Im so glad La Madia was such a successful visit. Hope to get there some day (after having to cancel our reservation when we went through the area. There is such a brain and skill drain from Sicily so it is particularly wonderful that Cuttaio brought talent and energy back to Licata. Looking forward to hearing more, and your pictures!
Jen, I will get to more reporting as soon as I can…leaving this morning for Catania after 4 fantastic nights in Ibla. Just wanted to mention that I peeked at the SlowFood guide and noticed that SCALA in PORTO PALO is included in their list. Truly a place to keep in mind for people like yourself, who can deal with no English and an oral menu…
Yesterday I had the very first arancini of my life and now do not understand how I’ve lived so long without having tasted one of these marvels. A food-centric local person pointed me to the direction of “the best arancini in Ragusa,” and I imagine that she was correct! Photos and more details to come…hopefully I can link those elusive pics!
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Ive found that simple copy and paste works pretty will with my google photos a pleasant surprise.
CATANIA
WE arrived here yesterday and I was in the city for all of 5 minutes before I knew that I had made a mistake and only booked 2 nights. I finally found my photos from LA MADIA and others from Licata and Ibla, but since last night’s dinner is fresh in my mind and will be relatively easy to report, I will post it here, out of order, and return when I have more time to go into details about the 2 dinners in Licata and eating in Ragusa.
My partner is not doing well at all and has pain even walking a few steps. Last night (Sunday) we asked the hotel staff to recommend a dinner spot not far away from the hotel which is located just off the Piazza del Duomo (good view from our window; highly recommend this hotel)
We set off walking, from our hotel in time for our 7:45 reservation. By 8pm, we were back at the hotel, as partner could not continue even the short walk to dinner. i left him in the (beautiful) room, phoned the restaurant to let them know I would be late, and set out once again, crossing the Duomo square, to the area around the legendary fish market of Catania. At night there is no market visible, but the surrounding streets are lined with small eateries, and all along Via Gisira there are pretty, colored paper umbrellas strung above the street. The area is bustling with life, and with tables lining the street. I should mention here that, despite its somewhat unsavory reputation in the past, I found Catania to be eminently walkable and devoid of any sketchy looking characters. What stood out was the evident joy of my fellow passersby, and the vivid “Life” of the city, at least in this small area that I walked through. I felt so safe, and so happy to be here, that I took a nice walk into less crowded streets after dinner and had no trepidation even though it was dark and after 10pm by then.
VUCIATA-KITCHEN MARKET (they also appear to offer rooms to rent; I might check this out if I have time later):
English menu:
I was solo for dinner, so had to give up trying more dishes that I was curious about. This was difficult, but I did order a secondi to bring home to hotel-bound partner.
My dinner was:
Eggplant parmigiana (7euro for a very large, round portion;) the dish had far less cheese than the dish we know of in the US; ratio of eggplant was very high, with less tomato and very much less cheese; it was topped with a baked bechamel. Delicious, and lighter to the version I am used to due to the dominance of the eggplant. Beautiful presentation.
Spaghetti with sardines, saffron, mollica di pane, and fennell fronds. (the fennel fronds wild on the roadsides and the driver (DARIO CAFFISO, who we adored and would HIGHLY recommend) who took us on a day-long tour from Ragusa and also brought us here to Catania, yesterday, told us that locals just pick the wild fennel in the fields. What they do not use immediately, they chop finely and cover with oil and put in a jar in the rerigerator (sotto al’ olio, I think this is called). He also showed us the wild capers that tumbled out of crevices in the walls of old buildings, and pointed out other foods that are just there for the taking…this is a dream come true for any cook. The variety and quality of the local produce is staggering, even though we are too early for summer fruits (cherries are a summer fruit here, as are peaches, apricots, etc etc). Most artichokes are waning, although there are still many of the smaller ones on view in the markets. ( I adore this begetable and order it whenever I spot it on a menu; I had a great contorni of small artichokes at SCALA in PORTOPALO DI CAPO PASSERO, as I mentioned, earlier.
This was my dinner last night in Catania:
Restaurant view from street; it became much more crowded after 8-8:30pm:
Eggplant parmigiana (brought a quarter home to partner)
Spaghetti with sardines, saffron, fennel and bread crumbs:
Horse meatballs, to take back to hotel; no photo.
