Cucina Paradiso: The Heavenly Food of Sicily

The island of Sicily is a sun-drenched jewel splashed by the surrounding azure waters of the Tyrrhenian, Ionian, and Mediterranean seas. Known since antiquity as the island in the sun, it has a distinctly "eastern" air in its dusty and languid towns, its baroque cities, its bougainvillea-laced coastal ring. Sicily's position as a Mediterranean crossroads has meant that over the years cultures of remarkable brilliance have flourished and endured there. One such culture, the medieval Arabs, ruled Sicily for nearly 250 years, and in their wake left striking influences on the architecture, agriculture, and cuisine. In Cucina Paradiso, Clifford Wright chronicles his fascinating quest for what he affectionately calls the "lost paradise" of Sicilian cuisine, the culinary heritage of the Arabs in Sicily. From his first visit there in 1983, he discovered that the sights, smells, and sounds of Sicily reverberate with an Arab feeling, an aura that is not a mirage but a story waiting to be told. Reflecting his two loves - research and cooking - he set about finding and recording this delicious legacy. Here is a cuisine of exotic ingredients - saffron, capers, golden raisins, pine nuts, orange zest, fresh anchovy - combined in a heavenly way, providing the reader with recipes that are the key to this delicious paradise. Searching for traces of Arab culinary influence while meandering through Sicily, Wright visited small trattorias and private homes and sampled such dishes as Sasizzedi Aggrassati (beef rolls stuffed with pecorino cheese, parsley, golden raisins, and pine nuts, and sauteed in Marsala wine) and Gamberetti al Pomodoro (a savory dish of shrimp, tomatoes, capers, raisins, celery, and pine nuts). He discovered that Sicilians do not agree as to what, exactly, the Arab influence on the cuisine is, but they do agree there are some common characteristics: the absence of antipasti, the piatto unico, or one-pot meal; the confectionery; the blending of nuts or breadcrumbs with raisins or currants and saffron for stuffings; stuffed and skewered foods in general, rice dishes (some food writers argue that the famous risotto Milanese is an Arab-Sicilian invention transplanted north); sweet-and-sour dishes; and the use of citrus fruits in the preparation of meat and fish dishes. Whatever the foundations of Sicilian food may be, one thing is certain: Sicilian food is different from Italian food. All of the more than 175 recipes in this book attest to this completely Sicilian spirit. All pay tribute to the historical and traditional origins of each dish. In writing this very special cookbook, Clifford Wright brings to his subject the meticulousness of a scholar and the passion of a true food aficionado. His enthusiasm for the exotic and unusual combinations of flavors the Arab influence imparts to the heavenly food of Sicily is more than infectious - Cucina Paradiso tantalizes and delights, filling up our minds as well as our stomachs. It is a feast of a book like no other.