On the Wine Trail in Italy: Eating My Way Through Sicily (and Rome)

Gioacchino Campanella ~ Buon “quarumaru”
- photo by Manuela Laiacona

This last trip, first through France and then Italy, was one of the most challenging journey’s I have ever had on the wine trail. The little mishap in France set me back more than I knew. Upon returning home, the docs shook their head in amazement that I would carry on through the trip to Sicily, not the easiest part of the world in terms of convenience. But I saw it another way. Many years ago when I got sick in Greece, I had only one thought, and that was to get to Italy as soon as possible and get healed, which I did. So I set my course for Sicily in hope of a healing journey.

What made it possible, in no small part, was the food. Sicilians eat pretty much like I do, with some small exceptions. One meal (not pictured here) was all vegetables and it came at a much needed time. The jolt my body took really scrunched my insides. No amount of natural wine was going to set the sails straight and get things moving the way they normally do on HMS Cevola.

Walking was a major part of my rehab, for sitting and sleeping were painful and at times impossible. But moving the parts and pieces, a piedi, kept everything in motion. I love to roam the streets with my camera, and Palermo and I are old friends when it comes to walking the streets. One funny story: I was walking aimlessly, and saw a caffe’. Walking past it I wondered why I didn’t stop. I saw another and passed by it too. I wasn’t drinking coffee. But I needed human interaction. Finally I came to this caffe’. I walked in an ordered a spremuta di arancio (fresh orange juice). Sitting there drinking it, slowly, I recognized a picture on the wall. It was of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, looking old and tired and deep in thought. It was then I realized I had come to one of his old haunts, in fact one of the places he would come to in the morning to drink coffee and write his manuscript, Gattopardo. Finishing my drink I sat outside and made some notes. A young man approached me trying to sell me pens. Odd, I thought, that he would be trying to sell me pens. In reality he was probably a crack-head or a tweeker looking for money for drugs. I gave him a euro and declined the offer of a pen. If Giuseppe were alive today (he died at 60), he would probably be writing on a laptop. But the irony of the situation didn’t go unnoticed by me.

Ok, food, really, this time.

We have Palermo food, both osteria, street and coastal. We have inner Sicily country food, made by young women, much like the women do in my family. We have fancy resort food, a little more modern, but with really bright flavors and good end results. And lastly, there is an amazing meal (one of the best on the trip) I had with friends Hande and Theodor Leimer in Rome at Cesare al Casaletto, which many cognoscenti think is one of the best examples of non-touristic trattorie in Rome. For my part, I know it will be a place I hope to return to many times, I loved everything about it, even the stinky, orange jug wine.

So, once again, too many words followed by more than enough images. I wish to thank Manuela Laiacona for showing me her secret Palermo, as well as all the kind folks along the trail. While the food didn’t “heal” me completely, I am sure it (and the wine) made it possible for me to complete this arduous journey and get home safe and sound. Grazie mille, tutti.

Palermo Centro Storico - Osteria dei Vespri

Alberto Rizzo in front of his venerable establishment

lingua di manzo uova di quaglia e tortino di Musso

Vellutata di seppia al nero con profumo d’alloro ed i suoi
raviolini al pomodoro , piselli, patate e zafferano

Cozze ripiene, gratinate con Parmigiano, su vellutata di lenticchie al finocchietto e zafferano
(photo provided by Osteria dei Vespri and Trip Advisor)