Sicily question

We were there in 2018. While we did not do the food tours we noticed the wineries/ B&Bs were advertising I wish I could suggest more. However there are some blockbuster sights to see while u are there. Taormina, Syracusa, Palermo ... Do not miss.

We took a culinary tour in 2014 that included Southern Italy & Sicily. In Taormina we took a fun cooking class with Chef Massimo. It included going to the market to pick up fish, and vegetables. We made pasta, Caponata, etc. Sicilliancookingclass.com

Can't help you with info on cooking classes etc. but I highly recommend ckg out the Trip Advisor travel forum where there is a Sicily expert that goes by "vagabonda" and she is a wealth of info. I believe she lives in Palermo. Along with this forum, I found her advice & info to be very helpful when planning our Sicily trip. I Also used the Lonely Planet Sicily bk. No R.S. Sicily bk out at that time. In Oct. 2018 we spent 3 weeks driving the island counterclockwise (also inland to Piazza Armerina to see mosaics) & loved every minute of it. We also were surprised at how much we enjoyed Palermo. I planned to do a trip report but so far it has eluded me. Enjoy the planning!

For food tours, the Palermo markets are amazing. So much variety of street food, fresh food, vendors, tiny restaurants. You can go yourself but a tour is helpful for finding good places - the markets are huge and I’m sure there’s mediocre food mixed in with the good - and for helping you know what unusual things to try.

Do you have flights yet? Do you like cities, or are you looking for a more rural experience?
Palermo or Catania if city-leaning. Next, I'd pick out some specialty item grown or made there that appeals to you to delve into. if interested in chocolate, Modica. Love olives, Castelvetrano. Desert wine, Marsala. If you love volcanic whites like I do, Etna. Of course pair things geographically to make the most of your week.
The Anna Tasca school (https://annatascalanza.com/) gets a lot of mentions in food media, she has a cookbook. In fact, I think reading cookbooks is one of the best ways to prepare for a trip to a place with a food focus. You will have to be selective with a week, so I would read up to see how you would best like to spend your week. Lucky you!

A breakfast of brioche + gelato is a thing in southeastern Sicily. I encountered it in Catania and Noto (one of the little baroque towns in the interior). You won't need a food tour to locate that; just keep your eyes open. I loved a special combination of gelato flavors that also seemed popular in that area: almond with a tiny dab of intense (and not sweet) coffee-flavored gelato on top. I don't remember what they called that--maybe something like "Catanese"?

A week is not enough time to see all of Sicily. I'd pick my #1 destination, then add one or two other places that are logistically convenient. My top choice would be Siracusa with the baroque towns (Ragusa, Noto, Modica, Scicli), but Palermo has a wealth of sight and two fabulous markets; I'd say it's definitely the top food destination in Sicily. If you decide on Siracusa, you could include Catania (also with a good market) and Taormina--all on the east coast. Alternatively, the Siracusa and Palermo combinatioin could work, but I think you'd be pressed for time.

Don't drive in Palermo! That is madness.

If possible, add at least another week to do justice to Sicily. The seafood is the best we have ever had. And the Greek and Roman antiquities are incredible.

I would concur with previous suggestion up thread. If only a week in Sicily, base yourselves in Ortigia. When we were there in 2014, & our time was limited. We stayed 5 nights in Ortigia and hired a driver to take a day trip to the Barogue towns of Noto, Ragusa and Modica. Siracusa has a wonderful open market and was walking distance from our apartment. We spent our last day in Catania.

We took a great Palermo street food tour with Streaty. Guide was Marco. Loved it, loved Sicily - if you can stretch that week, do it!
Also look for an agriturismo offering classes - we had some glorious food & wines at overnight stays.

I highly recommend checking out the Blue Guide Sicily written by Ellen Grady. Reading or skimming this book ahead of your trip will make your visit a much more memorable experience. Besides discussing history, art and architecture, the author lists local gastronomic specialties and festivals for each region, city and town.

Also take a look at the Slow Food Foundation website and their Ark of Taste for Sicily. The Ark of Taste’s two objectives are to highlight products could disappear in the course of some generation and to invite the public to do something to safeguard them. I've provided a link to the website below:

https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/nazioni-arca/italy-en/?fwp_arca_regione=sicily-en

And their Slow Food Presidia list for Sicily is here:

https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/nazioni-presidi/italy-en/?fwp_presidi_regione=sicily-en

By simply arriving prepared, and keeping a sharp eye out, you can taste all sorts of distinctly Sicilian food products.

