Food in Sicily

The variety and complexity of the culinary art in Sicily is the result of thousands of years of history, the amassing over the centuries of innumerable different layers of civilization and culture. While Sicilian cuisine is already rich an elaborate in itself, contributions to it from distant places are not to be neglected. There is, in fact, in almost every dish some ingredient from outside the island; the influences may be Greek, Latin, Arab-Norman, Franco-Hispano-Bourbon. The ancient Greek roots of this cuisine, celebrated by various authors of the period (Trimalchio of Syracuse, Atheneus, Archestratus of Gela), are revealed in simple, natural foods consisting basically of very fresh fish and natural herbs, since special spices and condiments still had to be imported. The Greek cuisine remained true to itself during the time of the Roman occupation, when the island was the 'granary' of the Empire. .how to discover Sicily ......more