#139 The secret of good food

Hello friend,

The secret to good food consumption, preparation and appreciation is to eat strictly to the seasons. That’s why the food in Italy is so good. Every fruit is at its best when it grows and ripens in its appropriate season.

It’s difficult these days when everything is available all year round, but you can taste the difference between a greenhouse-grown strawberry and a springtime-ripened strawberry; it seems to gather its flavour from the sunshine.

A vegetable or fruit grown at the right time glows with the health and flavours of its season.

An old Sicilian mantra says there are only good or bad seasons in Sicily; in a place of few subtleties, only the bountiful or frugal exist with little in between.

A Sicilian will hibernate in winter and interact with the seasons appropriately as if participating in a series of well-rehearsed ceremonies. Islanders seek comfort, meaning and a sense of identity from their communities and environment.

Sicilians' culinary habits are forged by birth and habit, and each season’s harvest is like an act of devotion to the fertility of their pagan origins and native faithfulness.

There is a timeless quality in the everyday habits of Sicilians, and indeed, many areas hold onto practices determined by the changing seasons, a relationship fostered by the practices of the ancient Greeks, whose presence in Sicily had an immense influence on the island’s culture.

An internalised calendar was created to sustain these habits. It was subsequently passed down by the Greeks, who made Sicily their colony here from seven hundred and fifty B.C until the first Punic war against the Romans, gradually driving them out of Sicily.

In the Greek colony of Sicily, the rural population worshipped Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. The favour of the goddess assured the successful yields from agriculture. In colonised Sicily, the mythology of ancient Greece was dispersed through the island, retelling how Hades, the god of the afterlife, abducted Demeter’s daughter Persephone. The anger of the nature goddess cast the world into a barren and desolate winter. Zeus, seeing the suffering of the earth, sought Persephone’s return. However, Hades wanted Persephone as his wife and claimed she could no longer return to Earth because she had eaten food from the underworld.

Zeus decided Demeter’s daughter would spend three months of the year in the hereafter with her husband and the rest of the year on earth with her mother. During her absence, Demeter created the winter, grieving for her daughter. When Persephone returns, Demeter celebrates with a warm, bountiful spring and summer.

Every year, the Sicilian Greeks played out the story of Demeter and her daughter, creating a seasonal calendar in which the goddess's gifts were gathered and used for sustenance. Their understanding of natural products gave birth to a cuisine rich in traditions formulated by the knowledge and expertise of past generations.

Sicily has always been a fertile place. Its rich volcanic soil produces abundant vegetation, including a mixture of wild edible plants and other introduced delicacies that have become staples of Sicilian cuisine.

A hike in the Sicilian countryside during different periods of the year offers up the aromas of wild herbs such as thyme, saffron, fennel, rosemary, oregano, mint and sage.

Sicily’s endless fruits and vegetables liberally grace Siculu tables and dishes, from persimmon, figs, mulberries, raspberries, blackberries, lemons, oranges, pears, plums, cherries, walnuts, chestnuts, hazelnuts, asparagus, wild mushrooms and various native plants with medicinal properties.

The crumbling mountains in the province of Messina, where I have made my home, are representative of the typical agricultural observances of the island. The inland section near the mountains near the coastline looks out towards the exotic Aeolian Islands of Volcano, Lipari, Salina, Alicudi, Filicudi, Stromboli and Panarea.

This lush area is part of the Nebrodi regional park and provides many examples of how Sicily’s seasonal traditions are acted out throughout the year. Like most of the once-productive agricultural areas in Sicily, the countryside is filled with abandoned stone cottages and villas, which are slowly being suffocated by wild berry bushes that invade the soil with thorny tendrils that wrap around everything in their grasp.

Despite the mostly neglected large-scale agriculture, remnants from the past agrarian-based society remain, kept alive by people's innate understanding of the planting season and preparation of seasonal products. Nature’s timetable has been absorbed into Sicilian culture and is still observed through time.

People here have plots of land for vegetable gardens, and they know exactly when to plant tomatoes, aubergines, beans, and zucchini for the summer or potatoes, pumpkins, broccoli, and broad beans for the winter.

This innate habit has been transported worldwide through Sicilian migrants, who have the instinct to create their own patch of orto from the rooftop gardens of the most developed metropolis to the humble backyard of the suburbs.

Sicilians, like other Italians, are particularly dedicated to food. They enjoy seasonal products and demand the preparation of well-known traditional dishes from local gastronomy.

This attention to a specific type of food is part habit, part cultural practice, but above all, it stems from the personal satisfaction acquired by enjoying fresh seasonal food. The devotion to cuisine in Italy is an act of religious faith; every Italian has a wholehearted fidelity to eating well and enjoying the moment through every bite.

I hope you are relishing the taste of the festive season in every piece of food you eat, savour the season through it’s fruit . May the light and hope of this time of year make you feel hopeful for a new beginning and help you through this last part of the year.

Thanks for letting me share what's on my mind.

Take care of yourself

Regards from

Rochelle

Sometimes, I talk about Sicily.

Other times, I talk about whatever is on my mind.

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