Got back from Los Barriles a couple of weeks ago after a two week stay and had some great food down there. Didn’t take any dinner photos but here are a couple of lunches. Fish and prawns came out of the ocean the night before in all the produce is grown local. Lunches were between six and eight dollars each. Tacos we’re about a buck and a half to $2 each.
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I mostly followed this and had it for breakfast. Could use some more tweaking but really very tasty! Happy with my first time making poached eggs. I had no idea it was so easy!
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Yes, recipes always need tweaking. Yours looks fine to me.
One day I want to eat it in Van, Turkey. A town famous for its huge, elaborate breakfast.
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People be like “good afternoon”. Hello, we don’t have afternoon in the winter! Evening begins right about when you finish lunch.
With Vietnamese-style fish sauce, shredded raw vegs and rice noodles.
“Afternoon” in the winter
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Alone in the fog
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Beautiful pictures - I love fog! Lunch looks pretty good too…
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beautiful.
where are you located now?
I saw cooked octopus like the ones you pictured at Costco
They are huge at $31.00 I thought that was too expensive
How do. you serve it?
Here is my place on the north side under water because of high tide.
Husband purposely constructed it as catch basin fol the water during a storm to collect. Nostalgic !
However, all the ground cover seemed to have disappeared bec of winter
same area before all the ground cover died
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Stunning views
Gorgeous!
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Yesterday, at home.
I like lovely leftovers.
Today…
I’m 1 1/2hrs north of Catania where the airport is located.
My flight was delayed and as a result I missed my bus to my final destination. I will be eating things I don’t normally eat at home so you are going to see a lot of these:
Had 2 hours to kill and ate my first arancini and pizza on a bench. Pizza has cheese, garlic and mushrooms. Love the thin, chewy base. Bready base is not my style.
I hate half eaten food photos… but I had no knife this time. One is filled with ragu (a bit cheesy which is nice) and the other is aubergine.
Finally got to my lodging at 8pm. Sicilian beer and Lebkuchen I got in Düsseldorf.
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Okay you’ve got my attention! I’ve always wanted to go to Sicily in fact we may do so next year. we like to consider ourselves travelers and not tourist we avoid places that tourist tend to go that’s why we would rather go to Sicily than to the mainland.
Thanks Presunto!
I’m in a tiny town near the top of the mountain. It’s lovely here, even though it’s only my first full day. Right now it’s low season and half the restaurants are closed until the masses of tourists return. Even in high season this town is visited mostly by day-trippers from elsewhere.
Hope you and the Mrs make the trip in a near future!
We had all sorts of weather today. It doesn’t really matter because the tourists will still go walkabout and buy stuff. Dec and Jan are the wettest months, not to mention cold and stormy. When it rains it rains buckets, or showers really hard then suddenly it’s all over and the sun reappears.
The sea is way down there. The train station in the middle of the photo with the sea behind it. Cactuses and succulents thrive here. When it’s hot it’s very hot so I wouldn’t be anywhere near here in the summer.
A busy spot but it was starting to rain and everyone made a mad dash for shelter.
The town is on a steep mountain, you’ll see many small alleys and paths connecting the levels. This one is so small I almost missed it. My partner, (who is 1.95m/6’4", 71kg/165lbs?, 5% total fat. That’s very lean for someone this tall) fits the width of the path.
Clever and creative. Nativity in an old wine barrel.
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It started to rain again so we took shelter in this basement local joint. Cheap and cheerful, customers are a mix of locals and Italian tourists.
One of the most known pasta dishes on the island. Pasta with aubergine.
Got some extra steamed aubergine because we are fans of the veg.
Carbonara with Speck
Dinner was indoor picnic at our lodging. Mushrooms, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, mortadella and prosciutto. Also, Sicilian wine, ciabatta and fresh mozzarella.
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Just standard for Sicilians but it tastes good to us and nothing “standard” about it. I don’t even want to eat mortadella and prosciutto at home but here it’s good. Ciabatta at home is too bready, I think they only make the shape like that but fail to replicate the taste and texture.
I said I would not buy new cookery books. Also me:
In the shop earlier. Btw, the small bottle in photo above is garum.
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Thank you again Presunto!
The wife and I really enjoyed your stories and photos! We will wait with anticipation for your next post of eats and adventures.
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Lunch at a cheese shop. That’s correct. A cheese shop where you can eat. We ordered a plate with a bit of everything Sicilian.
