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Dinner at Angelo's with friends and family
Clockwise from me: Maria Maniscalco, Angelo, his daughter Brigida, Len Maniscalco, Kareem, Angelo's wife, Lina, the wife of former Sciacca mayor Vincenzo who is taking the picture, & Serena Last Tuesday evening, my flight from London touched down on the shores of Sicily in Palermo. I was picked up by my friend Serena, who teaches Spanish and chairs the World Languages department at Moreau where I work, and her dad Leonardo, or Len, among many other nicknames :-). As we drove the hour and a half to their home in Sciacca, a feeling of calm and happiness washed over me as I stared out the window at the endless rolling hills teeming with bright green agriculture and turquoise blue sea...or maybe it was just delirium from not having slept in over 24 hours...damn that Oslo summer sun. We arrived at the family home in Sciacca and I was greeted by Serena's mom Maria. Both of Serena's parents grew up in Sciacca, and though they've lived all over the world and make their home in New. York, Sciacca is home, and where they plan to spend much time in retirement in the coming years. The apartment is in a building owned by Maria's family, and the other apartments are inhabited by some of Serena's aunts, uncles and cousins. Oh, did I mention the beach is literally across the street?! Upon my
arrival however, there's no time to rest, for dinner plans have been made at the beautiful house of Angelo, one of Len's closest friends in town. And thus kicked off a week in which I willingly and gratefully handed myself over to the machinations of the Maniscalco's and in return received an Italian experience and education that simply can't be planned from any guide book or travel website. In the last week, I have toured the sardine factory of Agostino Recca (cousin of Len), whose traditionally cured and prepared Italian goods can be found in many specialty and gourmet American grocery stores; lain on four different beaches with clear, calm, turquoise waters; swam in a thermal swimming pool with reportedly medicinal properties (the largest of my many mosquito bites did reduce significantly in size!), enjoyed quite a few siestas, celebrated the 50th anniversary of Len Maniscalco's long time close friend Benny and his wife (Len is The Godfather!) in nearby Santa Margherita at a party resembling a typical American fete, yet definitely infused with a distinctly Sicilian flavor, wandered amongst the Greek temples in Agrigento, the most complete and undisturbed such structures that you will find anywhere in the world,
Granita for breakfast
This cafe was crowned with the title best granita in ALL of Italy...can't argue. jumped in the Mediterranean from the pristinely white rock jutting into the sea known as the Scala di Turchi, or Turkish Steps, and baked banana bread into the night in a wood fired oven on a terrace in Sciacca. Along the way, I met Angelo and his family, including his daughter Bridgida and his friend Kareem, a Morocco native who does a lot of work and cooking around the house and has become like part of family, Maria's vivacious close friend Guisy (yes, pronounced Juicy), who graciously had us over for a homegrown lunch at her country home outside Sciacca, Guisy's son Mario and his girlfriend Katarina with whom we enjoyed a night on the town, Guisy's 86 year old mom who makes EVERYTHING from scratch, Vincenzo, the former mayor of Sciacca, a character out of a Benigni film and his wife Lina, who also hosted us for a homegrown lunch one afternoon. Best of all, I got to know Serena's parents, who were so generous and welcoming and fun to hang out with. And of course, amongst all the activities and people, everything truly revolves around food. In the past week, my taste buds and tummy have been treated
to freshly picked plums and peaches, homemade arrancini, many delicious ricotta-filled pastries (Sicily is known for this...cannoli anyone?), many little shots of espresso, several slices of pizza, some of which was homemade in Angelo's wood fired oven, homemade lemon granita for breakfast & gelato sandwiches for dinner, panelle - flat patties made of chickpea flour and fried to crispy & delicious perfection, home grown and home made pesto, olives, olive oil, lemoncino, jam, and innumerable fresh and cooked fruit and vegetables, an antipasto dinner al fresco at midnight in the heart of old Sciacca. But the main event is the traditional lunch, of which I was treated to several: an antipasto is followed by a first course of pasta, which is followed by a meat and vegetable course, and finally fresh fruit is served before espresso and dessert. I cannot believe how beautiful this week was. I cannot believe how few tourists know about Sciacca (but don't worry, Len is working on it). I cannot believe my good fortune to have had this opportunity and especially to know Serena, a beautiful person inside and out who let me invite myself to Sicily and be a part of the family for
a week. I'm in the Palermo airport now and on to Sorrento, so excited for the next part of this journey, but missing Sicily already. Grazie Serena, e la tua bella famiglia!
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Mary Jo
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What a wonderful experience for you, it brought tears to my eyes, truly beautiful.