Category: Flavors

Postcard from Palermo, Sicily: When cocktails beckon

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Above: Farmacia Alcolica

A bottle of wine with lunch means it is pretty rare that we boulevardier our way into many bars when we travel. Yes, of course, sometimes when walking long distances we quench our thirst with a beer or spritz.

But then, every single day of our stay in Palermo, we looked out our window, across the intimate palm-filled Giardino dei Giusti, straight at Farmacia Alcolica. The people spilling out onto an unusual assemblage of furniture, occupying a lane lusted after by drivers cruising the narrow streets for a rare parking spot, looked so comfortable. Hard not to conclude it was just what the doctor ordered, at least once or twice.

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Postcard from Siracusa, Sicily: Restaurants from La to Scu-

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Above: Vegetable strata at Moon

A few more dishes originating in Sicily are introduced in this second part of alphabetized reviews of restaurants we sampled during our stay.

The first is braciolettine Messina, or spiedini. Thin slices of beef, pork, veal or fish are wrapped around a paste-like filling made from bread crumbs, parsley and provolone moistened by olive oil. The small bites are then threaded tightly together on wood skewers before grilling.

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Postcard from Siracusa, Sicily: Bellomo Palace and, for saint’s sake, always eat two of this dessert

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Above: A representation of the story of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden apples, Museo Regionale di Palazzzo Bellomo

A stark façade conveys the 12th-century origin of the Bellomo Palace. The interior spaces, however, reflect several centuries of architectural alterations, much like the centuries of regional Sicilian art housed within. Benedictine monks occupied the palace in the 18th century, merging it and an adjacent palazzo into one compound.

The Risorgimento, the ongoing unification of the Kingdom of Italy, represented a disaster for many Catholic religious orders. In Sicily, the government seized property and buildings, including this monastery in 1866. In 1940, the government repurposed the compound as a museum, with the 1866 confiscated religious art forming a major portion of its collection. The Bellomo underwent substantial renovation in 2004.

Continue reading “Postcard from Siracusa, Sicily: Bellomo Palace and, for saint’s sake, always eat two of this dessert” →