evenIng In SICIlY

April 22, 2010
Meridiana Restaurant
Savor The Food
and Immerse Yourself in the Culture
An
Evening
in Sicily
this eve ning is p re se nte d by
La Rosaworks, llc, Gianni Nicolosi
and
Meridiana Restaurant
with sponsor s
Ciclismo Classico, Case Del Golfo, Colombo Marsala, Krea Publishing,
New York City Sicilian Food, Wine and Travel Group, Prutch Family
Imports, Tutto Sicily.com, Sikania Magazine, SoulofSiciliy.com
An
“...aridly undulating to the horizon
in hillock after hillock,
comfortless and irrational,
with no lines that the mind could grasp,
conceived apparently in a delerious
moment of creation;
a sea suddenly petrified
when a change of wind
had flung the waves into a frenzy.”
From The Leopard
by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
Evening
in Sicily
April 22, 2010
An evening of Sicilian Food,
Wine & Culture
featuring
P
P
P
P
P
A five-course dinner with wines
A tasting of new products from Tutto Sicilia
A performance by recording artist Michela Musolino
A reading by renowned author Gioia Timpanelli
And a multimedia exhibit by Karen La Rosa
Meridiana Restaurant
2756 Broadway (106th Street)
New York, NY 10025
April 22, 2010
1
The Intense Flavors
and Fragrances of Sicily
by Giovanna Bellia La Marca
W
ith increasingly greater
numbers of people visiting
Sicily to enjoy the history of
the island, the ancient Greek temples, the
landscape with all its hill towns, the natural
beauty of the mountains, the sandy beaches,
and the beautiful cities, visitors rave about
the delicious food of this region of Italy. At a
time of great interest in healthful, nutritious,
and appealingly interesting foods, the
cooking of Sicily provides a wealth of tasty
and wholesome recipes. Sicily is the largest
island in the Mediterranean Sea, and its
cuisine is among the oldest in Europe, a fact
that is amply documented in the history of
the island.
Four hundred years before the birth of
Christ, Plato was engaged by the Tyrant
of Syracuse, Sicily, as the teacher for his
son Dionisius the Younger. Plato tutored
the young man for three months before
returning to Greece. Plato deplored the
time and attention that was devoted to the
preparation and consumption of food in
Sicily, and he was distressed by the Sicilian’s
love for food. He was convinced that in
the midst of such decadence and selfindulgence, the youth would surely come
to no good. Plato must not have disliked
desserts, because he forgave the Sicilians
for their sweet tooth, conceding that sweets
were the great contribution of the Sicilian
gastronomy to the ancient world.
Sicilians knew about “nouvelle cuisine”
2,300 years ago when Archestrato, the
James Beard of his time, cautioned against
making sauces too rich. He recommended
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reducing condiments to the foods’ own
juices, and adding a savory mixture of fresh
aromatic herbs chopped and mixed with
good olive oil, salt, and sesame seeds.
The appeal that Sicilian cooking has for
us today is that it is a simple, flavorful,
unpretentious cuisine dependent on
uncompromisingly fresh ingredients in
season and at the peak of flavor. The
techniques of everyday cooking are simple
and are aimed at preserving the flavor,
texture, and the wholesomeness of the fresh
ingredients. The Sicilian cook’s ingenuity is
his or her greatest asset. Many recipes and
variations can be made from the humblest
vegetables, elevating them to holiday fare.
There are wonderful recipes that are
made to celebrate the various holidays of
the year. Easter Sunday/Monday offers a
double celebration. The centerpiece of
the Easter Sunday menu is the traditional
‘mpanata ri agnieddu, a delectable lamb
pie that will reward the adventurous cook
who is willing to try it. This lamb pie is
made with a bread crust that encloses wellseasoned lamb stewing meat, bones and all.
The meat juices soak into the bottom crust
as the pie slowly cools, making it a very
flavorful and tasty morsel. The Easter feast
continues on Monday, when people pack a
delicious lunch and head for the country or
more commonly, to their vacation home in
the countryside or at the nearest beach to
celebrate Pasquetta.
Sicily, which in ancient Roman times was
called the “granary of the Italic peninsula,”
still produces some of the best durum
an evening in sicily in manhattan
April 22, 2010
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wheat in Italy. Bread and pasta continue
to be important to the daily diet, and are
of excellent quality. Rice, although not as
important a food as it is in the northern
provinces, nevertheless appears in some
very special dishes. The most memorable
for those who have traveled to Sicily
is Arancini, a very popular finger food.
Arancini are rice balls stuffed with cheese or
meat, covered with bread crumbs, and deep
fried to a golden orange, hence the name
that means “little oranges.”
The Sicilian dessert table is a delight for
the eye as well as for the palate. Beautiful
and delicious desserts are known and
appreciated all over the world. They
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Excerpted from Sicilian Feasts with permission
of the author. Giovanna Bellia La Marca,
a native of Ragusa and former teacher at
Bronx Science High School, is the author of
Sicilian Feasts and Language and Travel
Guide to Sicily. She teaches Sicilian cooking at
the Institute of Culinary Education and gives
monthly tours of Arthur Avenue. Giovanna was
given a “Ragusani nel Mondo” award by her
native city of Ragusa, Sicily, for professional
achievements in the United States, only the
second woman to be so honored.
an evening in sicily in manhattan
The Soul of Sicily
By Renee Restivo
Renee restivo
include marzipan fruits; ricotta-filled
cannoli; spectacular cakes decorated with
candied fruits; cookies filled with dried
fruits, nuts, and honey; and perhaps the best
known dessert, granita, a smooth refreshing
fruit ice that can be made at home quite
easily and with fantastic results.
My grandmothers, Concettina and
Milina, always said that Sicilians would
eat well if they had eggs, flour, legumes,
and fresh vegetables. Historically, these
simple ingredients were the mainstays of
Sicilian cooking. Ingredients need not be
expensive, and cooking techniques needn’t
be complicated in order to eat well. To raise
this simple cooking to cuisine, I would add
good olive oil to the list, the best coldpressed extra-virgin olive oil you can afford
to buy. I grew up watching my mother,
father, and grandmothers making feasts
out of the most humble and inexpensive
ingredients.
Sicilian dishes have great versatility, and
are easy to make. Our sauces utilize flavorful
and aromatic cooking juices and we don’t
use stocks for our soups because we depend
on the fresh ingredients, a sprinkle of salt,
and a drizzle of excellent extra virgin olive oil
to make all the difference.
E
veryone likes to travel. There are
so many things to see and do and
there are many ways to go. While
some people prefer group tours, others
plan for themselves; some travel for sport,
others for relaxation. Sicily lends itself to all
kinds of travel. Visitors will find beautiful
beaches, verdant hills for biking and even a
fantastic new resort, abundant history and
architecture. Personally, I believe that if you
want to get to know a place, you have to
meet the people. You have to eat what they
eat and understand how it arrived on your
plate. Visit the vineyard, the honey farm,
the cove as it receives the day’s catch. Watch
the cheese maker. Meet the farmers and
fishermen. Cook with the people who have
April 22, 2010
cooking in their blood and in their own
homes. Eat fabulous food and drink great
wine. Then you will know something about
this great island. Food is so important
in Sicily. In fact, long, long ago, Plato
commented that the Sicilians build things as
if they will live forever, and eat like they will
die tomorrow! How true.
