A divine wild flower Last month, in the Sicilian spring, I was coming along the idyllic SS120 from Petralia Soprana to Polizzi Generosa and was on the lookout for what has to be one of the most beautiful spring flowers in the world - the Sicilian wild sweet pea.

I spotted a lot tumbling down an embankment close to the road. The colours, pinkish reds and cardinal purples and the soft powdery perfume were heavenly.

Palermo’s Ballaro market, found in the tight and tangled streets of the Albergheria quarter (not far from the city’s cathedral), is intriguing, lively, messy, and colourful with heaps of stalls stocked with lots of fresh produce and useful household things.

An Arab legacy Ballaro is likely a legacy from Sicily’s indelible Arab interlude. Writer Raleigh Trevallyn says it is of medieval origin, but it is thought, he adds, that a market existed there in Muslim times. It’s centuries old with a certain souk like feel (it has to be Muslim). Well worth a slow wander when in Palermo. A city to spend a lifetime in.

Welcome to our first blog post for 2022. 

A few weeks ago I asked Maria Culletta - a house manager for The Sicilian House who lives in the historic centre of Polizzi Generosa - to name five things that she likes about Polizzi and its surrounds.

Along with the mountains… walking tracks, art treasures, local food, the people (I Polizzani) and their traditions all made her list along with a piazza named after a famous Renaissance family and a certain lovely street.

Festive biscotti with cherries on top These festive looking Sicilian almond biscotti (image below) topped with red and green glace cherries are a soft almond punch of sweetness on the inside with a light golden chewy bite on the outside.

I (for some reason) bought ground almonds with the skin on (peeled was called for in the recipe) and I mixed and moulded the ingredients by hand. I didn't see the bit about using the mix master and didn't have a piping bag but...they turned out ok.