Tag: coast

Summer in Sicily: all the 2024 news on the west coast – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

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The last part of our road trip to spend a summer in Sicily tells the story of the western coast of the island, between aperitifs in the vineyard at sunset, tastings in the shade of the temples and stays in bagli converted into refined country relais. An itinerary made even more interesting by recent TV series Makar And The Lions of Sicily.

Segesta: Picnic with a View of the Temple

Let’s resume our journey in Sicily with an original breakfast temple view, the new experience at Segesta Archaeological Parkin the Trapani area, which will allow you to discover the uncontaminated landscape where nature has regained the upper hand after the devastating fire of a year ago. Every Friday afternoon (5:30 pm) in July and August, an archaeologist from CoopCulture will lead the participants to the imposing Doric temple where the construction methods will be narrated, set in the history of the ancient Elymian colony. Afterwards, the nearby grove will be reached where everyone will be able to discover the contents of the basket of the elympian picnic: zero-mile products, local delicacies, an eye on the children’s menu, all to be enjoyed among the greenery of the Mediterranean scrub, while the light becomes softer and the sun begins to set.

Marsala: appointments in the cellar and aperitifs at the Saline

With its mosaic of vineyards, the Trapani area is one of the most vineyard-rich areas in Europe. The main wineries are located on the western side. Alongside the historic brands, in recent years young and dynamic wine-making companies have emerged such as Fine Cellars: Federica, Marco and Sergio Fina They are true ambassadors of Sicilian wine, appreciated for their direct way of communicating and for the engaging activities aimed at young wine lovers, such as the highly anticipated summer music festival. It will shineThis year’s appointment isAugust 8th on the panoramic terrace of the Fina family’s baglio with a view of the Egadi. At aperitif time, the coolest girls and boys of Marsala meet at the People in the Riserva dello Stagnone: among the rows of a vineyard by the sea, illuminated with soft lights, you make new friends and taste Sicilian bruschetta home made paired with local wines. For dinner we go to the restaurant The Lumie and you can indulge in the summer specialities – the excellent parmesan with fresh tomato sauce, ricotta and basil – by the chef Emanuel Russo. For your stay we recommend Rakaliaa rural structure with a minimalist design with an infinity pool enriched with water from the Saline and a “wine library” that pays homage to the centuries-old wine culture of the area. And still on the subject of wine, to enhance the versatility and contemporaneity of the marsalathe chef Francis Alagna Of Ciacco House & Putia organizes tastings dedicated to this legendary nectar, combined with family recipes (fried pasta, pasta with sardines, tuna in sauce with mint) offered in a special formula home restaurant for lunch or dinner in the country house.

Couscous, bread cunzato and safari

The “incocciatura” requires patience and mastery: with slow and constant movements, the semolina is worked by hand with water until it forms small uniform grains. This traditional method, handed down from generation to generation, is the secret of the perfect couscouslight and tasty. It is said that the best in Sicily is the one prepared by Marilu Terrasi – chef with a degree in philosophy and an expert in popular traditions – at the restaurant ofHotel Poco of Makari, to San Vito Lo Capo. An excuse to go is the SiciliAmbiente Film Festival: until July 20th screenings of films, documentaries, short films, book presentations and debates on cinema, the environment and human rights. Another representative food of Trapani is the bread cunzato. L’Almar Garden of Constance Resort & Spa proposes for this summer a horseback excursion “to discover the nature of Mazara del Vallo“, among vineyards and ancient bagli, with a final snack based on this typical bread seasoned with cherry tomatoes, anchovy fillets and extra virgin olive oil. Upon returning to the hotel you can relax in the new health centre – the jewel in the crown of the structure, with 6 warm rooms that make it the largest spa in Sicily – with a decontracting massage included in the package. The most original experience to live in this corner of Sicily is offered by Safari: the idea was born from a young Sicilian who decided to create a nature reserve on the family estate (100 hectares of woodland and 15 bodies of water) where deer, fallow deer, wild boars, mouflons, ostriches and buffalo are free to roam while guests, on board safari-style jeeps and equipped with hats and binoculars, can spot them accompanied by a guide. You can book the safari directly from the website with breakfast in reserve (60€), theaperitif with Sicilian artisan products (25€) or the dinner at sunset with fixed menu (€40).