In the big bottle is olive oil. Good stuff like this we never see at home. I used bread to mop it up. I think it’s half empty now.
This was eaten last. Young ricotta with honey and pistachio. My favourite.
Another type of cheese
3 more different types of cheese, marmalade, assorted cured meats and vegs.
A smart dining room is directly behind the wall and cheese counter, not much bigger than this front room.
I loved it. Has cheese, charcuterie, beer, wine, and you can sit down and have a meal. Not to mention the husband and wife owners speak fluent English! I picked up 2 bottle of craft beers to go.
The weather has changed for the better today. After this big lunch we went to a tranquil garden on the next street. Finally, Etna! Sicily’s most iconic natural beauty shows herself!
We are going up there in a couple of days but I hope not anywhere near to snow line… it’s cold and windy.
After the garden we went to the number one tourist attraction in town, the Greek theatre. Like Sardinia and Corsica, almost anyone with an army or navy has been here.
The town where I am visiting, Taormina, seen from the Greek theatre. Etna is there but blinded by the setting sun. There are so many Italian tourists here. Sicily is quite popular with them. The history and gastronomy is a bit different.
There it is again at sunset. One of the most active vocanoes in the world.
Sun is almost completely gone
Dinner was not much, but hey, I got to see Etna today. Wild asparagus with clam meat (from frozen) and spaghetti. I added some leftover antipasti bits to it as well. The sparkling wine was not bad at all. “Metodo classico”, made in the traditional way.
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Where I got the “wild” asparagus.
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Aubergine and artichokes are both important in the cuisine, they are available year round.
2 kinds of aubergine. The round ones cost a bit more.
I’m walking up to the village at the top of this mountain tomorrow. Have a safe and good one, everyone!
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O.M.G. Every day I come back to my lodging dead tired and just want to put my feet up with a beer or glass of wine in hand.
On christmas day, a glorious warm and sunny day to go for a steep walk up and down. Castelmola is a village on a craggy hilltop overlooking Taormina. Photo is taken standing on the street near my lodging shortly before the ascend.
Some people say it’s “steep”. We thought it was not so steep and quite easy, actually. What would they say if they hike in Austria… half the time I couldn’t even walk more than 5 steps and had to pause to drink water and catch my breath. Now, that’s steep. But it’s a piece of cake for Austrians having seen them do it.
Cactus and wild fennel everywhere along the trail all the way.
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Castelmola is a pretty little village but now suffers mass tourism in high season like Taormina, which brings money and noise and very soon, pollution (vast majority of visitors come by car on a day trip. We didn’t see anyone on the trail both ways).
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Looking down at Taormina. Castelmola is a little inland and has full views of Taormina.
When we got back
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Sicilian craft beers. Both have too much fizz, taste only OK.
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Went for another walk yesterday. This one I could say was a little steep. Marvellous views of the town from another angle.
I could see the Greek theatre from here
And at max zoom
Had to try cannoli and be done with it. One has pistachio cream and is more expensive than all others. They are Sicilian but the origin is traced back to the Arabs when this island was called Emirate of Sicily
Love my simple lunch. Good bread, good cured meats (3 different types), and good cheeses. I even like the smoked ricotta (only a tiny piece left in the photo). Buffalo’s milk blue cheese and pecorino. At home I have one standard kind of ricotta and one standard kind of pecorino. There are a lot more of both here.
Pasta with pecorino
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Mt. Etna this morning shortly before leaving for my private tour.
Close up of the craters
I said I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near the snow line. Also me this afternoon…
We did a full day Etna tour with just us 2 and the fantastic guide. 3 hours of walking through snow and ancient lava from this point, but it was not too strenuous.
As close as we could get. Only experienced (ice) climbers may proceed farther. In the summer it’s possible to hike very close to the craters. We also went to lava caves after this and lunch break but it was already too dark for photography by then. We walked back to the car in pitch black (we had torches) and it was only 5:30pm.
Atter a fantastic day seeing Etna so close we were happy with wine and pasta again.
I’m taking this home with me. Gonna buy a whole round.
Store-bought grilled marinated aubergine lurking in the background
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Wanted to drive across town to get some hardwood for the fireplace and that takes me right past my favorite local Korean place. Bibimbap was for lunch.
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@Presunto; always an inspiration!
Just local stuff.
Daughter in town! Deem sum at Yank Sing in SF.
Oops! “Soup dumplings”. Almost ate them all before the picture!
Wrappers not as good as last time, but still a good time.
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