Random and some not so random words, photographs, videos, and general information about Italy.

A local experience: Aspra and "U Rittufilu'"

6/22/2016

If you like anchovies (acciughe in Italian; pronounced, ah- choo- geh), you’ll love the little village called Aspra. If you don’t like anchovies, you’ll still love the little village called Aspra. The reason I mention anchovies is that Aspra is a fishing village and their local anchovies are exported all over the world. It even has a museum dedicated to the anchovy (acciuga). The village of Aspra has Arabic roots as does its name, which means ‘Stone’ due to early excavation of a limestone called Calcarenite.

Aspra is a picturesque little village that is within the municipality of Bagheria, Sicily.

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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

6/17/2016

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If you have not visited Sicily, my hope is that you get inspired to visit. If you already have, my hope is that you return. If you have not eaten Pani chi Panelli, my hope is that you try them when in Sicily, maybe while visiting its province of Bagheria, which were both mentioned in my first post. If you do visit Bagheria and try Pani chi Panelli, please throw your trash in un cestino, a garbage can, otherwise it’ll look like this…

Did you hear about or remember the garbage crisis in Naples that happened about 7 years ago? Slowly it’s gotten better, much better. You don’t see the garbage you once saw in the Neapolitan streets…

reuters.com

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A Popular Sicilian Street Food

6/15/2016

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Pane con Panelle
"U pani chi panelli" in Sicilian dialect
Fried chickpea patty eaten sandwich-style. Squeeze on some lemon juice and eat--absolutely delicious!
An original food from Sicily that has Arabic roots…
Sometimes it's eaten with crocchette di patate, otherwise known as Le Crocche' or Cazzilli which are potato fritters or croquettes which I'll be talking about in a later post…back to Panelle…

A quick recipe for Panelle:

Made with about 1 cup of chickpea (ceci) flour, 2-3 cups of water, salt and pepper to taste, some parsley and olive oil to fry.

In a pot, mix the flour and add the water slowly while mixing in order to get a thick, porridge-like consistency.

Add your salt, pepper and parsley while continuing to mix

Cooking for about 5 minutes or until thick, like porridge

While hot, and now at a thicker consistency, spread it onto a non-stick surface and shape into a long rectangular shape--it should be about 1/2 inches thick

Let it cool a bit and then cut into squares

Fry the squares in a large skillet with about a 1/2 inch of hot oil

Fry each side about 2 minutes or so and use a spatula to lift out of the skillet onto a plate with a paper towel on it in order to soak up the oil--viola, Panelle done!
Serve on fresh Italian bread, squeeze some lemon juice on the Panelle and presto, Pani chi Panelli!

https://www.facebook.com/Friggitoria-da-Tony-1699017216977072/
Video taken in Friggitoria da Tony in Bagheria, Sicily

A Friggitoria is a food establishment that sells local foods, generally fried foods.

Some pictures provided by:
http://www.palermonighteday.it/2011/01/ricetta-delle-panelle-facile-e-veloce/

Music: Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.com

Another little spot for Panelle in Bagheria that's been around since the 1950's
http://www.cibodistrada.it/locali/antica-friggitoria-palumbo-dal-1953

For the Love of All Things Italian

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Ciao, io mi chiamo Anna

Hi, my name is Anna:

E' un piacere conoscervi. Nice meeting all of you. I am an Italian teacher in the States and have been teaching for almost 20 years. I love teaching Italian yet Public Education has changed since I started; or it may be that I have changed since I started--maybe a little bit of both. I was granted a sabbatical year to work on a project about my family that metamorphosed into something bigger than my family. It developed into a website called the Story of Silence. It speaks about seven women and the stories they tell about their personal experiences during WW2. I am hoping it can develop further into a resource for teachers of all subjects and for life-long learners in general who believe in the power of Storytelling and its capacity to connect us in the most human of ways. Storytelling lead me to create For the Love of All Things Italian as well. I love Italy and thought this would be another way of sharing Italy with others who have the same passion and love for this breathtakingly beautiful yet unabashedly flawed and enigmatic country--it is what makes Italians so very human. You'll find stories from different areas of Italy I have had personal experiences in; however, I highlight Sicily. It's where I go every year and where a little piece of my heart remains until I return.

If you enjoy the stories, subscribe and read more, watch more, listen to more, learn more and connect more.
Grazie mille!

The Blog

A local experience: Aspra and "U Rittufilu'"

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

A Popular Sicilian Street Food

Ciao, io mi chiamo Anna

Hi, my name is Anna:

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If you want to know more about For the Love of All Things Italian,

Grazie mille!

The Blog

A local experience: Aspra and "U Rittufilu'"

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

A Popular Sicilian Street Food

Ciao, io mi chiamo AnnaHi, my name is Anna:

Archives

Categories

If you want to know more about For the Love of All Things Italian,

Grazie mille!

Ciao, io mi chiamo Anna

Hi, my name is Anna: