisine. Recipes range from simple to elaborate; the seafood chapter, for example, features both straightforward grilled squid and a double-crust swordfish pie. Everyday tomato sauce is followed by trapanese pesto made with almonds, cauliflower, pine nuts, and raisins, and the involved anelletti timballo, pasta that is first boiled and then baked with eggplant, tomato sauce, prosciutto, and cheese. Fresh busiasta pasta calls for just two ingredients (semolina flour and water), but each strand must be hand-rolled on a bamboo skewer or knitting needle. The dessert chapter does not disappoint, offering mouthwatering lemon and almond granitas and, for the more ambitious, cannoli, ricotta-filled turnovers, and rolled fig cookies. Lanza relishes the uniqueness of hyperlocal ingredients: cauliflower from Palermo is green and pungent, while the variety in Catania is purple and sweeter. She notes Sicily's involvement in the slow food movement and efforts to support small-scale producers, and provides a handy list of sources for hard-to-find ingredients. The result is a valuable guide to an abundant region that will be a welcome companion in the kitchen--or on a trip to Sicily. Agent: David McCormick, McCormick Literary. (Sept.)