{"id":491,"date":"2012-10-08T17:36:51","date_gmt":"2012-10-08T17:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/noahsfinefood.com\/new\/?p=491"},"modified":"2012-10-08T17:39:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-08T17:39:00","slug":"sicilian-food-and-wine-search-fall-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/noahsfinefood.com\/new\/2012\/10\/sicilian-food-and-wine-search-fall-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Sicilian Food and Wine Search Fall 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

How to combine love of food and wine, Italy, ancient Greek ruins and travel into one adventure?\u00a0\u00a0 Spend a month in Sicily!\u00a0 So that is what we decided to do… left for Rome on Sept. 18th and then on to Sicily, arriving in Catania<\/span>.\u00a0 We headed up to Taormina<\/span> by bus to stay in a lovely hotel, Taodomus<\/span> Hotel right in the heart of the town on the main street.\u00a0 The location was excellent and the breakfast was cooked to order every morning along with croissants, homemade pastries, cakes and muffins… fresh fruit and juices, cold cuts and delicious cappuccinos… one of my goals was to sample espresso and cappuccinos everywhere to see if ours at Noah’s is comparable… sometimes yes, sometimes no…. so far.<\/span><\/p>\n

We decided to have one really upscale, “nice” read expensive dinner while in Taormina<\/span> and chose La Giara<\/span> restaurant.\u00a0 The view from the outdoor terrace was magnificant<\/span> !\u00a0 I tried the squid appetizer with sea urchin sauce… the squid was steamed and then peeled in thin strips like a cucumber it was really delicious and light, the sauce was rich and creamy and a bit sweet.\u00a0 We ordered a typical white wine of the region but it was very dry and mineraly and not notable… John ordered the sardine pasta dish but was disappointed for the second time…\u00a0 the the food was good, the view was fantastic, the service was good but a little stuffy and we decided to stick with more “family” type trattorias.<\/span><\/p>\n

One afternoon we stopped for a snack at Bar Capriccio<\/span> on the Corso<\/span> Umberto and had the BEST filled to order cannoli<\/span> we have ever tasted!!!\u00a0 I swooned.\u00a0\u00a0 Another fun stop was for an apertif<\/span> on the steps (the restaurant was inside) with little tables and seats near the Piazza IX Aprille<\/span>.\u00a0 The “snacks” they brought out with our drinks were so plentiful and delicious, we skipped dinner that night….we were quickly learning we could NOT eat a big lunch and then have dinner as it was just too much food… and then learned later, most Sicilians share meals and order “uno<\/span> per due”.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Madonie<\/span> Mountains at Masseria<\/span> Susafa<\/span>, the food was delicious and so was the wine !!!\u00a0 It was the end of the season, so between ourselves and a lovely German couple we met, Kerstin and Carlston<\/span>… we finished up their supply of Consumano Noa, a tasty Cabernet Sauvignon; Nero D’avola; Merlot blend recommended by Parker<\/span>wine….unfortunately we only ate one dinner there because we had a huge lunch in Petrolia<\/span> Soprano at a little Trattoria<\/span>… the special of the day was a pasta very like Bologanse<\/span>, then a platter of grilled pork, lamb and beef with boiled potatoes….a half liter of house wine, bottle of \u00a0salad, bread, a couple of espressos, a pistacho<\/span> cake like dessert and a grappa<\/span>…. I had a stomach ache that night from just too much food!!!\u00a0 and learned a lesson…. stop eating so much!!<\/span><\/p>\n

In Cefalu<\/span> our most memorable meal came from the local market… just a little family store where one can buy bread, wine, delicious Mortadella<\/span>, Salami, Proscuitto<\/span>, cheeses, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and take it all back to eat on your little balcony table over looking the main street, while you people watch….. we will always remember that meal as one of our best and most fun…. if only the cafe across the street had delivered 2 espressos up our 42 steps!!<\/span><\/p>\n

Once we arrived in Monreale<\/span> we knew we could hardly ever go wrong ordering the local house wine by the half liter, which is what we usually do… though we do like the Nero d’Avola \/Cabernet blends and for the white wines I do love the Insoldias<\/span> sp<\/span>?\u00a0 .\u00a0 We have found a few good pizzas with thin, crispy crusts and not too much heavy cheese, but in general we find the sauces heavy and the crust thick and bready<\/span>.\u00a0 Eggplant is used here 26 different ways…. and Pasta alla<\/span> Norman is a heavy red tomato sauce with eggplant… once is enough for me, and I love eggplant.\u00a0 John will expound here on the red sauces….<\/span><\/p>\n

In Erice<\/span> we found a room with a view to die for and a huge private terrace, so once again we had a picnic on our terrace from the local market….La Pineta<\/span> Hotel was just fabulous and the cappuccinos here were great too!\u00a0\u00a0 In the little town we ate dinner at Monte San Guiliano<\/span> and I had a pasta with shrimp, olive oil, and zucchini,\u00a0it was really delicious.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, October 10 we are in Piazza Amerina<\/span> and about 3 kilometers from the Villa is a Trattoria<\/span> called La Routa<\/span>… delicious lunch… one of our best!!\u00a0 The local house wine… we usually order the red… large fresh mixed salads…. they ALL have raddichio<\/span> in them.. tomatoes and romaine lettuce.\u00a0 Then we again shared uno<\/span> pour due.. the braised rabbit with olives, capers and olive oil… delicious!!!!<\/span><\/p>\n

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How to combine love of food and wine, Italy, ancient Greek ruins and travel into one adventure?\u00a0\u00a0 Spend a month […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travels"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/noahsfinefood.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/noahsfinefood.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/noahsfinefood.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/noahsfinefood.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/noahsfinefood.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/noahsfinefood.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":496,"href":"http:\/\/noahsfinefood.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491\/revisions\/496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/noahsfinefood.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/noahsfinefood.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/noahsfinefood.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}