Come to Noto with me. I will introduce
you to some of the people who care deeply
about food and wine and their land. These
are some of my friends:
Elena is one of Sicily’s many incredible
home cooks -- baking a hundred homemade pizzas in a wood burning oven in a
few hours is just an ordinary day for her!
Corrado is a historian, storyteller, singer,
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mythology lover, father and musician
among other things. He never leaves home
without his collection of saints in his wallet
-- there is a Saint for just about every town
in Sicily.
Mariangela is a painter who speaks about
Sicily like a poet. She’s lived in the Sicilian
countryside ever since she fell in love with
it over 20 years ago. Her late husband Hans
was a pioneer in organic agriculture.
Pippo makes his own grappa with
mandarino (you must try some). He makes
his own wine and knows everything there is
to know about Sicilian family traditions.
Maria Novella is an architect who
studied in Venice but who is committed
to remaining in Sicily. This is a difficult
decision for a young Italian, since there are
fewer job opportunities in the south than in
the north. We cook often at her home.
Handsome Vincenzo is a vulcanologist,
geologist, nature lover, storyteller, cave
explorer, and expert on art history and
architecture -- he drives a 4 x 4 in remote
areas and is a map-maker.
Enzo created an organic garden of Eden
in Noto, built ecological guest houses, is an
expert on Sicilian regional olive oil, and is
not afraid to show a woman how to make
olive oil soap!
I leave you with some recipes so you can
try to find a good piece of Sicily in your
kitchen. Beware, though, the ingredients
you will find here lack the sun and soil you
will find there. And, if you don’t believe me,
come see for yourself. I would be delighted
to show you. www.soulofsicily.com
Renee Restivo is a culinary and cultural
educator committed to the traditions of Sicilian
cooking. She is a behind-the-scenes consultant
for authors, celebrity chefs, and TV programs.
She creates intimate home-cooking programs
in Sicily and has served many through special
events there.
6
PESCE SPADA AI PISTACCHI
DI BRONTE
Swordfish with Pistacchio from Bronte
8 1/4 inch thick pieces of swordfish
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of fresh pancarre (sandwich bread)
parsley
1/2 cup pistacchi di Bronte
Parmigiano
1 orange (Sicilian blood orange if possible)
dried oregano (from a freshly dried bunch)
4 fresh tomatoes
white wine
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Preparazione
Ripieno (stuffing)
Chop the garlic, parsley, oregano and
pancarre together. Add the diced tomatoes,
the parmigiano and the zest of the orange.
Squeeze the juice from the orange into the
mixture, then add the extra virgin olive oil
and white wine. Mix all of it dolcemente
– carefully, so that all the ingredients are
mixed well.
Divide the swordfish into 8 thin slices.
Oil a baking pan and place 4 slices in the
pan, salt and pepper them and then add the
stuffing. Put the other 4 pieces of swordfish
on top and spoon a bit more of the
ripieno also on top. Sprinkle the chopped
pistachios generously on top and bake at
180 C for 6-7 minutes.
were perfect for traveling and cooking
because they did not require refrigeration
for long journeys.
The secret to this recipe is that the
tomatoes must be the absolute most
dolci you can find. In Sicily, these would
be pachino tomatoes, which are sold at
gourmet stores in Northern Italy for around
4 Euros per kilo.
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves (chopped or minced fine)
peperoncino rosso (Sicilian red pepper flakes)
5 basil leaves
1 and 1/2 lbs. tomatoes
1 lb. spaghetti
pecorino cheese (sheep’s milk cheese)
In a large bowl crush the tomatoes and
remove the seeds. Add the olive oil, the
chopped garlic, the hot pepper a piacere
(to your liking), and the basilico. Leave
the mixture to rest for at least three hours.
Cook the spaghetti until it is al dente, drain
it well, mix with the condimento and top
with plenty of grated pecorino. Rigatoni may
be substituted for spaghetti.
INSALATA DI FINOCCHIO, ARANCIA,
CIPOLLA E OLIVE
Salad of Wild Fennel, Blood Oranges, Red
Onions and Olives
This is like eating Sicily. The Sicilian blood
oranges are the key ingredient.
3 blood oranges
2 heads of fennel (wild fennel, if available)
1 large red onion
1/2 cup of cured black olives
extra virgin, cold-pressed olive oil
sea salt and pepper
Trim stalks and tough outer leaves from
fennel (save them for making vegetable
stock). Remove top leaves and set aside
for garnish. Cut bulbs in half lengthwise
and remove the tough core. Slice each half
crosswise as thinly as possible, resulting in
diagonal round pieces. Place in a bowl of
ice cold water.
Peel and section oranges. Remove pith
carefully from each section with a small
paring knife.
Drain fennel and blot dry with a towel.
Slice onions paper thin, then cut slices into
1 1/2 inch long segments. Combine fennel
slices with orange sections and red onion
slices.
Place on a plate and garnish with
chopped fennel tops and about four black
olives for each individual salad. Drizzle the
best olive oil you can find on each salad.
Squeeze additional juice from one more
blood orange on top of the salad. Add salt
and pepper to taste.
Recipes TM 2010 Renée Restivo
Please visit www.soulofsicily.com for more
recipes.
PASTA ALLA CARRETTIERA
Pasta from the Sicilian Cart
The name for this recipe originates from
the time when Sicilians travelled across the
island in their famous, colourful horsedrawn carriages – Sicilian carts. They always
kept these 5 or six ingredients in their carts
along with some pasta. The ingredients
an evening in sicily in manhattan
April 22, 2010
7
La Musica di Sicilia
T
he taste and smell of the wines
and food we are enjoying this
evening evoke strong images and
even memories of the beautiful island that
is Sicily. Chosen specifically for that reason,
each course and each accompanying wine
are typical of the island and originate in
no other place. Tonight, some of you will
recall fondly time spent there, some will be
spurred to visit again or for the first time.
Such is the power of food and the power of
the senses. This evening, dedicated to Sicily,
is not just about a physical experience. This
beloved island is more than just particular
crops, breathtaking ruins, and pristine
naturescapes. As anyone who loves Sicily
will tell you, Sicily reaches beyond the
physical to touch one’s heart and very soul.
Sicily is best described, best experienced
through her people and their history.
One could spend endless hours pouring
over their ethnology, ethnography and
anthropology to understand them or one
could experience their music. It has been
noted that music is a faithful and eloquent
revealer of the human heart. It has the
power to explain not only the ‘whys’ of
history, but also share the most guarded
secrets of one’s soul. It also connects us in
our humanity – quite an achievement for
eight little notes!