Orestiadi of Gibellina and a new country retreat in Menfi

From the July 5th to August 10th the festival of the returns Orestiadi of Gibellina with theatrical, artistic and musical performances at the Baglio di Stefano and the Big Crackmonumental work of land art created by Alberto Burri. After the stop in Gibellina we continue our journey by pushing even further south, along the southern coast that looks towards Africa, to reach in just 30 minutes by car Memphis Where Planet Summer – hospitality branch of the historic Sicilian wine brand – has just opened The Secret Country Housea 10-room country retreat and restaurant, completely immersed in the unspoiled nature of the Belice Valleyto rediscover the sense of home and a warm family welcome. A few meters away the Beach Club Islandamong the golden dunes of Lido Fioriis a lounge in the shade of a pine forest overlooking the sea (a two-person position starting from €40) where you can relax between swims in the crystal clear waters awarded with the Blue Flag and tastings of dishes from the seafood cuisinerich in garden vegetables, offered in combination with Planeta labels.

Night party at the temples of Selinunte

Promoting Sicily as an international destination capable of combining art, history, nature and entertainment: this is the goal of the Palermo hospitality manager Antonio Milioticreator of Marvelous Sicily. In practice it is a travel/event multi-stage event aimed at young globetrotters to help them discover the wonders of the island’s historical and artistic heritage through a program focused on fun, sport and well-being. The 2024 edition (July 19-22), includes as its flagship activity, the night party in the Archaeological Park of Selinunte with the sounds of international DJs and producers Guy Gerber, Francis Mercier, Chris Idh and the live performance of Giolì & Assia. The Maravigghia Sicily package includes a 3-night stay at the resort Mangia’s Baron’s Tower from Sciacca.

In Sciacca a story between Japan and Sicily

A gourmet stop in western Sicily is the Verdura Resort, a structure of the Rocco Forte group
Hotels immersed in a large green estate overlooking the sea of Sciacca, which every summer
surprises guests with unmissable pop-up restaurants and culinary evenings: this year’s novelty is
called Nagori, a restaurant located in the ancient tower of the golf club, characterized by its aesthetics and
from Japanese minimalism, with tables arranged on the terrace overlooking the sea (open only for dinner)
(even to outsiders). The proposal includes a selection of Japanese-Sicilian dishes made with fresh fish from Sciacca and always accompanied by vegetables grown in the resort’s gardens.
Menu specialties include tempura, sushi and sashimi and an original tuna tartare with
wasabi served inside a cannolo prepared with chickpea flour (reminiscent of Sicilian panella, but
the consistency is crispier). Among the culinary events of the summer at the Verdura Resort we point out
instead the two evenings Fulvio’s friendswhich will see the home chef Fulvio Pierangelini duet
with Fulvio Marino (Wednesday 24 July), a well-known face on TV and a great master baker, and with the
famous French pastry chef Pierre Hermè (Tuesday 6 August).