Photo of Via Gisira, location of restaurant; open Wednesday through Monday, 10am to 11pm. Credit cards ok (as they are every eatery we visited, as well as taxis and private drivers)
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I felt the same way in Catania, it is delightful. May I ask the name of the hotel you’re recommending?
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Lulu’s Mom…our hotel is one amazing property. Occupies several floors (elevator) of a historic palazzo just a few steps from Piazza del Duomo.
We have just learned that ferries to Salina may be cancelled for the next 2 days…we are booked for Tuesday, tomorrow, but now this may not happen…what to do? I think drive to Milazzo and reman there until ferry runs again, thus cutting int our time on the island.
Had a lovely dinner at MI CUMPARI TURIDDU…will post pic and comments soon…
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We did arrive in Salina, having had the luck of taking the ONLY boat from Milazzo that could actually dock on this island. Others were either cancelled, or left Milazzo only to fail to be able to dock at Salina and had to return to Milazzo! Very important to leave buffer days in case boat transport (ferry or aliscafi) is cancelled, which is happening often, as weather this May is unseasonably cool and very windy.
Partner cannot walk more than a few steps, so last night we had dinner at our hotel, just above small village of Malfa. Hotel Principe di Salina…so beautiful that I had tears flowing as we stepped into the lobby and took in the view over the sea from the terrace of lobby area! Dinner was excellent: Tomato stuffed with mozzarella and herbs, followed by a pasta with orata, branzino and one other white fish, with a potato cream. Second course was lovely tuna steaks with honey mustard sauce. Dessert: Three treats lined on a plate including a gelato, a brioche-type pastry with chocolate sauce, and a budino (??) All very good, especially the pasta and the tuna!!
Will attempt to post photos later today…
The owners of hotel are from Milano and bought this hotel 7 years ago. Mom is a retired surgeon who now is head chef here at hotel. Her daughter, Anita and husband, Filippo, run the place, with their father and mother. These are just the warmest, most helpful people you can imagine!
Salina is unlike anyplace I have visited…much visual similarity with Aegean islands of Greece, but with much warmer people, at least those we have encountered so far…
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LA MADIA, LICATA, province of Agrigento.
Will not go into discussion of why this town has not reached its potential as a tourist stop; as is, it is a “real” town and one I would like to have spent a day or two in, but it is not very pretty. This is not the place to go into details, but did have an interesting conversation with our excellent drive, who collected us from our B&B outside Porto Empedocle, stopped at MANDRANOVA, were I bought olive oil, and then ferried us to our hotel in Licata, where we spent the night. The hotel (Villa Giuliana) has a well-reviewed restaurant (La Bottega) where my partner had an exceptionally good cavatelli; will attempt to post photo.
The next day found us at LA MADIA. Suffice to say that we both agreed that this was possibly our favorite restaurant in Italy, and right now I can’t think of any restaurant in any country that surpassed the experience here. This is the kind of experience that can bring you to tears, and I certainly had my eyes closed while eating many of the dishes; this is a signal that I am in culinary heaven!
So: Here are some photos, My words cannot do this place justice. Just know that it is relaxed, cozy, congenial, and despite how many Michelin stars Pino Cuttaia has accumulated, this is a down to earth young man dedicated to cooking wonderful food of his region without pretense. He’s worked in the north but came home to Licata… I’m not sure I’ve ever asked a chef to take a photo with me but I did do that (yes, shamefully, I know…the American tourist with the iPhone camera)
I am going to post this now cause I am getting some odd messages that I am using up some laptop time, etc etc…will return very soon with the pics…
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You’ve got my attention!
LA MADIA, LICATA, SE SICILY.
Kitchen:
Dining room, about 10 tables, more or less…full on the Wednesday we were there…(closed Tuesdays); chef Cuttaia in white jacket in background; he checks in many times at each table…very different from experience at IL DUOMO in Ragusa the following night…
Did not choose tasting menu; I am not a fan of these menus…too many dishes to absorb…just prefer to choose a few dishes of our choice and enjoy…
Chef asked if we were ok if he chose a few antipasti for us…caveat: No raw fish for partner:
First dish, burrata with tomato “juice,” not your usuall tomato juice, of course: Burrata with incredibly textured skin and inside just about liquid—we can have this as our “last meal” if I get accosted for some scary traffic violation and thrown in the carcel with death hanging over me:
If that was the entire meal, I would have been one happy customer!
Also, bread was incredibly great.
