Some ground-breaking, life-changing, tomato-related things happened this past week. Also, some other very enjoyable things. Also, a visit to a Sicilian allergist.
Since this has been a period of adjustment (and because lists are easier to write than paragraphs), here is a list of some lessons we’ve learned so far. Hope you find it helpful and applicable to your own lives!
We learned . . .
how to make a years worth of Sicilian tomato sauce (it involves getting up at 4 AM and being covered in coal). For a more detailed account, check out Ray’s cooking substack:
When you reach master level like Fabio (pictured), you can do all this while continuously rolling and smoking cigarettes. We're nowhere near that level yet, but Fabio said we could lick the bowl! The three best flavors of gelato: lemon and basil, gelsi (mulberry), and hazelnut.
At house meals always claim a chair upwind from our German workawayer friend, who loves juijitsu but not showering.
Wow, wow, wow the Tyrrhenian sea:
The most INCREDIBLE Sicilian donut is called an Iris. It’s a huge fried dough ball filled with ricotta and nutty chocolate. There is no picture because that is how fast we ate it.
When, at dawn, a Sicilian man reaches into a chicken coop, grabs a fresh egg, cracks it on either end and instructs you to slurp the yolk out of the shell for “big energy,” you should. And then — and this is the best part — you never have to do it again.
Larry, our host’s husband, was an amazing jazz musician:
In his retirement he is an amazing beer drinker At a new pizza place in Pioppo, a tiny one-street town, the 25-year old owner has a “WEST SIDE” chest tattoo along with a quote from Tupac on his forearm which he could not wait to show us: “only god can judge you”.
Don’t try and guess the type of wine you’ve been served if you know nothing about wine, or your hosts will mock you ruthlessly.
“Il Sommelier” Cefalu, a coastal city just East of Palermo, is fantastic if you’re very brilliant (as we are) and avoid the crowded beaches for the more secluded rockier and reefier seats.
If you inhale deeply through your nose while underwater in the Tyrrhenian sea (even accidentally!) the extreme saltiness of the water acts as a natural neti pot.
. . .
We’re a little worried that you might think we haven’t taken this opportunity to culture ourselves about history and the world, etc. We have!!!!
For example, this Lion head is over 2,500 years old. It one of many that hung on the Ancient Greek Temple C to Athena at Selinunte in Western Sicily. It was originally painted sort of like Bobo the clown, but that paint has worn off, thank goodness.
Not only is Cain murdering Abel, but he is also stepping on his toes. Siblings!
Finally, check out this medieval Arab washhouse in Cefalu. It is fed by the river Cefalino and flows directly into the sea. According to Ancient Greek myth, the river Cefalino is made of the tears of Naide, nymph daughter of Hera, who is very sorry that she murdered her lover Daphnis. Daphnis was the inventor of the bucolic song, which probably got a bit annoying . . .
Now tourists like us use it to cool their feet in 95 degree weather.
Ciao! <3
Perfect morning read, thanks!❤️
It's a shame history has lost the freizes that show Cain holding a rock a few inches from Abel's head and saying "I'm not killing you! I'm not killing you!"