Agrigento: Italian Capital of Culture 2025

Our summer road trip in Sicily now takes us to Agrigento, elected Italian Capital of Culture for 2025. While waiting for the official celebrations, the city of Empedocles and Pirandello is preparing to welcome visitors from all over the world. The Doric Eco Boutique Resort & Spa It is the ideal base for discovering the rich food and wine tradition of the “valley of the gods”. Nestled on a hill, from the rooms it is possible to contemplate the profile of the Temple of Juno framed by the sea. Among the events of the Archaeological Park not to be missed this summer, we would like to point out the tastings of the branded products Diodoros – an environmental sustainability and biodiversity protection project that allows the use of uncultivated land and spaces in the archaeological area, free from finds and immune from excavation campaigns, entrusting them to local cooperatives and companies – at Casa Barbadoro under the Temple of Concordia and then the exciting show at dawn The Awakening of the Gods scheduled for Sunday August 11th in the context of FestiValle 2024). Let’s now move to Villaggio Mosè from Sitarilocal of the Sorce familywhich offers a dish inspired by grandma’s snack: a toast of homemade bread, soft and digestible, stuffed with 100% Sicilian ingredients (ham from Nebrodi and Vastedda del Belice). The symbolic product of the territory is however the Raffadali pistachiocelebrated by Joseph Colletto of the restaurant That’s love (the first pizza chef to have used it for breading pizza) with the tasty pizza “Ode al Pistacchio”, characterized by an irresistible crust studded with grains and edible flowers collected in the valley. For a gourmet dinner, go instead to Carusua family-run fine dining restaurant with 28 seats overlooking the archaeological walk. Leading the team is the twenty-five year old chef Alen Mangionea new lever of Sicilian cuisine to keep an eye on. To confirm, try the dish signature “A look at the past”, a concentrate of Sicilian summer with sardines, tomato, fresh oregano and inspired by a childhood memory.

Chef Pino Cuttaia’s new home in Licata

We leave Agrigento towards Licata, the last stop on our journey, to discover the new look of the restaurant The Sideboard (2 Michelin stars) of Loredana And Pine Cuttaia. The warm tones, the resinated oak floor, the mandarin-colored leather upholstered chairs designed by Patricia Urquiola, the iron service tables and the lamps that recall fishing rods make the atmosphere decidedly more intimate and enveloping. The ideal context to enjoy the “memorial dishes” of the man who is rightly considered one of the great protagonists of contemporary sicilian cuisine. The central element is certainly the imposing double-sided elm burl cabinet, with a matt finish, which overlooks both rooms. In addition to the à la carte menu, the chef offers three tastings: “L’Illusione” with seven courses that pay homage to the history of the restaurant (€150); “Il mare inaspettato” divided into eight courses including the famous “Quadro di alici” (€170); and “La Scala dei Turchi” which tells the story of the sea and the hinterland of this corner of south-western Sicily (€190).

Our journey ends here. After having accompanied you around Sicily, all that remains is for us to wish you have a good trip and a good summer.

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The Amalfi Coast becomes plastic free – Italian Cuisine

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The Amalfi Coast is active in safeguarding its wonderful heritage and sustainable tourism: after Cetara, Ravello and Atrani, Vietri sul Mare also says goodbye to disposable plastic

Disposable plastic will be prohibited a Vietri sul Mare. The town that acts as a gateway to the Amalfi Coast becomes plastic free: all commercial and craft activities, as well as tourism organizations, will no longer be able to sell disposable plastic foods and beverages.

The order is already valid from September, the month during which the activities may run out of stocks and warehouse deposits. From the 1st October the ban will be absolute, under penalty of € 25 to € 500.

Vietri sul mare is not the first municipality on the Amalfi Coast to adapt in advance to the legislation of theEuropean Union which foresees the elimination of disposable plastic objects by 2021. During this year, Cetara, Ravello, minors, Atrani have already joined together in the fight against pollution, becoming plastic free. An action necessary to preserve the health of the environment and man, as well as the breathtaking beauty of the places on the Amalfi Coast.

Plastic Free Amalfi Coast

Many initiatives to clean up the cities, the beaches and the sea.

During the summer Litter Hunter he chased waste along the coast: it is a system consisting of an aerial drone, an operations center and a marine robot, conceived by a Campania start-up.
Meanwhile, from August, the catamaran Marine Litter patrol the area every day, traveling from Positano to Vietri sul Mare and vice versa.

Another novelty is Junker, an app available in 10 languages and provided to municipalities to inform citizens and tourists about proper waste sorting.

