Sicilian Diary

Every good cook book has a story behind it, and this one is no exception ... Sicilia in Bocca by Antonio Cardella , received as a wedding gift from savvy Tuscan friends years back. It’s printed on yellow-tinged paper with a rustic feel to it, like the placemats you get in trattorias. The illustrations are witty, the prose has socio-political undercurrents (the author prefaces the Starters section with a caveat: Don’t get the idea that Sicilians are used to anti-pasti; not so long ago hunger was the norm. “It is not easy to change a state of forced abstinence into one of cheerful guzzling.”) And the recipes are in dialect, Italian and English – with creative translating from the original and a good dose of Sicilian wisdom and proverbs. I need to consult all three version to make sure I’m following the recipe correctly J Yesterday I went to my libraio di fiducia , my favourite bookseller, Filoramo, and asked him if he had a copy. I wanted to give it to an American friend who is get...