La Musica Popolare di Sicilia is the story
of the people of Sicily – the story of Sicily
itself. It is an interesting juxtaposition of a
nation’s history and the personal histories
of a civilization. One could begin with the
lullabies – among the first songs anyone
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hears in any culture. Endemic to the Sicilian
lullaby is the sound of ‘ah-oh’ or ‘lah-oh,’
sometimes even ‘oh-oh’ or ‘lah-voh.’ Is this
a reference to the dawn – (Aurora in Latin
and Eos in Greek)? Is this a remnant of the
time when Sicily was part of the Magna
Grecia? Was this the sound that mothers
came to use to soothe their babies to sleep
until dawn?
Song would accompany the children as
they grew. There were songs for toddlers,
sung to them as they learned to walk. One
such song told them that wherever they
placed their tiny foot, a sprig of basil would
grow: “Unni posi lu to peduzzu nasci un pedi di
basilico.” Of course, the nursery rhymes that
children chanted in sing-song would also
find their way into the songbook of Musica
Popolare. Santa Luna is a filastrocca, nursery
rhyme, that is found in different versions
all over Sicily. Singers took that childrens’
rhyme to the blessed moon and sang
variations of which many mention courtship
and eventual marriage. A reference to San
Giovanni is sometimes included as he is
the saint to whom young ladies would turn
when seeking a husband.
Sicily is rich in its repertoire of courtship
songs and this emphasis on courtship
exposes a crucial aspect of Sicily’s history.
Courtship was an important ritual of life.
Since the dawn of history Sicily was the
prize sought by invading armies. In the last
century it would be political unrest that
created instability. Everything that seemed
permanent could change almost instantly.
The only constant throughout history
an evening in sicily in manhattan
was one’s family. Courtship was a way for
the family to remain strong in the face of
upheaval; thus, the ritual was maintained
to preserve the very fabric of civilization. A
good match meant that the family would
survive for another generation.
In the tradition of courtship song, one
sees a snapshot of a different time when
men and women couldn’t freely speak to
each other in public. Through song, they
could tell each other their hearts desires
and let each other know if they accepted
or rejected another’s advances. “E quannu
s’affaccia la vurria vasari.” “When she shows
herself at the window, I want to kiss her.”
An offshoot of this was the canto di sdegno,
or the song of scorn. Although not used for
courtship, they were a way for a scorned
lover to express anger and sometimes hatred
for the one who wronged them.
“Mi cuntintavu a moreri e nun amar a tia.” “It
would have been better for me to die than to
love you!”
Sicilian music also demonstrates another
aspect of history and humanity: once,
people openly sung about their God, their
saints, and their miracles. They sang about
them when they worked and they sang
about them when they feasted. Mary, the
Mother of God, was central to many of these
chants. Although there were particular songs
for each religious feast day, many songs had
references to religion even though the song
was secular in nature. Religion was a central
part in the life of Sicilians. A chant sung
to bear the backbreaking labor of harvest
might be a recounting of the Passion. In a
April 22, 2010
Joe Zarba
By Michela Musolino
song about the horrors of pirate invasions,
it is lamented that only Mother Mary
could save the victims. A fable that bears a
resemblance to the Cinderella story revolves
around a healing from Saint Anthony.
“C’annuncia cumpariu Sant Antuninu/ci disse
chi mi du ca ti fazzu guariri?” Compadre Saint
Anthony announced, “Tell me what you
would give me if I cured you.”
Love and religion weren’t the only topics
sung. Any event in history, any conflict
found its way to be expressed in song,
especially the conflict between the overlords
and the poor. When the Palermitani arose
up to overthrow the oppressing Borboni,
a song came about which used a donkey
as a metaphor for the poor contadino, the
peasant. When the donkey has suffered
abuse, he throws himself down and
refuses to work for his abuser. “Lu sceccu
s’importuna, si curca in terra a dici, lu saziu
nun criri a lu diunu.” “The donkey threw
himself down on the ground and said
the man who has enough to eat doesn’t
understand the man who is starving.”
Musically, people hear so many influences
in Sicilian song. Some hear Spanish
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The Lyrics are Poetry
Risposa la sirena
riposa stu carusu nta lu liettu.
La Primavera Vinni
Spring Came (a love song)
How beautiful is this little boy
who picks rose and flowers each morning in
the garden.
Pick a bunch of flowers to give to your
priest
because he made you a Christian.
May the waters rest.
May the winds rest.
May the sirens rest.
May this little boy rest in his bed.
La primavera vinni, callu si misi a fari.
Vaiu circannu l’ummira
e nun la puozzu agghiari.
E di luntanu vitti una galanti rrama.
Idda faciva l’ummira,
ed iu m’avvicinavu.
Doppu c’avvicinavu
di addumannavi unf avuri,
“Dunnamilla na pampina
m’asciucu lu suduri.”
idda m’arrispuniu’
cu ddi durci paroli,
“Pampina un ti nni dugnu, no,
ti dugnu lu ma cori!”
influence, some hear Arabic influence,
some hear Greek. Each invader left their
stamp not only on the culture, but on
the musical patrimony as well. With so
many dimensions to this music, what
could possibly describe Sicilian music
comprehensively? What words could
possibly gather all these songs together to
fit them into one category? Perhaps that one
word is, “desire.” Each song is an expression
of humanity’s desire – whether it be desire
to receive love, the desire to give love, the
desire to be free, the desire to express one’s
faith, one’s frustrations, one’s anger, one’s
pain. “La vita era sempre un desiderio.” “Life
was always a desire (Michele Calì).”
It is the force of desire and the force of the
accompanying emotions that make Sicilian
music stand apart from other traditions. It
is this desire and these emotions that touch
one’s soul and connect one to others be they
our present neighbors or be they a people
who lived centuries ago. The rawness and
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the truth of such desires and emotions are
understood by all. At the end of physical
life, only memories remain. These memories
captured in song reach across centuries
to bind us together transcending our
modernity, our cultural differences and
our varied beliefs. Sicilian music reflected
the cycle of life, not in real time, but in
humanity’s time.
Michela Mussolino is a singer who specializes
in the Roots Music of Sicily. She is known and
loved on both sides of the Atlantic. Her CD
Songs of Trinacria can be heard on radio
stations in Europe and the U.S. Her music is
featured in the film Un Bellissimo Ricordo.
She recently performed at “L’Evento in Memoria
di Pino Veneziano” on the windy steps of the
ruins at Selinunte (YouTube), a favorite evening.
an evening in sicily in manhattan
Spring came, it began to get hot.
I went searching for shade,
and I could not find it.
And from far away, I saw an elegant branch.
She created shade,
and I approached her.
When I drew near, I asked her for a favor,
“Give me a leaf to dry my sweat.”
She replied with some sweet words,
“leaves I will not give you, no,
I will give you my heart.”
(documented in the collection of Sicilian folk
songs, La Baronessa di Carini, by Anna L.
Charetakis)
Beddu Stu Carusu
Beautiful little boy (a lullaby)
E` beddu stu carusa la mattina
ca rose e ciuri cogli.
Ca rose e ciuri colgi nta jardinu.