All the hotels they are eliminating plastic bottles, in favor of water dispensers, glass bottles or water bottles. Moreover, the courtesy kit is replaced by distributors or disposable kits in recycled plastic, with the aim of starting up a local chain of production of essences, to recover the waste from lemon processing.

Finally, in the schools of the Coast will be present from September water dispensers and children will be provided with water bottles.

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Calabria coast to coast – Italian Cuisine – Italian Cuisine

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The New York Times had already thought of including Calabria among the must-see destinations in Italy. And he did it with purely gastronomic reasons. In fact, if this region really begins to make itself felt today, we must thank all the various producers of excellence, as well as the great chefs such as Gaetano Alia, who for years with his Locanda has been working for the enhancement of the territory; or Giuseppe Romano, which, although of Campania origins, has made this land its own, as demonstrated by organizing the huge event for its Me Restaurant Tasting Calabria, where some protagonists of this region have had the opportunity to meet and reflect on the immense heritage of which they are called to speak.

Northern Calabria: chilli, zafarana and lavender

We usually think that we eat spicy all over Calabria. Instead, it's not like that at all. The area where more chilli is eaten and produced is in particular the one to the north, on the coast, or from Diamante (where the biggest party in his honor also takes place in September), up to the province of Vibo Valentia where it is used for the production of 'nduja. In the inner part, above all in the municipality of Tortora, the zafarana is produced, a sweet pepper, similar to the crust of Senise, excellent both in powder and fried in a pan (with cod). And then always in the northern part of the region there is part of the green lung of Europe, or the Pollino National Park, where lavender is produced in large quantities, giving rise to a marvelous spectacle of long, open lilac stretches.

Arbëreshë Community: Shëtridhlat, Dromsa, Collivi, Panaghie, Picetulit and Pane di Cerchiara

Moving on the Ionian side, it pleasantly stumbles between the arbëreshë communities, or countries where they emigrated from the then Arberia, or Albania around the 1400s and settled in municipalities such as Lungro, Civita, Spezzano. Here some traditional aspects are anything but dormant: the arbëreshë culture is still very strong and present, especially from the gastronomic point of view, as can be seen in unique dishes such as dromsa or dromesat, or pasta crumbs; or Shetridhlat, a dough that is continuously worked by a group of women, forming a circle that does not break until it is cooked, then seasoned with legumes; or even Collivi, Panaghie and Picetulit, that is, wheat cooked with spices and cocoa and human-shaped sandwiches prepared in commemoration of the dead, one of the most important festivals there is. Also in this area, the Cerchiara bread is also produced, among the best good long leavened loaves, prepared by local bakeries with the ancient natural yeast.

La Piana di Sibari: rice, oil and clementines

The Piana di Sibari is such a beautiful place that it seems like a dream. Walk around the Agriturismo Casacchella among the centuries-old olive trees, from which one of the best oils in Italy is made, up to the clementine trees, which give sweet and delicious fruits, today IGP. And then in Sibari it is produced a rice that according to some is the best Italian, a carnaroli grown on about six hundred hectares of brackish soil, flooded by the Raganello river when it descends from Pollino.

The Crotonese: Finocchio d’Oro, Pecorino DOP and Pane di Cutro

In those five thousand hectares of Ionic band that go from Strongoli to Botricello, in the area of Isola di Capo Rizzuto, a special fennel has been produced for at least 160 years, without filaments and with a very persistent aroma. Sold all over the world, it is called "gold" because it represents an important economic resource for the territory, a real mine. In the last ten years, especially thanks to the work of the Organizing Committee and its President Aldo Luciano, they are trying to enhance it a lot in the kitchen too, collaborating with some chefs like Natale Pallone of the Ruris restaurant in Isola di Capo Rizzuto, which prepares it au gratin, combined with Cutro Bread and mixed with Pecorino Crotonese DOP, two other great uniqueness of the area. And you think this dish was also noticed, mentioned and appreciated by the New York Times.

