My Sicilian Food Diary

The Coast near Menfi, Sicily

I had the great fortune to be invited to visit Sicily by one of our wine suppliers, Enotria UK in March. The trip lasted a whirlwind 2 days and whilst there I kept a diary of the tastings and fabulous meals taken. You may not believe how much food was presented to us we we got through it all with great British stoicism, I promise!

The trip centred around 2 main wine producers in Sicily, Manderossa and Planeta.

The Manderossa Wine Company acts as a co-operative to over 2,000 small landowners, producing wines of character and quality.

By contrast the Planeta Estate is a family run yet global enterprise compromising of 5 vineyards on the island. The Planeta Family believe that to experience their wines is to embark on  'journey around Sicily' as their vineyards include many different terroir, altitude and climate. Planeta wines are now exported to over 75 countries and we list a selection at the Restaurant for your enjoyment.

Arriving late in the day, 10pm to be precise, our group of 8 was taken to locally and internationally acclaimed seafood restaurant 'Da Vittorio'. The restaurant was recently featured on the BBC programme 'Sicily Unpacked' and I was delighted to be able to sample for myself the delicious yet uncomplicated fresh seafood.

This is what we had:
2010 Sauvignon Blanc, Manderossa
Antipasti - Fried baby artichokes, marinated swordfish and peeled prawns, fried cuttlefish, red mullet brochettes
2010 Viognier, Manderossa
Pasta - spaghetti with sea urchins
Main course - Baked fillet of John Dory, potatoes, onions and capers
(now seriously full!)
Lemon sorbet
Fresh Sicilian strawberries, Sicilian pastries and cakes all washed down with my first taste of 'Amaro Siciliano' a Sicilian digestive.
WOW!

Manderossa's huge winery at Settesoli

The next day saw a fascinating trip around the massive Settesoli winery of the Manderossa Wine Company. It was interesting to learn about the brave decision to concentrate on quality over quantity taken in the 1970's. This decision has been followed by a 25 year process of methodical experimentation the results of which you can sample in our 'Costadune rose' from Mandreossa.

One of the highlights of the trip was lunch on the second day. This was produced by all 25 'Women of Menfi' who have co-operated with Chefs of the region to preserve traditional cooking methods and recipes least they get forgotten in today's globalised world.

It was the first time the ladies had cooked for a foreign group and the excitement was palpable. A staggering selection of platters were presented including the following:

Seasonal vegetables with artichokes, cauliflower and borage leaves all cooked in a light batter with fresh anchovies.
Homemade pasta and canneloni with various sauces
Fish soup with homemade cous cous
A collection of Sicilian pastries, various fresh ricotta cakes, some with almonds and chocolate, others with lemon and honey.
Little biscuits and crisp pastries sandwiched between sweet ricotta.
All washed down with the wonderful wines of Manderossa.

Some of the 25 'Women of Menfi'

We left replete with a big 3 cheers for the women of Menfi, quite sure we would never experience a lunch of the like ever again. A wonderful day so far yet dinner beckoned following the essential afternoon siesta!

Now was the turn of Franceso Planeta to host a sumptuous 5 course dinner, each course matched with a Planeta wine followed by coffee and grappa.

Forgive me at this point for neglecting to retain the details of this fabulous meal but my mind was overflowing with the delights of the Women of Menfi. Nuff said!

The next morning, a tour of one of the 5 Planata vineyards was followed by a wine tasting in a delightfully converted stables in the Ulmo vineyard. Francesco explained the inspiration behind each wine, the blend, grape varieties and continuing experiment in the pursuit of our pleasure.

For lunch we were served a knockout soup - small rigatoni loosely suspended in a stock made from wild fennel with mountain herbs and lentils.
I went back for seconds!
Lunch continued with little rissoles of pork, caramelised onion and creamed potato - the only meat we had served during the whole stay.
The pork was matched with Planeta Plumago and Sainta Celilia - two magnificent wines that had been held back from the tasting so that we could have them with our food.
Fresh fruit and almond and honey biscuits finished up our last extraordinary meal.

The food, wines and wonderful hospitality of the Island of Sicily has given me memories I will never forget. I could not recommend a trip to the Island more for a Mediterranean gastronomic extravaganza.