Cogli nna mazzu pi lu to parrinu,
cca iddu ca ti fici
cca iddu ca ti fici Cristianu
Riposa l’aqua
Riposa lu vientu
April 22, 2010
11
Mi Chiama Bella*
When you look at me, my face flushes
And my heart is a storm that cannot stop
raining
When you talk to me my mind becomes dim
And my blood becomes water
You are a marvel of the sky
Nature created you like that
And you call me: belle
And I want to be beautiful just for you
And you call me: heart
And I want to give you it
And you call me: belle
And I want to be beautiful just for you
And you call me: love
And you can take it
You are for me like spring water
That is always clear, cool and transparent
And as well the water flows down and meets
the sea
So you have to arrive at me
You are the most beautiful man
God created you with his own hands
Discover Sicily Through Music
There are many, many artists who have
recorded traditional Sicilian music over
time, too many to be included here. For
a good beginning, here is a list of artists
whose music can be found easily online.
The music is the individual interpretation
by these artists of sometimes centuries old
music.
Alfio Antico
Rosa Balistreri
Rita Botto
Carlo Muratori
Carmen Consoli
Kaballà
Lautari
Malanova
Michela Mussolino
Roy Paci & Aretuska
Matilde Politi
Carmelo Salemi
Etta Scollo
Sikilia
Vincenzo
Spampinato
Taberna Mylaensis
By Theresa Maggio
That was how it started. Soon I
was hooked. The island was deadly
beautiful, very old, most powerful and
strange. I stayed away for eleven years
after my first visit, but Sicily stayed
inside me. I finished college, camped
across Canada with friends, hitchhiked
the States coast to coast a couple of
times, and learned to tend bar, a good
traveling trade. I turned thirty in
journalism school and vowed to put my
degree to good use.
But the year after that I decided to
take my father to see his parents’ village.
Dad wanted to stop first at Mondello,
a seaside town near Palermo, where
he had served in the U.S. Navy after
World War Two. We liked it so much
we stayed five days. Piero, the lifeguard
at the tourist beach, was a fisherman the
rest of the year. He and I fell in love in
short order.
Tavola Vecchia Tavola Nuova*
As a boat without sailors
My heart goes adrift
Sometimes it rides the wave
Sometimes it sinks and then comes up again
As a boat without rudder
As a dog without owner
My heart goes, wandering around the world
If you want, handsome boy
I’ll give it to you
But you have to not inquire after its pains
Because real love doesn’t require anything
It wants good and offers good
Accepting its fate.
*New songs, written in traditional style from the
recent CD release by Malanova, Non Iabbu
E Non Maravigghia
12
Roccella Valdèmone,
a story
an evening in sicily in manhattan
April 22, 2010
After several long vacations in Sicily, I
moved to Mondello for a year in 1986.
Piero paid for my Italian lessons with
fish. In the winter I taught English in
Palermo and wrote for a small local
monthly paper. Piero and I lived 100
yards from the sea. He fished Mondello
Bay in his fifteen-foot wooden boat, the
Francesca. I traveled around Sicily and
took pictures.
I spent my money on film, so Piero
bought me lunch every day at the
Renato Bar, the hot-lunch bar closest to
the sea. One day I had a stroke of luck.
A procession of elderly men and
women filed by the seafront bar, their
old faces with deep creases lifelong
works of art framed by caps and
kerchiefs. They were Sicilian, but they
weren’t from this seaside town. Theirs
were the broad, open, country faces of
farmers and their wives.
“Where are they from?” I asked Piero,
as if he should know.
Piero shrugged. “Carrapipi”, he said,
Sicilian for Podunk.
The strangers filed into a restaurant,
leaving me spellbound by their faces.
I went home to get my camera, then
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waited for them in the square where
their tour bus was parked.
Three hours later they emerged from
the restaurant. They had arranged
for a local photographer to take their
picture, and suddenly they asked to
have me in it. Twenty of the old ones
pressed together in front of the mermaid
fountain with me in their midst. They
told me they were from Roccella
Valdèmone, a tiny mountain town of a
thousand people.
“Once a year, the town pays for a
trip for the old people,” said a middleaged woman who was shepherding the
group. “Otherwise they’d never get out
of town.” She opened her map, and
pointed to a dot on the other side of
Sicily, halfway between the Ionian Sea
and Mount Etna’s peak. She invited me
to visit. Before they left, I took some
pictures of them.
In November, seven months later, I
went unannounced to Roccella – two
hours on a coach to Catania, then three
hours up switchbacks in a jitney to
the top of a mountain where the town
had stood since at least the thirteenth
century. I was the only passenger, and
Roccella was the last stop. It was dark
when the driver cut the motor. I asked
him where I could find a pensione and a
place to eat.
“There are no hotels or restaurants in
this town,” he said.
I had no one’s name or address in
Roccella, but I had my pictures. They
were slides. I slid them one by one into
my handheld viewer and showed them
in the dark to the bus driver.
“That man works right here,” he said,
and he pointed to an auto repair shop.
The mechanic knew me instantly.
He had been one of the guides on the
old people’s trip, and he acted as if he
had been expecting me. He washed
14
After supper I stopped in the piazza
where everyone already knew of my
arrival. Three teenage boys invited me
to be the guest deejay at their radio
station. I sent greetings from America
over the airwaves, and then I played
Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach.” One
boy brought a silver tray of amaretto
cordials from the cafe next door.
“All over this side of the volcano, kids
in their beds are holding their radios to
their ears, listening to you,” the young
station manager told me.
I stepped outside into the drizzle.
The houses in the valley were already
dark. Etna was invisible, a black
mountain against a black, starless sky,
his hands, closed up the shop, and
walked me to the mayor’s house, where
he picked up the keys to the town hall.
Perhaps I am to sleep here, I thought,
but instead he opened the mayor’s top
desk drawer and handed me the photo
they’d saved for months. There I was,
nestled in with the old ones in front of
the mermaid, the April sun on our faces.
Wet cobblestones glistened under the
street lamps as we walked to a house
where I would stay. There Signora
Lombardo sat on a wooden chair set
over a charcoal brazier, peeling potatoes
for stew. The coals warmed her through
the wicker seat. Her son, Carmelo,
a music teacher at the high school,
showed me to my room.
an evening in sicily in manhattan
but a muffled red glow pulsed over the
crater, its inner fire reflected by low
clouds.
Next morning the town was beautiful,
its stones freshly washed and silver
gray. A quiet parade passed below my
window: a man on a mule, then a goat,
a dog, and a goose, heading in a line for
the town watering trough. Later I met
a young woman, a university student
home for the weekend, who walked me
to the site of Roccella’s seven-hundredyear-old castle, its stones now scattered
on the ground.
After lunch her father drove me to see
Roccella’s famous almond tree. Said to
be one of the first to flower in Sicily, it
blossoms in January. And just before
sunset a farmer and his wife brought me
to a dizzying brink to look down at the
Alcàntara River, a silver ribbon running
through the abyss, where lemon and
orange trees grew, with grapevines slung
between them, in terraced orchards.
