L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano ALL AROUND ITALY TRAVEL TIPS DESTINATIONS ACTIVITIES A day at the Ortigia market, Sicily M y first trip to Sicily was as a six year old, on the p a s s e n g e r s h i p Marconi, on the way back to Australia. It was the 1970s and the handful of photos we have from the trip are yellow and faded. I know we stopped in Taormina and went to see the Greek amphitheatre. I remember the view of Mount Etna as a backdrop to the theatre, and that it was blowing smoke at the time. I also remember my first taste of a soft lemon gelato, deli- cious and dripping, the type that w e c o u l d n ' t y e t b u y i n Australia. It took 40 years for me to return to Sicily, and coinciden- tally it was a Greek story that drew me back, specifically the 1968 RAI television mini-series of The Odyssey, directed by Franco Rossi on DVD. It had the most glorious locations with never-ending blue skies, olive trees and cobalt-blue waters. I thought of the Greeks in the Mediterranean, that amphithe- atre they had built in Taormina, a n d a f t e r a b i t o f o n l i n e research, I started reading about Syracuse (Siracusa in Italian), founded by the ancient Greeks close to 3000 years ago. And I k n e w t h e t i m e h a d c o m e t o return to Sicily. W e s t a y e d i n O r t y g i a (Ortigia in Italian), which is the historical centre of Siracusa and located on a small island, acces- sible by a bridge. We arrived on the evening train, with clouds threatening to storm. There were no taxis at the station, so we started walking, but the rain hit just as we approached the bridge to the island. We could go no further, sheltered in a shop and the helpful shop assistant called a taxi for us. Geraldo was the driver – he also lived on the island – and he knew the maze of streets perfectly, speeding along in spite of the rain, mere inches between his taxi and the parked cars. He dropped us off directly in front of our apart- ment and the rain miraculously stopped. Our accommodation was on Via Laberinto, a first floor Air BnB apartment, newly renovat- ed and with a spacious kitchen, looking out through tall and ele- gant windows onto the street. The floor had a central square of colourful tiles, which the owner later explained were original and kept as a feature during the renovation. It was our charming and cosy home for the next four days. The following morning was sunny and started with an early search for a cappuccino and cor- netto. To walk around Ortigia is to feel as though you are in a village, an open-armed and wel- coming one, with pot-plant filled balconies jutting out from lime- stone houses. Doorways were open, and peering in we saw artisans at work with wood and stone, they smiled and nodded "buon giorno signora" from their work spaces, the sound of t o o l s c l a n g i n g , c u t t i n g , a n d p o u n d i n g a w a y . T h e r e w e r e wide piazze with churches and civic buildings, constructed in a gloriously giddy Baroque style, w i t h t w i r l s a n d s w i r l s . T h e s o u t h - e a s t c o r n e r o f S i c i l y , including Siracusa, was ravaged b y m a j o r e a r t h q u a k e s i n t h e 1500s/1600s so it was rebuilt by PAOLA BACCHIA its Spanish masters in a Baroque style. It is very, very pretty. Before I arrived in Ortigia, I had read about its open air mar- ket. For me, markets are always a f i r s t s t o p i n a n e w t o w n , because it is in markets that you can immerse yourself in the community and how it lives – where the food that feeds the people is produced, sold and bought. And it was a particular- ly lovely market, open daily, with crates and tubs filled with colourful seasonal produce in the middle of a maze of sand- stone coloured buildings, not too far from the water's edge. Locals were chatting to stall owners, buying what they need- ed for the day – and there was so much to choose from. We were there at the end of sum- mer, so I found glorious late summer fruit – ripe plums and peaches, luscious figs and "bas- tardi" prickly pears. T h e r e w e r e o l i v e s o f a l l types, and sacks of spices, seeds and salty capers from the island of Pantelleria. The fish stall was manned by a smiling pescivendolo, selling cuttlefish, mussels and a whole swordfish, that was sliced as required. Filleted sardines were on sale for only 5 Euro per kilo – I imagined them tossed in a pan with fennel, currants, and pinenuts, as a sauce over freshly cooked spaghetti. I found a stall that was sell- ing sheep's milk ricotta, a spe- ciality in Sicily. There were sev- eral varieties: soft fresh ricotta, so creamy and no doubt made yesterday; salted ricotta for grat- ing and colourful mounds of baked ricotta. The market was overflowing with bright red tomatoes and they were, as expected given the season, inexpensive and ready to be made into passata. You knew they had been picked from the vine when ripe – rich, sweet and mildly acidic, just as they should be. Boxes of the zucchini f l o w e r s w e r e w a i t i n g t o b e bought, stuffed full of sheep's milk ricotta and fried. Bunches of wild asparagus were tied up with colourful string, crying out f o r a n o m e l e t t e o f e g g s a n d parmesan cheese and the scent of fragrant fresh green herbs filled the air. My market choice for lunch that day was simple: a bunch of basil, a tub of fresh ricotta, a ciabatta loaf, a small bottle of local extra virgin olive oil and a b o t t l e o f 2 0 1 2 T e n u t a d e l l e Terre Nere Etna Bianca. It was the most perfect and freshest of meals in a perfectly heavenly place, fit for a Sicilian king (or even a Greek one). Paola Bacchia is an Italian- Australian food blogger. Her award winning blog "Italy On My Mind" tells the story of fam- ily memories and their connec- tions to food. She returns to Italy every year to expand her knowledge of Italian food, its t r a d i t i o n s a n d i n n o v a t i o n s . C o n n e c t w i t h P a o l a a t http://italyonmymind.com.au Instagram: italyonmymind Facebook: Italy on my Mind There were olives of all types at the Ortigia market Sacks of spices, seeds and salty capers from the island of Pantelleria Colourful mounds of baked sheep's milk ricotta

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