[Sca-cooks] Sicilian Pizza

[Michael Gunter]

>My local pizzeria makes a Sicilian pie with onions and crumbs with  olive 
>oil instead of cheese, but unfortunately I don't think they're  open this 
>early...

It's interesting how I always see things advertised as "Sicilian" that I
never encountered in my year in Sicily. I guess it's kind of like everything
is now "Tuscan" whether someone in Tuscany would recognize it or
not.

This pizza sounds interesting but I never encountered anything like
it in central/southern Sicily. It might be popular in Palermo or Agrigento
but I never encountered it in any of the restaurants or bars.

Pizza that I encountered in Sicily was a small round with little dabs of
melted cheese, whole hotdogs, eggs and pools of olive oil. These were
oven-baked before oven-baking was trendy. After awhile you got to
like the kind of salty taste of the ashes. The toppings were sparce and
basically used to flavor the bread instead of the bread supporting the
toppings. They did use carmalized onions on some versions or thinly
sliced ham shavings.

Pasta was also a surprise to us Americans. It was a large bowl of noodles
topped with around a tablespoon of sauce. Again, the pasta is the thing,
not the sauce.

Some of the true delights of Sicily were the roasted and grilled meats.
Especially the huge pork chops grilled over olive wood or grape vines
and drizzled with olive oil, black pepper and lemon juice. Or the shops
with chickens and sausages slowly turning on giant rotisseries. Seafood
was always exceptionally fresh and that is where I learned to love calamari
and baby octopus. Spiny lobster was served grilled with a drizzle of mustard
and ketchup. Go fig.

Vegetables were usually fresh and raw or grilled or baked. Often in creative
casseroles.

>Adamantius

Just walking down memory lane.

Gunthar