On Tuesday morning Carmelo
dropped me at the train station on his
way to work. I had stayed three days
and still had all the money I came with.
His mother wanted only my picture in
exchange for my room and board. I had
been adopted by a town so small that
most Sicilians had never heard of it, an
isolated pocket of humanity where the
ancient custom of treating a stranger as
an honored guest still thrives.
Excerpted from The Stone Boudoir with
permission of the author.
Theresa Maggio is the granddaughter of
Sicilian immigrants. She has worked as a
freelance travel writer for the Daily Telegraph,
Financial Times and the New York Times,
among others. Her first book, Mattanza,
was critically acclaimed. The Stone Boudoir
followed, and she is presently working on a third
book about Sicily.
April 22, 2010
15
The Wine of Sicily
“No poem was ever written
by a drinker of water.”
horace
S
icily has a 4000 year old
relationship with wine and many,
many vineyards. It is the second
largest wine region in Italy, accounting
for 1/6 of all the wine making in Italy.
Surprisingly to most people, it has
roughly the same wine-growing area as
South Africa or Chile (120,000 hectares
of vineyards). Until recently, most of the
wine produced in Sicily was kept on the
island, but wine production and sales
have undergone a recent rebirth. There
are now 23 DOCs and a sole DOCG
(Cerasuolo di Vittoria). Planeta is the
island’s large, modern and well-known
producer, but there are many small
and wonderful wine producers as well.
More and more of their wines are being
exported to the United States, particularly
Nero d’Avolas, made from Sicily’s most
important grape. Some of the other grapes
you will see identified on Sicilian wine
labels include Frappato (Cerasuolo wine),
Negrello Mascalese (Faro wine), Nocera,
Perricone and Tannat among red varietals,
and Cataratto, Inzolia, Grillo (all 3 used in
16
Marsala production), Malvasia, Moscato,
Verdello and Zibibbo (Passito wine)
among the whites.
In spite of its long history, Sicily is still
just beginning to establish a reputation for
fine wines. Maria Christina Castellucci can
help you understand more:
A Glass of History
and Legend
By Maria Christina Castellucci
myth and religion
T
he story had gone more or less
as follows: Zeus, the supreme
sovereign of all the gods of
Olympus, and also an incorrigible
womanizer, had fallen in love with the
beautiful Semele, daughter of Cadmus, king
of Thebes, and was having a secret affair
with her. Not so secret, actually, as his wife
an evening in sicily in manhattan
Hera knew all about it and was mad with
jealousy.
Having decided to put a stop to the
affair, she disguised herself as an elderly
neighbor, and advised Semele, who was
six months pregnant, to ask her beloved to
show himself to her in his true form and
nature, which he had so far concealed:
who could assure her that he wasn’t a
horrible monster? However, Zeus firmly
refused the request, and Semele, as an
answer, refused to grant him her favours
April 22, 2010
anymore. Zeus, beside himself with rage,
appeared to her in all his power, amid
thunder and lightning, and the vision was
so extraordinary that the hapless princess
was struck dead by it.
The baby in her womb would have
met a similar sad fate if he had not
been saved by Hermes, who, taking the
embryo from inside the mother, sewed
it into Zeus’ thigh. From here there
emerged in due course the divine child
of Dionysus. To save the latter from
17
the ire of Hera, Hermes took him to the
nymphs that lived on Mount Nysa in
Helicon, who brought him up in secret
in a grotto, feeding him with honey.
And now he, an adolescent, lived
here. And it was here that by chance,
crushing the grapes that hung from
the vines hiding the access to the cave,
Dionysus invented wine, to which, from
then on, his name was always linked.
The real truth about the invention
of wine certainly involves much more
prosaic characters, but despite that,
to wines and grapes there have always
been attributed great symbolic value.
For example, everyone knows about the
link between vines, wine, and life and
blood, which is present, for instance, in
the Gospel.
In another part of the Bible, the
Deuteronomy, among the norms to be
respected in time of war, we read: “If
anyone has planted a vine and has not
yet picked its first fruits, let him go and
return home! Otherwise, if he die in
battle, another will pick them.”
18
The Israelis can boast of a viniculture
tradition lasting several millennia: It is
said to date right back to Noah, who,
we read in Genesis, was a farmer and
the first to plant a vine.
And, after him, all over Asia Minor
vines were grown: In the splendid
hanging gardens of Babylonia, one of
the seven wonders of the world, vines
were lined up next to one another amid
every sort of vegetable and, the tradition
has it, the wine was worthy of the most
refined palates – also because it was
only the latter that tasted it! Wine was
the beverage of the elite, and it was as
such that it was sold.
The story of wine in Sicily
I
t was the Phoenicians who took the
refined drink in their ships all over
the Mediterranean and of course also
to Sicily.
Here however, according to archeological
evidence, viticulture was introduced even
an evening in sicily in manhattan
before the first landing of the Phoenicians,
back in the sixteenth century B.C., by
Mycenean sailors and settlers.
However things went, starting from
the eighth century B.C. viticulture was
very common among the Greek settlers
in Sicily. Under the Romans, though
restricted to a few areas, viticulture was
still quite important: the Malvasia of
the Aeolian Islands, the Syracuse Pollio,
the Messina Mamertino were exported
all over the empire and appreciated
there. The decline started in the second
century A.D. Under the Byzantine
domination, in fact, only high quality
wines were produced, but in very
small quantities, to be used with the
Eucharist.
With the Arabs, wine production
in Sicily came to an end because, in
conformity with the Koran, the new
Islamic dominators did not drink
alcohol. By contrast there was an
increase in the production of quality
table grapes, for example “Zibibbo,” still
today the proud boast of Pantelleria.
Sicilian wine achieved new glory in
the Middle Ages with the Aragonese
domination. The new seigneurs
of Sicily exported wine made from
the island grapes all over Italy. In a
sixteenth-century essay, “De naturali
vinorum historia,” the author
abundantly cites Sicilian wines, in
particular Etna reds, and Noto, Palermo
and Cammarata wines. Again in the
sixteenth century, and more exactly
in 1594, Sante Lancerio, pontifical
butler and the precursor of all modern
connoisseurs, included Alcamo white in
the list of best wines of the times. But
the potential of Sicilian wine and grape
growing was still far from being fully
known and exploited.
The centuries went by, there were
good and bad moments. In the
April 22, 2010
nineteenth century, Sicilian wine was
not outstandingly successful, though
production was supported by the
Bourbons, who were also responsible
– among other things – for reviving
production in the areas around Alcamo,
Vittoria, and Castelvetrano; the only
exception was Marsala, which was
successfully exported.
The turning point came in the late
nineteenth century, thanks, we must
say, to a piece of bad luck. In 188081, a terrible epidemic of phylloxera
decimated Sicilian vines, causing a
major economic disaster. But, as
already mentioned, this disaster gave
rise to the new viticulture tradition on
the island. Vine growers grafted on
new stock, and also performed drastic
selection, abandoning the shrub-type
production, which was appropriate to
the production of wines rich in sugar
and suitable for blending. In its place
the awning and espalier growing system
were introduced, which together with
good irrigation and early harvesting,
now make it possible to produce
grapes with a moderate concentration
of alcohol, which are indeed rich in
body and colour but also in fragrance
and scent, perfectly able to satisfy the
tastes and standards of the Italian and
international public at large.
