AT THE KITCHEN WIDOW, I COOK SICILIAN FOOD BECAUSE…
It is the home cooking I know best. For twenty years, regional Sicilian (and food from the “other” region, a little place called Tuscany) is what we cooked at home. Sicily because it is the birthplace of the chef I loved. Tuscany because it is birthplace of the love we shared.
Sicily is also where I have turned in my grief. Ancient cultures know how to care for the grieving.
Practically speaking, Sicilian cooking relies on fresh, simple ingredients. Love that! Spiritually, it owes its complexities to the cuisines of North Africa, Spain, Greece and influences from across the Mediterranean. So in that way, every time I eat it I feel I have taken a journey.
Ultimately, Sicilian food is a cuisine you can pour your heart into. And it lends itself to the sensibilities of the person preparing it. For someone like me who knows what tastes good, but doesn’t have the culinary prowess to “turn it out” like a chef, it is food I can prepare with ease.
