69th Annual Almond Blossom Festival - Agrigento

Buongiorno a tutti! I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year wherever you are in the world. Here at Sicilian Connections we thoroughly enjoyed the festive period but are very happy  to see the evenings become lighter and the early appearance of the Spring sunshine! This also means that it is again time for the wonderful 'Sagra del Mandorlo in Fiore', or the Almond Blossom Festival of Agrigento.

This year will be the 69th edition of the International Festival and will take place from the 8th February to the 16th March. The annual festival takes place in the majestic Sicilian city of Agrigento and celebrates the first almond blossoms of the season - one of the earliest visible signs that Spring is coming. The city will come alive with colourful folk dancers from around the world exhibiting their traditional costumes and dances for the gathered crowds. Local restaurants and bars in the area serve delicious almond dishes and vibrant processions take place throughout the town.

Enjoy this video taken from an Italian news programme which shows last year's festival highlights -

If you can't make it to the festival why not enjoy some almond and honey cookies, or 'Mastazzoli'. The recipe is on my Christmas blog post - http://sicilianconnections.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/tis-season-of-sicilian-christmas.html.

A presto,

Debra Santangelo

www.sicilianconnections.com

P.S. If you enjoy reading my blog please become a follower by registering at the Google 'Join this site' icon on the right of this blog page. Grazie mille for your support!

Almond Blossom Festival - Agrigento

Buongiorno a tutti! As the evenings start to turn lighter and we head into February, many of us start to look forward to the onset of Spring. The winter snow was fun and Christmas was enchanting as always, but I, for one, am certainly ready for the first rays of Spring sunshine to make their appearance.

On that note, I would like to talk about one of my favourite events in Sicily - La Sagra del Mandorlo in Fiore or 'the Almond Blossom Festival'. This annual event takes place in the majestic city of Agrigento and celebrates the first almond blossoms of the season - one of the earliest visible signs that Spring is coming.

The main city of Agrigento lies on a plateau overlooking the Mediterranean Sea on the southern coast of Sicily. It is the site of the ancient city of Akragas which dates back to around 580 BC and was described by the poet Pyndar as ''the most beautiful of mortal cities''. A great number of visitors come to the area to view some of the best-preserved Ancient Greek temples outside of Greece itself, which are situated in the 'Valle dei Templi' (Valley of the Temples) to the south of the city. This is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From the 1st until the 10th February, the city comes alive with colourful folk dancers from across the world exhibiting their traditional costumes and dances for the gathered crowds. Local restaurants and bars in the area serve delicious almond dishes and vibrant processions take place throughout the town.

Enjoy this wonderful video which shows the festival's highlights from last year -

If you can't make it to the festival then why not enjoy some almond and honey cookies or 'Mastazzoli'. The recipe is at on my Christmas blog post - http://sicilianconnections.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/tis-season-of-sicilian-christmas.html.

A presto,

Debra Santangelo
www.sicilianconnections.com

P.S. If you enjoy reading my blog please become a follower by registering at the Google 'Join this site' icon on the right of the blog page. Grazie mille for your support!!

Sicilian Springtime and Zeppole :-)

Buongiorno a tutti! We are now into spring and even though it has been a novelty this year to see so much snow in Sicily, it is a welcome change to see the nights becoming longer and the beautiful pink bougainvillea coming into bloom.

This is also an exciting time for Sicilian Connections as we have now launched our new online Art Store and are so happy to finally see the Sicilian images taking pride of place on our website. For those who have not yet seen the gallery at www.sicilianconnections.com, the photographs are by the very talented New York photographer Joe Zarba who fell in love with Sicily whilst searching for his ancestral family in Leonforte. The photograph below is one of my personal favourites and is of Bar Vitelli in the town of Savoca. This atmospheric establishment is where Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino, met Apollonia's father in 'The Godfather' film.

I hope that all Italian fathers enjoyed their 'Festa del Papá' yesterday and that 'le zeppole di San Giuseppe' were eaten in abundance throughout the world :-) For anybody who is not familiar with 'zeppole', they are delicious deep-fried dough balls which can be eaten savoury (for example if filled with ricotta or anchovies) or sweet (eg. filled with cream or smothered with honey). They are traditionally eaten for the 'Festa di San Giuseppe' which is celebrated on the 19th March, but in Sicily, where they are also known as crispelli and sfingi, they are sold throughout the year, especially throughout the summer celebrations. I shall leave you to look at the recipe for ricotta crispelli and to enjoy the gorgeous 'primavera'!

A presto - Debra :-)
www.sicilianconnections.com

                                             Le Zeppole di San Giuseppe/ Crispelli

Ingredients

Vegetable oil for frying
1 cup of flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 pinch salt
1 and a half teaspoons of white sugar
Quarter teaspoon of vanilla extract
Icing sugar for dusting

1) Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 190 degrees (375 degrees F)
2) Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a saucepan. Stir in the eggs, ricotta and vanilla and mix gently over a low heat until combined.
3) Drop carefully into the hot oil a few at a time and fry until brown (about 3 minutes).
4) Drain and dust with icing sugar.

Note: In Sicily, the ricotta is usually placed into the middle of the batter but the above method is easier for home baking.