Catanzaro: morsello or morzello alla Catanzarese and pitta

Not very summery and tendentially for strong stomachs, "u morzeddhu cu a pitta”Is a very ancient dish, widespread in the province of Catanzaro. It is prepared with entrails, tripe and fifth quarter which are first cut into strips and then fried with oil, bacon, onion, chilli pepper, tomato paste, red wine and oregano. It is usually paired with pitta, a typical Catanzaro bread with little crumb and a shape similar to a flattened donut, which is often used together with other dishes.

A unique triangle: ‘nduja, onion, pecorino, beans, truffle, tuna and fileja

Although it may have spread within and beyond regional boundaries, nduja is actually only from Spilinga. Here the oldest Calabrian festival that takes place every August 8 from 1975 takes place in his honor, also thanks to the fact that every family still raises and slaughters at least one pig. It must be said that Spilinga is located in a unique Calabria in terms of production: near Nicotera, the reference city for the Mediterranean Diet; in Tropea and its red onion, famous for its sweetness and digestibility; to Monte Poro, to his pecorino e “a sujaca nta pignata", Or beans cooked in the crock of Caria (from which a beautiful festival). But it does not end here: the nearby Pizzo is noteworthy both for its historic tuna fishing; both for the sweet truffle, or the ice cream that is served in all the bars of the central square. Local pasta is the fileja, which is seasoned with all these products (beans, pecorino, tuna).

La Piana di Gioia Tauro and Rosarno: kiwi, citrus fruits and Struncatura

Here too, as in the Piana di Sibari, many citrus fruits are produced, including lemons and clementines, but also a large quantity of kiwis, of a quality clearly superior to those imported. The undisputed protagonist of the Piana cuisine is struncatura: a fresh pasta like fettuccelle alte, produced with bran, carob flour, rye and water, traditionally seasoned with anchovies, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and chilli pepper. The name comes from struncaturi, which in dialect indicates the scraps of flour and bran from the grain milling that remained on the ground, for this reason it was also forbidden for a period. To absolutely try the version of the "Struncatura De Gustibus" in Palmi.

The Stocco di Mammola

Stockfish with tomato, onion, capers, olives, chilli and potatoes is a must of Mammola, which is worth a visit for the MuSaBa. It is a unique art park in the world, with works of art and monuments of many colors, created by the artists Nik Spatari and Hiske Maas. Returning to the rapier, it seems that it has become the typical dish according to this legend: after a terrible earthquake, a Norwegian ship arrived loaded with stockfish, which the northern sailors decided to devolve to the country in difficulty. And from that moment on they never separated from this tradition.

Scilla and Reggio Calabria: not just fish

Both in Scilla and in Reggio Calabria there are two kitchens of the sea (to taste at the Taverna Kerkira in Bagnara Calabra), in particular with mussels and swordfish, which is historically caught in the nearby Strait of Messina. But not only in reality: the kitchen of Reggio also includes the consumption of meat, especially pork. On the occasion of the feast of the Madonna, the second week of September, frittole are prepared, or rather the pork is cooked in its fat for eight whole hours with all its parts, including innards, but it does not end here. Once cooked, on the bottom of the pan all the undefined waste remains, called the "curcuci”, Which are then stir-fried with a beaten egg.

In Aspromonte: maccaruni and cheeses, figs and bergamot

We at La Cucina Italiana have never hidden our love for Aspromonte, a spectacular land, where a true, authentic atmosphere still reigns, which has something original not only from Calabria, but from all over Italy. Here, in fact, some countries still talk about the ancient Greek and they prepare simple homemade pasta, with tomato sauce, like maccaruni (try them at Trattoria Nizia Paleo di Gallicianò). And for some time now, thanks to the work of some enlightened people, they are taking land away from construction and other things, to give them back to grazing and animals, with a renewed production of cheeses such as caciocavallo from Ciminà; and to crops such as figs and bergamot.

Finally, let's not forget that they are produced throughout the region excellent wines starting from local vines such as gaglioppo or magliocco.

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