Sicilian Cuisine

Those flavors reflect Sicily's layered Arab, Greek, Spanish, and Norman history. Dishes like pasta con le sarde often combine sardines with fennel, raisins, pine nuts, and saffron-like flavors.

Sicilian-style pizza is often thicker and rectangular, with a breadier base than the thin, wood-fired Neapolitan style from Naples. In Sicily, sfincione from Palermo is a famous local version topped with tomato, onion, anchovy, oregano, and breadcrumbs.

Good starting points are arancini, caponata, pasta alla Norma, panelle, cannoli, and granita with brioche. Pasta alla Norma is closely associated with Catania and uses eggplant, tomato, basil, and ricotta salata.

Sicily grows prized nuts, especially pistachios around Bronte near Mount Etna and almonds in the southeast. That is why cannoli, cassata, marzipan fruits, and many gelato flavors lean heavily on pistachio and almond.