Serendipity in Sicily

I've just started a great new book as recommended by my bestie, "From Scratch" by Tembi Locke. It has brought back many memories of our trip to Sicily earlier this year. The beginning of the book is set in Florence, and it's  pretty awesome to read about all of these places I have visited.  But of course, it lists a few new places which I plan to check out next May when we are in Florence again.   One of the main characters in the book is a chef born and raised in Sicily so that has definitely spurred memories of the wonderful food we sampled while in Sicily. But let's talk about Sicily.

Three things that really stuck with me:

• Sicilian Heritage: The connections were evident as we drove through the countryside and saw names of cities and towns that were surnames of people we knew. While we were touring with a private guide in Agrigento, he mentioned that he had visited the United States, he felt most at home in New Orleans because the culture and temperatures were familiar AND THE FOOD!
• Rural Landscape: Sicily is wide open country, and every quaint town we visited was pretty far from the next. As we traveled along we passed wide open green spaces of  livestock, farms, fishing villages, and  beautiful coasts (photo below). As we traveled, our incredible local guides talked about the history of Sicily, their culture and traditions, as well as prepared us for the next stop. The value of these local guides cannot be understated.

• Proud Sicilians: I don't know that I would have appreciated as much of Sicily without the local introductions and hands-on experiences with the dairy farmer, winemakers, chocolatier, etc. They are such so proud of their heritage and traditions and welcomed us into their homes for the best home cooked meals I have experienced. They explained about zero-kilometer foods grown and prepared in their gardens and communities using only in-season vegetables. I know that I enjoyed foods I don't normally enjoy at home and I think it was because everything was so fresh. This also reminded me of our ancestors living off of the foods they grew on their farms.