Ad ogni uccello...: Food--It's what brings us together

Many of my friends and family have been asking me about the food here in Sicily. How does it compare to the States? How does it compare to my family's Italian cooking? I can honestly say that the way my family at home cooks is very much the way my family in Sicily cooks--simple dishes that pack a lot of flavor. I have been eating a lot of ripe tomatoes, fennel, and artichokes lately. The family also ends each meal with fruit. They keep a basket full of fresh kiwis, pears, and oranges (the oranges here are spectacular!) and once everyone has finished eating, they share the fruit with each other. It brings an end to the meal and provides that little bit of sugar to satisfy any sweet tooth. It is definitely a custom I plan on bringing back to the States with me. If only I could bring back some of the blood oranges from here as well...

What I find remarkable here is how little importance the food holds, but rather the importance that is placed upon eating a meal together. While breakfast is usually a quick cup of espresso and some biscotti, lunch and dinner are meant to be enjoyed together at the table. I am fortunate enough to have been raised with this same notion in America. My parents always made sure we ate dinner as a family at the table. This allowed us to discuss the goings-on in the world, recount stories about our day-to-day business, and naturally, engage in heated family arguments which usually started with my parents being "unfair." These moments, these hours spent around the dinner table sharing good food and good company have greatly shaped the person who I am today. For me, food has always been and will always be a means of bringing people together. From learning how to knead dough from my mother to learning how to appreciate a smooth Cabernet with my father, food has always been a bonding experience--you share the knowledge, you share the food, you share the moment. Being away from my family and friends, this concept of sitting together at the table to share a meal has been most refreshing here in Sicily. I truly feel as if I am a part of their family, listening to their various discussions and arguments that I would find at my own table.

Right, moving onto other foody delights, I had a unique experience on Saturday evening. Ida told me that we would be going out to eat that evening to a place where "you can order food there and take it with you." She asked me if we had anything like this in America. I immediately assumed she was talking about "Take Out" food so I said we did. Then she asked, "But is it big food?" Big food? Well, it is America and we seem to have an insane notion of bigger is always better so...sure. I suppose it is big food. I was assuming portion sizes, but as I quickly discovered that when Ida said "big food" she literally meant BIG food. This tavola calda (hot table) had cases full of foods that looked like appetizers for a giant. There were l'arancine (rice balls stuffed with meat) the size of bocce balls, calzone as big as my face, and yes, there were even chocolate croissants that took up nearly an entire baking sheet. If that doesn't make you salivate then you clearly have a problem. I ate a Sicialiana--a calzone-like food that is stuffed with fresh tomatoes, prosciutto, and Fontina cheese and lightly fried (this I discovered as I bit into it). It was big, it was filling, and it was totally worth every single calorie. We also bought a dessert from the bar that is traditional around Carnevale (which began the following day) called baba. It is a dry bread cake that is topped with a cream custard, fresh fruit, and then doused in a sugary rum syrup. It was incredibly sweet, almost too sweet for my taste, but nevertheless was delicious. I am happy the family shared this traditional delicacy with me.