A Journey of Taste

The cuisine and confectionary of Acrireale: where to start? It must of course be with the granita, a traditional breakfast for the ‘acesi’ people of Acireale, with the preferred flavour being a “macchiata” mix of almond with coffee.
Then to lunch: this meal could be started with ‘trunzo’ pasta (made with a particular type of red cabbage) or with sea urchins, and continued with a second course of local fish, freshly caught from rock and open water. Or you could try the typical local sausage, made with the seeds of wild fennel that grows in the ‘Timpa’ area. This you could accompany with ‘cauliceddi’ (Brassica Fruticolosa) an edible herb like grass that grows profusely in the volcanic vineyards. And to end your meal, perhaps an ice cream, many exquisite varieties of which are available in all bars, or an almond cake (which also come packed to make a great souvenir). Or maybe you could try an example of Acireale Marzipan, beautiful reproductions of fruit, fish and seafood in marzipan, accurately decorated according to tradition, by the ‘acesi’ masters of confectionary.

EtnaCoast pays great attention to the quality and variety of cuisine recommending specialty restaurants that are tied to the traditions of the local area, rather than to national dishes.

  

A Curiosity about granita

Who invented granita? It seems that the term ‘sorbetto’ (sorbet) comes from Arabic and that it was the Arabs who first used the snow of Etna to produce this tasty sweet dish. One thing that is certain is that, until refrigerators were invented, it was the ‘nivarroli’ of Etna who supplied ice (frozen snow) to the ‘acesi’ people of Acireale. At night, immediately after a heavy snowfall, they would deposit and press the snow into deep holes that had been dug at high altitudes, and then cover them with ferns and volcanic sand. In the spring the ‘nivarroli’ returned to the holes, cut the ice and, always at night, came down the mountain to sell it. The step from flavoured ice to ‘granita’ must have been very brief.

 

Recipe for ‘Reale’ Marzipan
Ingredients:
500g of almond flour,
500g of sugar
125g of water
Vanilla

Recipe for ‘Reale’ Marzipan

Melt the sugar and water in a saucepan over a low flame, taking care not to leave it on the heat for too long. As soon as the sugar begins to blend into the water remove the pan from the heat, add the almond flour and a couple of pinches of vanilla. Mix well and energetically so as to avoid lumps then pour the mixture out onto a moistened marble slab. As soon as the marzipan dough is cold, kneed it until it becomes soft and smooth.
As well as being the base for the ‘fruits’, Reale marzipan is used as a topping for several typical cakes, such as the Sicilian ‘cassata’.