Excerpted from Vinando: On the Wine
Trails in Sicily with permission from the
publisher.
Maria Christina Castellucci is a professional
journalist who specializes in tourism, history,
travel, and culture in the Mediterranean and
Northern Europe. She is the author of Sicily:
Nature, Culture and Tradition. She also is a
freelance writer for Krea Publishing, including
travel books and Sikania magazine. She lives
in Sicily.
19
La Lingua Siciliana
From a speech by Justice G.T. Pagone entitled “Past, Present, Future”
S
icilian is a rich language full of
special sounds, history and music.
We talk of Sicilian as a dialect, but it
has a strong claim to be “the oldest romance
language, older than Italian, French,
Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, or any other
Latin spinoff.”1 Dr Privitera, a trained
romance language linguist-philologist, who
as a university professor had taught French,
Spanish, Italian and Portuguese at New York
University and St Louis University, recently
wrote:
“Why has this fact been ignored these
many centuries? Simply because, once
Italian became established as Italy’s official
language, any other form of speech in the
country was dropped to dialect status.
And language scholars, the Italians, and
the Sicilians themselves, accepted this
designation. Yet, it is a recorded fact that
the first writings in the vernacular were
in Sicilian at the Court of Frederick II
(1192-1250), where he formed what is
known as the Sicilian School of Poetry.
It is there that the sonnet was invented,
the poetic form so widely used a century
later by Dante, Petrarch and their
contemporaries.”2
There is a rich, deep and old literature
in Sicilian dating long before Dante’s
Divine Comedy. Before Garibaldi’s
thousand took Sicily from its Spanish
Bourbon rulers to join the resurging
Italian nation, there was little reason for
those in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
20
to prefer the Tuscan-based version of
Italian to their own rich language found
in books, poetry, music, jokes, and every
day speech. Dante himself considered
Sicilian to be the first and dominant
language for poetry in the 13th century.3
The process of Tuscanization of official
written documents had occurred by
1543, but until the fifteenth century
Sicilian had been the language in
which official documents were written4
The rich literature of Sicily is not
something to put behind a glass case to
be enjoyed only by dusty scholars. It
is a vibrant language that lives through
historical records and is still used today
in Sicily for people to communicate
with each other. The special sounds
and pronunciations of Sicilian have a
special role in the island’s history and
imagination. On Easter Monday 1282
the Sicilians rose in rebellion against
their then French rulers in what is
known in history books, poems, songs,
opera and common knowledge as “the
Sicilian Vespers.”5 The popular accounts
of the event recount the general slaughter
of the French who at times were
recognizable by their inability to say
“ceci” with a Sicilian accent (the French
pronounced the “c” as “sh”). Deeply
embedded in the language is the history
of the island and its people. Like any
language, Sicilian contains the traces
of its past with words having clear and
direct links to things long forgotten. The
Sicilian “accattari” (meaning “to buy”) is
an evening in sicily in manhattan
a legacy of old Provencal introduced by
the Normans between 1060 and 1189.
The old Provencal word “acatar” and its
modern French “acheter” is very different
from the Italian “comprare.”6 Unlike
Latin, Sicilian is not a dead language.
People speak it actively today and use it
as a modern means for literature, poetry,
song and everyday speech.
April 22, 2010
J.F. Privitera, Sicialian: The Oldest Romance Language (Legas,
2004), 14;Gaetano Cipolla, Siciliana: Studies on the Sicilian Ethos
(Legas 2005), 99-120.
2
Privitera, op cit, 14.
3
Dante, De Vulgari Eloquentia, cited in Cipolla, op cit, 100; and see
fn 1 at 118. 4
Cipolla, op cit, 107
5
See S. Runciman, The Sicilian Vespers (Canto, 1995).
6
J.F. Privitera, op cit 61.
1
21
Discover Sicily
Through Reading
The Land, The History And The People
On Persephone’s Island
Mary Taylor Simeti
A detailed portrait of Sicily by an
American writer who married a Sicilian
and settled there in 1962. Wonderfully
descriptive of rural life and local festivals
all focused around the seasons.
Sicilian Odyssey
Francine Prose
A travel memoir that uncovers the past
and observes the present while opening
the reader’s eyes to the beauty of the
rugged landscape and the Sicilian people.
The Stone Boudoir: In Search of the
Hidden Villages of Sicily
Theresa Maggio
A captivating personal journey through
towns and settlements. Her portrait
of Sicilians is insightful and full of
warmth. Her descriptions of festivities
and traditions, scenery and beauty are
evocative and compelling.
Mattanza: The Ancient Sicilian Ritual of
Bluefin Tuna Fishing
Theresa Maggio
A mattanza, in Italian, is a slaughter.
Theresa Maggio relates a springtime
slaughter of bluefin tuna, the fish
highly prized by sports fishermen
and gourmands. Maggio describes
masterfully the hard lives of Sicilian
22
fishermen who chase the bluefin,
reenacting a hunt that extends far back
into prehistory and whose rituals,
including that ceremonial massacre,
have gone essentially unchanged for
thousands of years.
A House in Sicily
Daphne Phelps
The true story of a British woman who
inherited a house near Taormina and
how she developed a personal love and
understanding of Sicily and the Sicilians
while hosting a bevy of writers and
artists from Europe and America. Funny,
warm and instructive. A primer on how
to live happily in a foreign land.
The Golden Honeycomb
Vincent Cronin
The search for a, perhaps, legendary
golden honeycomb offered by Daedalus
to Aphrodite in gratitude for his escape
from King Minos of Crete. A poetic,
romantic and scholarly history of Sicily,
written as the author travels from place
to place in search of the truth. An
extremely useful read to help pick apart
the layered history visible in churches
and cathedrals as well as at the sites of
the very well preserved ruins.
In Sicily
Norman Lewis
A loving profile of an extraordinary
country, based on Lewis’ sixty-year-long
fascination with all things Sicilian. On his
an evening in sicily in manhattan
many return visits, he wrote about the
island and its people as they changed over
the years.
Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the
Death of the First Italian Republic
Alexander Stille
Fascinating account of the Sicilian Mafia,
corruption in Italy, and the events that
led up to the assassination of top antiMafia prosecutors Falcone and Borselino.
Available in film.
Midnight in Sicily: On Art, Food, History,
Travel and La Cosa Nostra
Peter Robb
Robb puts the elusive world of organized
crime (both Neapolitan and Sicilian)
in a historical context that stretches back
to the nineteenth century. Interwoven
are writers such as Leonardo Sciascia,
Giuseppe di Lampedusa, Pier Paolo
Pasolini, and the connection they saw
between the rich food of Sicily and
the mob.
