It is in the realm of sweets that this country really lets itself go. Ah. that Sicilian sweet tooth! Even in the country towns, a pastry shop is a riotous panorama of the gaudiest, ooziest. most flamboyant cukes extant. How do the Sicilians keep their figures? La omnia is a lush ringleader and a strong favorite at Easterrime.
Caisata alla Sicffiana
Combine 1 ¼ pounds of Ricotta cheese, 2 cups sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 2 tablespoons crème de cacao and beat vigorously until the mixture is Smooth and fluffy. Add 2 tablespoons each of chocolate bits and chopped candied fruit and mix well.
Cut a moist sponge cake into 1-inch slices and line the bottom and sides of a casserole with the slices. Four the filling into the casserole, cover with more cake slices, and chill in the refrigerator overnight. Decorate the top with candied fruit and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.
Cannoli are sweet cannellonis, if you wish, cylinders of sweet, crust-wrapped chocolate or vanilla filling. Incalculable calories! Perelman said it first: “Cbacnn a son goo!”
Cannoli alla siciliana
To make cannoli, you will need tapered tin tubes about ¾ inch in diameter and 6 inches in length, or a reasonable facsimile.
On a pastry board make a well in the center of I 1/3 cups flour. In the well put 2 tablespoons shortening, a pinch of salt, and ½ teaspoon sugar. Work the center ingredients into a smooth paste and combine it with the flour, using a little red or white wine to make a rather firm dough. Form the dough into a ball, cover it with a napkin, and let it rest for about 1 hour.
Roll out the dough 1/16 inch thick and cut it into 4-inch squares, Place one of the tin lubes diagonally across a square and wrap the dough around the tube. overlapping the two points and pressing them a little with the fingers to close the cannoli. Wrap all the squares in the same way and fry them, one or two at a time, in hot deep fat (370” F.) until they are brown and crisp. Let them drain and cool a little on absorbent paper and then remove the cannoli carefully from the tubes. Let them cool thoroughly before filling with the following cream:
Combine thoroughly 1 pound ricotta cheese and 1 cup fine granulated sugar and press through a sieve two or three times to make a smooth paste. To this may be added, according to individual laste, a little orange flower water, a little melted chocolate, or some finely chopped nuts. Fill the cannoli a and dust them generously with confectioners' sugar. This recipe makes 12 cannoli,
Torrone is the sweetest of all, an almond candy embedded with cherries, citron, orange peel and pistachios.
Torrone
In a saucepan put I cup strained honey and 4 tablespoons corn syrup, Stir the mixture constantly over boiling water until it is heated.
In another saucepan combine 2 ½ cups sugar, ¾ cup water, and ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar, bring to a boil, and cook until the syrup spins a thread. Pour the syrup gradually into 3 egg whites, stiffly beaten, beating constantly. Add this meringue to the honey and cook, stirring until the mixture becomes stiff. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 cup chopped candied citrus peel, 2 cups blanched almonds, ½ cup each of shelled and slightly toasted hazelnuts and shelled pistachios, 1 tablespoon each of chopped candied citron and orange peel, and ½ teaspoon grated lemon rind.
Pour the candy into nougat frames lined with wafer paper, cover with wafer paper, and place a board and a heavy weight on top. Let the nougat stand until cold, then cut it into bars with a sharp knife, using a sawing motion. Wrap each bar in wax paper.
A week, or a year, can be spent in exploring this mountainous, ever-changing island. The greatest interest lies along its coast, however, and an observant tour around its triangular perimeter will hold rich rewards. We have just made the (tip and arc still dazzled. We have nightmares about yellow donkey carts and goatherds, hairpin curves and landslides, and especially about dozens of juvenile Sicilian noses pressed against the windows of our cat. Could we interest you in the highlights of our counterclockwise cavalcade? It begins at Messina, and ends in a burst of creature comfort in that perennial darling of all travelers, Taormina.
MESSINA
They have been talking for decades about a vehicular tunnel to connect Sicily with the Italian mainland, but the modern ferries which ply between Villa San Giovanni and Messina will prove far more pleasant to sightseers. The ferries absorb whole trains along with incidental passengers and automobiles. and only half an hour is needed to bring you to the Sheltered port of Messina which. as you've surely guessed, is called the Gateway to Sicily. As such, it has had its troubles, particularly in August. 1943, when halo-German forces held it against Allied bombardment to permit remnants of their troops to escape to Calabria. Parts of the city are still tattered as a result. All of this in the wake of the earthquake which made a shambles of most of Messina in 1908. This city might be your first overnight stop in Sicily. SO don't be alarmed at the stubby HOTEL ROYAL or GRAND HOTEL which await you. For seismic reasons they don't build high structures in Messina. Either of these two-storied hostelries will prove acceptable. There is a better than average restaurant, too, the RISTORANTE DA BORGIA at 27 Via dei Millc. It is one of those high-ceilinged. white-walled, neon-lit places with all the atmosphere of a telephone booth, but the cooking and service are good, the menu comprehensive. We indulged in a flavorful tagliatelli alla bolognese, unexpectedly tender scahppinc with mushrooms, then cheese, salad and a bottle of red Corvo, and were quite content. A better than average museum, and a cathedral with handsome portals have come through Messina's many tribulations, and are worth seeing before beginning the Grand Tour. Then you climb hills laced with hairpin turns to the northeastern shore of Sicily and a first glimpse of the Lipari Islands. They look mysterious, and infinitely peaceful in the iridescent morning light. Beyond them is Stromboli, its volcano smoking in solitary contentment, secure in the knowledge that its public relations have picked up enormously since that movie.
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