Category: Food

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Mm Restaurant Catania – Freshest Fish in the World

Okay maybe Im being a bit dramatic with the whole “Freshest fish in the world”, but it has to be at least in the top percentiles.  Mm has it made because they are literally located right in the square of the fish market in downtown Catania.  They don’t need to worry about fish delivery trucks breaking down or ice melting… they just walk out their front door and grab the fresh fish.  In my opinion freshness makes a HUGE difference when it comes to seafood.  From my days of catching fish in San Diego or Michigan, if you caught and ate a fish in the same day it was guaranteed to be Continue reading “Mm Restaurant Catania – Freshest Fish in the World”

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La Siciliana Restaurant – A Classic in the Catania Area Delivers

Before we moved to Sicily, (almost 2 years ago now! 😯 ) I did what any normal red blooded American does… I bought a guide book.  The guide book was The Rough Guide to Sicily and I have used it countless times for all different types of reasons.  Im a big fan of Rick Steve’s books as well, but unfortunately he doesn’t have a book on Sicily yet.  The Rough Guide has proven itself pretty solid on restaurant selections over the past couple years Continue reading “La Siciliana Restaurant – A Classic in the Catania Area Delivers”

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Ninnetti Restaurant – A Hidden Gem in the Outskirts of Catania

Blogging is tougher than it looks!  Especially for someone that doesn’t know how to read.  Im being dramatic, but I don’t know how to enjoy reading like a typical human being.  I like to listen to music and have a slight addiction to music videos on YouTube.   And my inability to multitask does not allow for both music and reading to happen at the same time.  Especially when I am Continue reading “Ninnetti Restaurant – A Hidden Gem in the Outskirts of Catania”

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Lipari Island – A Sicilian Getaway

What do you do when you are on an island for an extended period of time? You go to a smaller nearby island. Sorry for the random thought, but I think its funny how many islands we have been to over the past couple years. We might have an obsession with them or maybe some type of “hermit” psychological brain condition that we should spend some time looking into. But who has time for that when there are so many islands to visit in the Mediterranean. MUST SEE more islands. One thing that I like about islands is that they always have their own identity. Lipari definitely has its own identity despite the fact that it is less than an hour away from Sicily via hydro boat (or is it hydrofoil? Continue reading “Lipari Island – A Sicilian Getaway”

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Blanc a Manger – A French restaurant in Catania Italy?

Catania!  I have to yell its name because I have a love hate relationship with this city.  If thats possible.  It has such beautiful sights, but has graffiti nearby.  It is pretty close to where we live, but yet so far away due to the possessed Fiat drivers and triple occupied scooters trying to run me off the road.  Tremendous food and market options, but nowhere to park.  Or if you do find parking you need to haggle with the guy who waved you into the completely free parking.  Catania is so close to being a great city, but it hangs onto its dark side.  At the same time I love Catania for this because it has refused to give Continue reading “Blanc a Manger – A French restaurant in Catania Italy?”

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Arancia Rossa Have Arrived!

We have been keeping an eye on the produce markets waiting for these oranges to arrive.  Last year we became obsessed with eating these.  Since everything is seasonal around here you have to wait in anticipation until they arrive again.  I think this build up makes the oranges taste even better.  Even with that in mind… I can honestly say that I have never tasted oranges like this.  I know that I have said this before about artichokes and other produce and you are probably sick of hearing it, but it is true.  The taste is unreal.  It makes me want to go to Florida and drop off a few bags and slap them around a little bit.

One of the things I like most about the local oranges  Continue reading “Arancia Rossa Have Arrived!”

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Does the Mediterranean Diet Include Cannoli ?

Article: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/25/mediterranean-diet-cuts-risk-of-heart-attack-stroke-death/1943305/

I saw this article today about how people could reduce the risk of stroke by 33% to 46% if they followed a Mediterranean diet.  This made me laugh since we are in the middle of the Mediterranean and I haven’t seen a whole lot of health nuts around!  The diet around here doesn’t really fall into the rules of the “Mediterranean diet”, when they enjoy humungous plates of pasta as a starter eventually leading to a round of cannoli as a finisher at midnight.  Nowhere is this more apparent than at the beaches during the summer when everyone shamelessly bares it all in their banana hammocks and bikinis.  🙂  At least they are proud of themselves!

In fairness… the non pasta or pizza dishes are healthier around here.  A lot of raw fruits & veggies.  Also seafood is a mainstay in the diet.  The biggest change that I have noticed is the primary use of olive oil over butter.  The news article does touch upon this fact about olive oil being an important part of the equation.  I have noticed that I have been eating a lot more of the foods that I note above… but this also includes the foods in the “bad” paragraph.  Overall I would say its tough to keep on a healthy regiment here, with the choices at restaurants and the irresistible desserts! Luckily I have hockey and surfing to keep things in balance.

Should the name of this diet be changed??  Maybe if it was called the “Italian diet”… then I would definitely have to throw a red flag on that!

 

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Chiacchiere Season in Sicily

Chiacchiere is pronounced Kee-ah-kerry.  The word chiacchiere actually translates to “gossip” in Italian.  The treats are supposedly named this because this is the activity that people do while eating them with coffee.   That cracks me up that they would name something after that, but Im not surprised because the Italians definitely do gossip over coffee. (locally: cafe, cafe macchiato, cappucchino, etc)

You can get Chiacchiere baked (forno) or fried (fritto).  Surprisingly we Continue reading “Chiacchiere Season in Sicily”