April 22, 2010
Language and Travel Guide to Sicily
Giovanna Bellia La Marca
A good introductory guide to the island,
its major sites and the Sicilian language.
Language CDs and translations included.
Sicilian Feasts
Giovanna Bellia La Marca
An easy and informative guide to the food
of the seasons and celebrations.
Pomp and Sustenance : Twenty Five
Centuries Of Sicilian Food
Mary Taylor Simeti
A classic. A chronicle of the island’s rich
heritage, this book is a mix of culinary
history and traditions, recipes included.
Simeti’s writing is engaging and mouth
watering.
Bitter Almonds – Recollections and
Recipes from a Sicilian Girlhood
Maria Grammatico and Mary Taylor Simeti
A renowned pastry cook and shopkeeper
in Erice, Sicily, Grammatico recalls
23
the hardships endured during her
girlhood, spent as an orphan in a Sicilian
cloister, and lends poignancy to the
uncomplicated, sweet pastries that make
up her life’s work.
Gangivecchio’s Sicilian Kitchen
Sicilian Home Cooking: Family Recipes
from Gangivecchio
Wanda and Giovanna Tornabene
The home cooking and history of their
family, the 600-year-old estate in the
Madonie Mountains and the colorful
evolution of Sicilian cooking.
Fiction
Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa
(1896-1957)
The Leopard
The quintessential story of a Sicilian
prince and his family during the days
of transition and Garibaldi’s unification
of Italy.
Salvatore Quasimodo (1901-1968)
The Selected Writings of Salvatore
Quasimodo
Piero Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975)
Poems
Gioia Timpanelli (1952- )
Sometimes The Soul: Two Novellas of Sicily
What Makes a Child Lucky
Lawrence Durrell (1912-1990)
Sicilian Carousel
Andrea Camilleri (1925- )
The Shape of Water and many others
The Inspector Montalbano Series is
hugely popular and has been adapted for
television and film. The stories take place
in Sicily although Camilleri is not Sicilian.
A Ciascuno il Suo
(To Each His Own) (1967)
Directed by Elio Petri with Irene Papas
and this film was inspired by Leonardo
Sciascia’s novel. The film narrates the
story of a teacher who, in what looks
like a crime of passion, discovers the
hand of the mafia. Many of the scenes
were made in Cefalù. You can recognize
the beautiful Norman cathedral. For the
hunting scene, the director chose the
countryside around Finale di Pollina
Caro Diario (1994)
Directed by and starring Nanni Moretti,
this semi-autobiographical film, for
which Nanni won Best Director at
Cannes, reads like a diary. It is divided
into 3 episodes, In Vespa, Isole (filmed
on the Aeolian Islands) and Medici.
Giovanni Verga (1840-1922)
Il Malavoglia
Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories
Little Novels of Sicily (translated by
DH Lawrence)
Cinema Paradiso (1989)
Giuseppe Tornatore’s Academy-Awardwinning film takes a romantic look
at growing up in a remote village.
The filmmaker returns to his Sicilian
hometown, Bagheria, for the first time in
30 years and looks back on his life.
Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989)
To Each His Own
The Wine-Dark Sea
The Day of the Owl
Elio Vittorini (1908-1966)
Conversations in Sicily
A Vittorini Omnibus: In Sicily, the Twilight
of the Elephant
Diario di Una Siciliana Ribelle (1997)
Directed by Marco Amenta. This is the
true story of Rita Atria, the 17 year-old
daughter of a Mafia don who gives her
diaries to the authorities to avenge her
father’s death. Her evidence and work
with Borselino and Falcone proved
extremely valuable in the exposure and
Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936)
Eleven Short Stories/Undici Novelle
(A Dual-Language Book)
One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand
24
Discover Sicily
Through Film
an evening in sicily in manhattan
April 22, 2010
convictions of many important gangsters.
Divorzio all’Italiana
(Divorce, Italian Style) (1961)
Pietor Germi’s comedy has Marcello
Mastroianni as a Sicilian aristocrat
seeking a divorce when divorce in Italy
was not legal. Filmed in Catania.
Don Giovanni In Sicilia (1967)
Directed by Albert Lattuada. Filmed in
Catania, this is the story of a boy who is
raised and pampered by his three sisters.
He adopts the persona of Don Giovanni
to hide his insecurities about romance
and love.
Excellent Cadavers (2005)
Documentary by Marco Turco. The
name in Italian is used to describe
high-profile victims of the mafia such
as politicians, judges, and police
chiefs. Based on Alexander Stille’s
book, this movie guides the viewer
through notable events including the
assassinations of Falcone and Borselino.
Remarkable photojournalist and antimafia activist Lettizia Battaglia plays a
role in the film.
Ginostra (2002)
Filmed on the Aeolian Islands, in
the town of the film title, director
Manuel Pradal tells the story of an
FBI investigator who is sent to Italy
to investigate the death of a Mafia
informant.
25
I Cento Passi (2000)
This was directed by Marco Tullio
Giordana with Luigi Lo Cascio and
Luigi Burruano. The film reconstructs
the story of Peppino Impastato, born
at Cinisi. Peppino’s father was related
to, and worked for Tano Badalamenti,
a powerful Mafia boss. Young Peppino,
deaf to calls and admonishments,
rebelled against the arrogance of
Badalamenti, and for this reason
in 1978 was killed. The set was
reconstructed in the places in which
the events really took place at Cinisi:
You will see Corso Umberto, Piazza
Vittorio Emanuele Orlando and Piazza
Stazione.
Il Gattopardo (The Leopard) (1968)
This is Luchino Visconti’s film version of
Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s novel. Set in
revolutionary Sicily in the mid-1800s,
the film stars Burt Lancaster as a Sicilian
prince who seeks to preserve his family’s
aristocratic way of life. Filmed in
Palermo, Mondello and Ciminna.
26
Il Giorno della Civetta
(The Day of the Owl) (1968)
This film was directed by Damiano
Damiani, with Claudia Cardinale and
Franco Nero. Leonardo Sciascia’s novel
was Damiani’s inspiration: A builder is
killed and the mafia wants the crime to
be dismissed as a crime of passion. This
time we are in the village of Partinico, a
few kilometres west of Palermo. Many of
the scenes were made in Piazza Duomo
and Corso dei Mille.
Il Postino (1994)
Michael Radford’s lovely romance set in a
small Italian town during the 1950s, where
exiled Chilean poet Pablo Nerudo has
taken refuge. A shy mailman befriends the
poet and uses his words – and, ultimately,
the writer himself – to help him woo a
woman with whom he has fallen in love.
Filmed in Procida (Bay of Naples) and the
Aeolian Island of Salina.
Johnny Stecchino (1991)
Wonderful comedy directed by Roberto
an evening in sicily in manhattan
Benigni. Stecchino (toothpick) is a
hapless bus driver who is believed to be
a snitch for the mob. Filmed in Bagheria,
Palermo.
failed dream of independence. Originally
a failure at the box office, the film has
emerged as a classic of the neo-realistic
movement. Filmed in Aci Trezza.
