Archive for 'Main Islands'

Parmigiana – also known as parmigiana di melanzane, melanzane alla parmigiana, or eggplant parmesan in Australian English – is an extremely popular Italian dish that is made with a shallow or deep-fried sliced eggplant (or aubergine) filling and then layered with mozzarella and parmigiano cheese and tomato sauce, before being baked. It is claimed by both the Southern regions of Campania and Sicily, often being associated with Naples but commons in the Campanian countryside, Calabria and Sicily. However, there are actually several theories about the origin of the dish and some of them don't even pinpoint its origins anywhere in the south of the country.

One of the things that travelling foodies will want to do on any trip is to try local delicacies and dishes that cannot be found anywhere else. If you are one of the people in this number, then find a vacation rental in Sicily and head to Palermo. Pani ca meusa is a Sicilian street food that literally translates to "bread with spleen" and is a dish exclusively typical of Palermo.

Food and wine, alongside culture and history, is one of the main things that attracts many tourists to Italy and for good reason: both Italian food and wine have excellent reputations. Now that you have found a vacation rental in Italy and are planning your trip, why not make time to stop by a winery? It is a great way to learn about wine and food culture in Italy, learn about the winemaking process and spend a pleasant day tasting wines and trying local delicacies. We have compiled a list of some of the country's best-loved and most famous wineries to help you find the right one to visit. Or you could just do a wine tour and visit them all!

Pignoli are Sicilian cookies; a type of macaroon typical to Sicily that is popular cookie throughout all of southern Italy, as well as in Sicilian communities in the US. There are many relatives and similar cookies that can be found through Italy and is also quite like the panellets served on All Saints Day in Catalonia. Made with almond paste, they belong to the amaretto family of biscuits.

These delicious crescent or round biscuits are golden in colour and are studded with golden pine nuts, which are also called pignoli and for which they were named. Moist, soft and chewy, they are, sadly, usually reserved for special occasions such as holidays like Christmas. This is due to the fact that almond paste and pine nuts are the primary ingredients and both are relatively expensive. However, they can still be found with relative ease in bakeries and food stores throughout Sicily. Just find a vacation rental in Sicily and you can try them for yourself.

Caponata is an eggplant (aubergine) salad dish from Sicily that consists of chopped fried eggplant and celery seasoned with sweetened vinegar, with capers in a sweet and sour sauce. There are all sorts of regional variations but the original is, indeed, a Sicilian dish. The scholar, Alberto Denti di Pirajno, suggested that the dish was born aboard a ship as a mariner's breakfast, due to the large amount of vinegar used, which would have acted as a preservative. Giuseppe Coria, an authoritative voice on the history of Sicilian cooking, meanwhile, suggests that its name comes from the Latin word “caupo” (tavern) and was, as such, originally a tavern food for travelers. Sicilian food authority Pino Correnti believes that its name is derived from the Catalan word “caponada”. Despite the lack of clarity around the exact origins and invention of the dish, it is to originally be of Spanish origin.