Lost in Sicily

Only three days into a real Canadian winter and already I’m thinking about places I’d rather be. I’m lucky that I can legitimize my daydreaming by calling it planning.

When I open my computer in the morning a desktop photograph of a flock of sheep surrounding my car reminds me of the Sicilian countryside - and joy of joys, although they're causing a few minutes delay, I'm not lost! Lost is a recurring theme as soon as I get off the highway in Sicily and truth be told an hour later I was lost again.

The picture was taken on my way to spend the day with Sicilian cooking maven Anna Tasca Lanza at Casa Vecchie her country home (and cooking school) just outside of the town of Vallelunga. Casa Vecchie sits adjacent to Regaleali, the Tasca family's vineyards and winery and a day there means fabulous food and fabulous wine.

Of course I arrive late - having been lost yet again, but she graciously overlooks this and we sit down over coffee to talk about the day ahead. We'll spend the day cooking - well, Anna will cook and I'll mostly watch - focaccia, pasta with cauliflower, an orange salad, a tuna roast that she baked (the biggest piece of tuna I've ever seen outside the fishmongers) and sfince infornate (cream puffs) and a fruit salad for dessert. Each course was accompanied by Regaleali wines and the dinner was long and leisurely.

Anna's a fountain of knowledge about Sicilian food, history and culture and we spend much of the day talking about local food festivals, the foods specific to Saints Day - eaten only on that saint's day and how traditions and food change from town to town in the celebration of the most important saints. The saint most often honoured is San Guiseppe (Saint Joseph) and each March families set up little alters in their homes and busy themselves making many different dishes as an offering to San Guiseppe.

I've always loved exploring and visiting these little towns during their festivals and saints days and March in Vallelunga sounds like a good time to be escaping the winter - if I can hold out that long.

Photos by Lindan Toole. From top to bottom: Road hazards in Sicily; the beautiful surroundings of Casa Vecchie; an impressive Tuna roast; delicious orange salad.

Here, a few of Anna Tasca Lanza's recipes

Rosemary Focaccia
- 3-1/3 cups semolina flour
- 1 Tbsp sea salt
- 1 cake of compressed yeast (24 grams)
- about 2 cups of warm water
- 3/4 cup olive oil (she used 1 cup in class)
- 3/4 cup white wine (she used 1 cup in class)

Rosemary Topping
- Coarse salt
- 1 sprig of rosemary (this would be one whole bunch of the rosemary we get)
- olive oil

• Mix flour & salt & make a well. Crumble yeast in well & dissolve with 1 cup of warm water.
• Little by little, add olive oil & wine, s working in the flour. Mix in as much of the rest of the water as is needed and make a smooth dough that’s easy to handle.
• Work the dough for about 5 minutes.
• Drizzle olive oil into a bowl, put in the ball of dough and oil on all sides.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• Two hours before baking, sprinkle a 16x12” baking sheet with olive oil, stretch the dough on it – covering completely.
• Put the baking sheet in a warm place under a blanket until doubled – about 2 hours.
• Press your fingertips all over the dough, sprinkle with coarse salt and rosemary needles and drizzle with olive oil.
• Bake in a 400F oven for 30-35 minutes.
• Remove from oven and sprinkle with olive oil again.
• Cut into pieces and serve hot.
• Cooled and stored in a plastic bag, it will stay good for a few days. Heat it up when ready to serve.

Baked Tuna
(Flavors of Sicily - Anna Tasca Lanza)
serves 6-8 people
Serve this baked tuna with mashed potatoes. If there is any left, use it for Riso con Tonno Fresco or as a topping for pasta.

- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup (30 g) mint leaves
- 2 salted anchovies, filleted and rinsed, or 4 canned anchovy fillets
- 3 lbs (1.5 kg) fresh tuna, or 1 or 2 pieces, 2” (5cm) thick
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1-1/2 cups (375ml) white wine
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 sprig of rosemary

• Preheat oven to 375F (190C)
• Chop the garlic, mint and anchovies and mix them together. With the top of a knife, make holes in the tuna, about 1-1/4” (3cm) deep and about 2-1/2” (6 cm) apart. Fill the holes with the garlic mixture. Rub the fish with salt and pepper and the rest of the mixture, if any remains.
• Put the fish in a roasting pan or baking dish and drizzle with the olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, pour 1 cup of the wine and the lemon juice into the pan, and scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon. Put the rosemary in the pan. Put the fish back into the oven. Reduce the heat to 350F (180C) and cook until done, turning once, 20 to 30 minutes, depending on how thick the fish is. Test by inserting the top of a knife, it should to in easily. Remove from the oven. Set the fish aside on a serving dish and keep it warm while you make the sauce.