Can you guess? This is eggplant, pounded to thinness of…what…one centimeter??? Pounded so fine, charred (see stem)…balsamic added…just divine and we were instructed not to use utensils but to eat with bread.
Third of the antipasti chosen by Chef: Cod “pizzaiola,” fish was smoked over pine nuts (??) and plated over a potato puree whipped with oregano, basilico and tomato and onion slices…over the top, a dusting of peperoncino…eyes closed, even fish-adverse partner was in absolute heaven. And this was just the antipasti!!!
Best spaghetti vongole of my life, by far…spaghettoni…by now I am swooming:
Partner has primi of “falso tortelli,” with Ragusana cheese and green (???) ravioli were hot and sauce was cold…pointed out to us, and it worked! Please see menu on website for exact name and description of this dish…by now I was too ecstatic to take good notes.
AND NOW: THE best meat dish I have eaten in my entire life…please let this be my last dish on earth when my time is close by…NEBRODI pork slices glazed only with tomato water and meat jus…this dish alone is worth the cost to fly to Sicily and drive to Licata…and I am not just being silly here with all the purple praise…
THIS is THE dish:
And now, my cernia…roasted in the oven but “smoked” (for show) over almonds casks…incredibly inventive and so delicious…served with potato puree cooked in oil of artichoke…
Unassuming entrance:
Person on the right looks ecstatic! And she was, and still is when thinking back to that afternoon in Licata:
Total: 245 euro with 1 (yes, only one) glass of white wine…money well worth spending…I’
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Thank you. Even if I never get to Licata - and I hope to - you have done your best to share it.
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Thank you, Jen, and I do hope you will make it to Licata and To Ragusa as well, before too long.
I will post some pics os my own meal in Catania, at MI CUMPARI TURRIDU; but before that, let me just share the pasta that this vey excellent cook at our hotel on Salina uses every day both in her hotel and in her home kitchen. She gifted me some of this Campanian (Gragnano) dried shapes, but I see that it available on Amazon, albeit for a pretty high price:
Did I mention the hotel: A walk downhill and a pretty steep walk uphill to the “town” of Malfa; apparently there are many rental homes available on the islands through those ubiquitous rental sites…
CATANIA
Small part of the haul that the hotel helped me to pack up and send back to home in NEW YORK CITY:
Second night in Catania, dinner; ME CUMPARRI TURIDDU; not far from Piazza del Duomo and out hotel buy had to take taxi due to partner’s compromised abiliity to walk.
A few generous antipasti plates, complimentary, including this bread spread with sciacca which was excellent (rectangle second from bottom in photo)
Olives and sun-dried tomatoes; remember when the latter was a trendy item in the US? i b ought a pack and will be using often, I am sure:
Busiate Trapnese style with tomato and almonds–superb!! (11 euro)
TURIDDU’S special pasta, with Salina capers, eggplant, anchovies, bread crumbs, raw cherry tomatoes, garlic…snapshot encapsulating the cooking of Sicily; 10 euro. (marked with SlowFood symbol; this place is in the SF guide)
Donkey rolled around components…sorry to not be more precise…donkey is a popular dish from Catania south to the Ragusa area…tender and very good. IN Ragusa I bought the beloved salami di asino, which we will have to consume rather than get stopped, again, at customs at JFK for attempting to smuggle forbidden items into the USA.
Small glimpse of restaurant; diners seemed to be mostly locals:
They use Pianogrillo oil, from the azienda near Chiaramonte Gulfi, available in NYC and online from GUSTIAMO.COM; this wholesaler in the Bronx opens its doors to the public every once in a while (I think on Fridays) and I very much enjoyed my visit there a few years ago…
T
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So far we have spent 3 nights at our hotel in Malfa, Salina. I can’t remember when I’ve had dinners in my hotel, let alone for three days running. But food was very good, very local, not at all fancy and price seemed good (have to check back and report on the cost) Thursday nights are pasta night when the chef makes her own pasta and, last night, iti was embellished with mussels, clams, squid, etc. This is the food you would have grown up on had your Mom had access to impeccable ingredients and had the time to spend in the kitchen. Son-in-law Filippo makes a sourdough bread that is certainly the equal of Sullivan Streets’…served warm. Dessert was chocolate cannoli (first of trip) along with lemon gelato… Just FYI…I commented on the fact that the two galato shops I passed during my first-day’s exploratory walk had the tubs of gelato piled high and looked as if they had been whipped. Almost like custard. I knew from reading beforehand that this indicates gelato made elsewhere and bought by the shop to retail. If I am not mistaken, the gelato you want is the one that is flat along the top of the tubs, not mounded and looking like it was whipped.
