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We'd like to propose some unique agri-food products, typical of Southern Italy, some of which pass down the ancient traditions of “Magna Graecia” and which gave rise to what is now called the Mediterranean Diet.
Magna Graecia (Megàle Hellàs) is the name of the geographical area located in the southern part of the Italian peninsula, including the islands, which since the 8th century BC was colonized by the Greeks.
It is known that one of the main causes of the colonization of Magna Graecia by the Greeks was the finding of fertile lands that were scarcely available in Greece.
The Greeks selected those Italic areas, precisely because of the fertility of those lands.
Among the Greeks the agrarian cults of Demeter, Athena and Dionysus confirm the importance of agriculture and in particular of the cultivation of wheat, olives and vines.
In addition, the dairies are already documented at that time, thanks to the numerous cattle farms in the hilly area of Southern Italy.
In fact, wine and oil are the products of antiquity to which the name and concept of Magna Graecia were linked; Italia or Enòtria (from “oinos” – wine – or the land of vine stakes) was called the area south of Metaponto, considered by the Greeks to be an excellent land for wine production and, from there, extended to all other southern regions, particularly sunny so as to produce and market what they called the "drink of Dionysus", that is the Greek divinity that would have taught men the methods of wine production.
SICILY
Among the 10 best Sicilian wines we can state
1. Zibibbo: a very fragrant wine with an exceptional taste that brings to mind the colors and atmospheres of the Mediterranean Sea. Given the scarcity of cultivated land and the increasing difficulties encountered by producers, it is a wine that is becoming increasingly rare. A pride of the island of Pantelleria.
2. Inzolia: it is one of the most prized Sicilian white wines. From the Inzolia vine a greenish yellow wine is obtained with intense and enveloping aromas. Fruity with slight herbaceous hints, it expresses discreet freshness with good balance.
3. Nero d'Avola: this wine is also known as Calabrese (Calabrese pizzuto, Calabrian black, Calabrese sweet, Calabrese d'Avola), and this often creates misunderstandings about its origin: in reality it is a 100% native Sicilian vine. It is a distinctly alcoholic wine with good body and acidity. It is found vinified alone or blended with other native Sicilian grapes, mostly “frappato di Vittoria” or “nerello mascalese”.
4. Cerasuolo di Vittoria: unique among Sicilian DOCG wines. This wine has a brilliant ruby color. The aromatic profile is intense with fragrant aromas of cherry, small berries and pomegranate. On the palate it has a medium structure, with a dynamic, fresh and flowing sip. The finish is pleasantly tangy. It is an atypical Sicilian red wine, which stands out above all for its elegance, freshness and not for power and concentration.
5. Syrah: the color is dark red, intense and tends to garnet as it ages, but the pigmentation of Syrah is a first sign to recognize: deep ink. The bouquet is characterized by intense aromas of pepper and chocolate like few other wines in the world. Blueberries, wild berries, currants, spices, tobacco, followed by liquorice, rhubarb and cocoa follow.
6. Etna Rosso: Red Etna it is produced from Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio grapes from both young and old vineyards that do not exceed 60 quintals per hectare. Grapes of the highest quality level. After the fermentation-maceration, the wine continues its life in wood until bottling, about a year after the harvest.
7. Etna Bianco: White Etna just as the homonymous volcano is typical of the area of the province of Catania. It is a wine with a straw yellow color, sometimes with light golden reflections, with a delicate and characteristic perfume, a dry, fresh and harmonious taste.
8. Marsala: a true pride of the region and of Sicilian vines. Marsala is a liqueur or fortified wine. It means that a base wine is added to brandy or alcohol, concentrated must, cooked must or “mistella”. The latter is nothing more than a must supplemented with ethyl alcohol or wine spirits.
9. Malvasia delle Lipari: original wine of the island in the province of Messina. It is a golden wine with amber reflections and a delicately sweet, almost honeyed taste, malvasia was called "nectar of the gods". The wine was exported for a long time along the Mediterranean coasts by the island's merchant fleets.
10. Catarratto: catarratto is one of the white grape varieties, not only older, but also of greater personality and character. In past centuries it was mainly used together with “grillo” and “inzolia” to produce Marsala.
Well, now that you know a little more about the fantastic products of the Sicilian countryside you can enjoy a good glass of wine typical of the extreme Italian south.
Among the other Sicilian products we can list:
RAGUSANO DOP
Produced in the provinces of Ragusa and Siracusa. It is a semi-hard cheese with a spun paste, produced with only cow's milk, with a sweet taste that can become very spicy when left to mature.
MAJORCHINO
A cheese with a centuries-old history, made with the milk of sheep raised on the pastures of the Peloritani mountains using traditional wood or copper tools. Complex processing (with a long "drilling" phase) makes it at risk of extinction.
VASTEDDA DELLA VALLE DEL BELICE
The only Italian spun paste sheep cheese, protected by a Slow Food Presidium. It was born with the idea of recovering the "residual" cheeses (“vastedda” in sicilian dialect means a recipient where cheeses were put to rest and mature) spinning them.
PIACENTINO ENNESE
The secret of the flavor of this cheese is the combination of saffron (which makes the pasta yellow) and black pepper in grains. Legend has it that in the eleventh century Roger I, Count of Altavilla, asked the local cheese-makers to add the spice to cure his wife's depression.
PASTA REALE OF ERICE
Sweet almond paste, bound with egg whites and vanilla flavored. With the “pasta reale” the famous “Martorana fruit” is produced, that is made with the aforesaid pasta in the shape of little fruits of many shapes and colors.
SALE MARINO DI TRAPANI
No strange aromas or various spices: the sea salt is obtained simply by letting the sea water evaporate inside the so-called salt pans, located on the Trapanese coast. Compared to normal salt, it contains more potassium and magnesium and less sodium chloride.
MANDORLE DI NOTO
With these almonds we produce: almond milk, biscuits, nougat, cassata: the uses of almonds in Sicilian cuisine are almost endless. In the countryside of Noto, three varieties are cultivated, Romana, Pizzuta d'Avola and Fascionello, each with its own nuances of taste and aromas.
PISTACCHIO DI BRONTE
This pistachio, that pridefully show a “protected name of origin” "Pistacchio Verde di Bronte" is reserved for the product, in shell, shelled or peeled, of the plants of the botanical species "Pistacia vera", "Napoletana" cultivar, also called "Bianca" or "Nostrale", grafted on "Pistacia terebinthus" and its availability is limited to the amount of the harvest.
One of the most popular (and imitated) Sicilian products in the world.
Eventually, among the Sicilian grains we can mention different varieties and, currently, about fifty are cultivated, and among them Timilia or Tumminia, Russello, Maiorca, Perciasacchi, Senatore Cappelli.
Thanks to these cereals, exceptional bread and many tasty pastas each with its characteristics for consistency and flavor are produced since hundreds years ago (about 800 A.D. after the arab domination, which introduced the art of mixing wheat flour and water to make pasta, and let it slowly dry to be stocked for future use )