Kaos (Chaos) (1984)
Directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani,
Kaos tells four separate stark and
powerful tales of Sicilian life based on
stories by Luigi Pirandello. Filmed with
haunting music around Pirandello’s
hometown of Agrigento.
Malena (2001)
Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore and set
during WWII and filmed in Messina,
this is the story of the life of beautiful
Malena, her husband’s absence, a boy’s
obsession and angry townspeople.
L’Avventura (1960)
The first half of Michelangelo Antonioni’s
masterpiece was filmed off the coast
of Panarea and on the nearby island
of Lisca Bianca. The film is a scathing
examination of Italy’s aristocratic classes
set within the framework of a mystery
story.
L’Uomo Delle Stelle
(The Star Maker) (1995)
Affecting story from “Cinema Paradiso”
director Giuseppe Tornatore about a
con man from Rome who, posing as a
Hollywood talent scout, travels with a
movie camera to impoverished villages
in 1950s Sicily, promising stardom –for
a fee – to gullible townspeople. To
follow the locations of L’uomo Delle
Stelle you need to move from one end
of Sicily to the other. You will find
yourself in Monterosso Almo, in the
Iblei Mountains, Ragusa Ibla, Gangi,
Marzamemi, the Gurfa Caves near
Palermo, and Morgantina, today used as
a setting for a lot of films. The locations
included in this movie inspired Theresa
Maggio’s book The Stone Boudoir.
La Terra Trema
(The Earth Trembles) (1948)
Luchino Visconti’s adaptation of Verga’s
I Malavoglia, the story of a fisherman’s
April 22, 2010
Nuovomondo
(The Golden Door) (2006)
Directed by Emanuele Crialese and set
at the turn of the century, this is a film
about poor, illiterate farmers who want
to emigrate to America, a better place.
Their story is the story of old customs,
courage, fears and the importance of the
homeland.
Placido Rizzotto (2000)
The historical events which inspired
director, Pasquale Scimeca, took place
at Corleone, but the film was set in the
small village of Isnello in the Madonie.
The centre is Piazza Mazzini, where
the main thoroughfare, Corso Vittorio
Emanuele begins. Also worth seeing, in
the Terravecchia district, which is the
oldest district, is the little medieval San
Michele church.
Respiro (2002)
Directed by Emanuele Crialese, this is a
story of family and misunderstanding and
is filmed on the island of Lampedusa.
Salvatore Giuliano (1961)
While exploring the Sicilian world where
politics and crime exist in a turbulent
marriage, director Franco Rosi sets this
film in 1950’s Western Sicily. The city of
Castelvetrano, the piazzas of Montelepre,
the mountains, and the small villages are
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scenes of the life of the Sicilian Robin
Hood, Salvatore Giuliano, one of Italy’s
most beloved and handsome criminals.
This Neo-Realist film deals with his
passion for an independent Sicily and his
murder at the age of only 27. The story
is so captivating that Mario Puzo wrote
The Sicilian, a dramatized version of the
story in 1984 and this was made into a
film in 1987. An opera entitled Salvatore
Giuliano by Lorenzo Ferrero premiered
in Rome in 1986
was the town of Forza d’Agrò (Messina
province), in the Peloritani Mountains,
which becomes Corleone in the fiction.
Another important location, used in all
three films, is the Castle of Slaves, near
Fiumefreddo di Sicilia, which becomes
the villa of an old family friend of the
Corleones, Don Tommasino. Lastly, some
scenes of The Godfather part III were
filmed in Palermo, at Villa Malfitano, and
on the steps of the nineteenth-century
Teatro Massimo.
Sedotta e Abbandonata
(Seduced and Abandoned) (1964)
Directed by Pietro Germi starring Lando
Buzzanca and Stefania Sandrelli, this is
a masterpiece of a comedy, narrating the
grotesque story of a beautiful girl who is
seduced and abandoned. This satire on
Sicilian society, in which saving honor
seems to be the most important thing,
was set in Sciacca.
The Orange Thief (2006)
Directed by Boogie Dean (aka Aristotle
Silvio), with Vinnie Angel, and Artie
Wilinski, The Orange Thief is an
independent film, having been created
from scratch in one month--in a foreign
language, with Italian and Sicilian
non-actors, by first time directors in the
mountains of Sicily. It was filmed entirely
in Lucca.
Stromboli, Terra di Dio (1950)
Roberto Rossellini filmed this classic on
the Aeolian Islands in 1949. Stromboli,
Terra di Dio marked the beginning of
Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman’s highly
publicized affair.
Vulcano (1950)
Directed by William Dieterle, this is a
lesser known Neo-Realist film with a
great perfomance by Anna Magnani. The
film is set on the island of Vulcano in the
Aeolian Islands.
Tano da Morire (1997)
From Director Roberta Torre comes a
grotesque musical sending up the Mafia.
Alongside the actors, the protagonist
of the film is the noisy and colourful
Vucciria market in Palermo, one of the
most picturesque and authentic places in
the city.
WHO WE ARE
This evening was created by Karen
La Rosa and La RosaWorks, LLC.
La RosaWorks is devoted to the promotion
of Sicily in a variety of ways, to encourage
travel in Sicily and an interest in Sicilian
food and wine, to preserving the culture
and traditions, and creating a more
positive image.
The depth and breadth of the island’s
history, people, traditions and art, its
abundant agricultural offerings and its
magical beauty make Sicily unique,
important, and able to elicit deep passion.
The Godfather (1972, 1974, and 1990)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola,
a Mafia classic with Marlon Brando.
This film redefined the gangster film
genre. Coppola chose a lot of Sicilian
locations for this trilogy. One of these
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Many thanks to those who have helped
support this event:
an evening in sicily in manhattan
April 22, 2010
Patrizia Calce
Cali Cosmetics, www.calicosmetics.com
Case del Golfo, www.casedelgolfo.it
Maria Christina Castellucci
Colombo Marsala
Krea Publishing and Sikania Magazine
www.sikania.it
La Cucina Italiana magazine
Giovanna Bellia La Marca,
www.giovannalamarca.com
Jimmy Luljeta
Toni Lydecker, www.toni-lydecker.com
Malanova, www.malanova.org
Theresa Maggio, www.theresamaggio.com
Michela Musolino,
www.michelamusolino.com
NYC Sicilian Food and Wine Meetup
Group, www.meetup.com/sicily
Gianni and Pilar Nicolosi
Giuseppe Nicolosi
Paolo Nicolosi
Gennaro Pecchia
David Prutch, www.TuttoSicily.com
Renee Restivo, www.SoulofSicily.com
James Salser, www.design158.com
Gioia Timpanelli, M.A.
Vincent Titone
Piero Tuzzo
Giovanna Vitranno
Westchester Italian Cultural Center,
www.wiccny.org
Hugh Zurkuhlen
“And anyone who
has once known this land
can never be quite free
from the nostalgia for it.”
d.h. lawrence
All Photographs by Karen La Rosa, except where noted.
© La RosaWorks LLC, 2010
[email protected]
917.225.8415
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