Would like to read comments here about gelato signs to look for’‘’!!!
And now will try posting photos of the dinners here at our hotel on
Salina:
Long table for guests; red light is from insect deterrent lamps:
Favorite -re-dinner cocktail: :STARY NIGHT"
Prosecco with a touch of FABBRI VIOLET syrup!!
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Today is Saturday and will be the 5th night we have been lodged in our dreamy small hotel the vicinity of Malfa on the Aeolian Island of SalinaLIL PRINCIPE DI SALINA.
Take a moment to read more on these volcanic islands that erupted from the sea bottom who-knows-how-many-years-ago…For many years the Aeolians were a font through which many residents passed on their way to Australia, and not the “roots=seeking-tourists” mainly hail from Australia, just as those in Abruzzo tended to hail from Canada.
Salina is among the most fertile looking swatch of land I’ve ever visited, but the only water is brought in by tankers, even today. I think there is so very, very much that the 'average: tourist, like myself, does not have a clue about but but the fact that we’ve encountered weather that is pretty unthinkable at this time of the year, gives us a small clue to what would transpire if, perhaps, weather does not cooperate; and what happens to the produce if the ships are not running to Milazzo or another mainland port?
Are there any books that I might seek out that might enlighten me as to the lifestyle of the Aeolians before the mid-20th century?
Tonight will be another dinner here at the hotel and after that, I will attempt to return and give a quick snapshot at dinner at the Michelin-starred restaurant of the Hotel Signum, as easy walk downhill from there with anyone is decent physical condition…
Whether continues to be dismal and all transport to and from Salina had been cancelled.
I think it is very important to anyone who wants to truly understand the background of these islands that although they may be politically and geographically roped to Sicily, these islands are VERY different. I hope to do more reading about this before too long, but do not make the mistake about imaging them together with Sicily as you plan a visit.
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MORE ON RAGUSA;
I am going to backtrack here and return to Ragusa to the source of some of the best snacks I’ve ever had the pleasure to discover. The first, and probably my favorite of the three places, is located in the upper part of Ragusa, known to locals as “il centro”. There is a bus from Piazza Republica in Ibla but the timing seems iffy and I opted too wall, And walk, and walk…uphill. And just when I thought I had finally reached by goal of the center, I encountered: sets of long, steep steps leading uphill.
The trek was worth the exertion; I had received the tip from a local driver and he was not mistaken; this bakery has a vast range of stellar treats–known here as scaccia Ragusana. And the place to buy it is PANEFICIO GIUMARRA on Via Transpontino.
The unassuming facade hides a vast assortment of treasures within, with the scaccia taking first place but with many other contenders. I bought a large (not large enough, I later discovered) slide of their post popular, tomato and Ragusana cheese layered into pastry sheets of impressive thinness. I asked to buy enough for two but I wish I had bought double the amount for a hotel room picnic. Following the lead of an older man who seemed like a long-time customer, I also took home a crimped on the edge pie stuffed with onions and spinach. The small, and very popular, bakery also sells a few dried local pastas and a dessert case, difficult to ignore. One of
the most interesting sweet items was a pair of round quince sweets that the owner told me she had made herself.
Laden with my discoveries and aware that the bakery would be closing soon for lunch, I was finally able to locate a bus stop and the bus (1.50euro per passenger) treated me to striking scenery on the curvy road hugging the cliff back to Piazza della Republica in Ibla.
Unassuming facade of PANEFICIO GIUMARRA; Ragusa Centro (tourists tend to refer to this upper portion of the city as
Ragusa Superiore, but locals do not use that term,
View inside; do note that No English is spoken by staff but you will be able to complte your selections by pointing, and with enthusitatic halp of other clients!
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More pics of Giumarra delights:
glad you got to this bakery! I dont think your next picture loaded, though 
I had a lot of trouble this morning with the photos…can you now see the one of the slice of the tomato-based slice with a glass of water behind it??? (For lunch in hotel room…)
Hah! I just looked up “scacce” in one of my Sicilian cookery books. There are 2 recipes for scacce and 1 comes from Paneficio Guimarra.
Maybe check out the Modicane versions, too, if you are headed that way soon.
Enjoy the rest of your trip!