Even though my husband and I only had five full days on our first visit to Sicily in May 2019, with a rental car we managed to cover an incredible amount of ground in a very short amount of time - and along the way, tasted a great number of Sicilian specialties. so I say "go for it", no matter how much time you have.

We loved the "Pane Nero" or black bread of Castelvetrano from Panifico Rizzo. If you decide to visit Selinunte (which I highly recommend), don't miss this bakery; they mill their own flour (special to the region) and bake everything in a wood fired oven fed with trimmings from the surrounding olive grove. Besides their famously delicious dark bread (excellent with caponata, Vastedda cheese from the Belice Valley and/or fresh ricotta - as we did on a picnic), we also loved their "Baci di Dama” (two tiny almond biscuits sandwiched together with pistachio crème – the best we’ve ever tasted), their special almond “Quaresimali” biscotti, hazelnut biscotti with cocoa powder, “Biscotti Tumminia” – lovely with a glass of dessert wine made from Zibibbo grapes grown on Pantelleria – and lastly, their “Dolci di Fichi” cookies/biscuits with fig paste, made using their grandmother’s recipe.

We'd never had known about this wonderful tiny bakery if we hadn't done some research before our trip. Honestly, visiting that bakery was one of the most memorable parts of our trip. The family who owns and runs the bakery are kind and helpful, and rightfully proud of the products they produce. Make note of their hours; they close mid-day for a well earned break. Castelvetrano is not a touristy town (no postcard stands) but definitely worth a quick stop.

If you visit the Greek temples at Agrigento, do take a moment to look at the little herd of Girgentana goats kept on site; they're a protected breed (also on the Slow Food list) renown for the special milk they produce, with an excellent balance of fat and protein. We were amazed by their incredible spiral horns, and made a point of seeking out cheese made with their milk - delicious!

While driving through the fragrant citrus orchards of Ribera, we pulled over at a roadside stand for some oranges and were thrilled to also see they also had some tiny wild strawberries (also on the Slow Food list) - again, absolutely delicious.

p.s. our original two-week visit to Sicily (followed by a week in Malta) was cut short due to a trip to Urgent Care ... we almost cancelled the entire trip, but decided to delay our departure and make the best of it as I rebounded quickly. In five days, we managed to visit Selinunte, Agrigento and Ortigia - driving across the island in the process (which we absolutely loved as the scenery was incredible). I can't wait to visit again next year.

Dear Stewart&Vicki,
I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed your Streaty Food Tour in Palermo; we were signed up for one, but when we had to shorten our trip, we had to cancel. We're currently planning on revisiting the island for three weeks in 2022 and that will be tops on our list. Did you by any chance write a trip report? I'd love to learn more from your visit!

Carolyn, I'll dig out my journal & see (re Streaty). Thanks for the excuse :)

Vicki

For Carolyn, & anyone who likes to eat!

Our 2014 Palermo street food tour was run by Marco of Streaty, within the itinerary of OAT's Sicily trip (Overseas Adventure Travel). Marco was understudying our trip leader, to join OAT, though since this was seven yrs back & pre-covid to boot, who knows the organizational realities today. We ate fabulously throughout the entire trip - thirteen days on the ground with the group, then four more on our own. Turned out that OAT's head honcho for Sicily was a serious foodie, win/win!

On the Palermo walk, in the market's crowded twisty alleys, we devoured:

• arancinette, the Sicilian fried rice balls with fillings of meat or cheese or veg
• caponata, sweet-sour mix of eggplant, capers, & olives
• baked tortellini
• panelle, fried chickpeaflour fritters
• sardines no bigger than slivers
• crocche, fried fluffy potato dumplings with cheese, parsley, & egg
• sfincione, soft-doughed pizza with tomatoes, onions, & optional anchovies
• fried artichokes
• sugared dessert fritters filled with ricotta, oh, yum.

The tour included a sit-down lunch (at tables squoze outside an alley's eatery), so we also had aperitifs, wines... Apologies, I didn't write down everything. And, natch, Sicily has so many more classic dishes, but for one trawl, this was good!

Lonely Planet's good Sicily guidebook devotes sixteen+ pages to its food :) Enjoy!

Stewart&Vicki,
Sounds fabulous! My mouth is watering. Thanks so much for the details.