I am the first to admit that I have a sweet tooth and that is one of the reasons that I enjoy traveling in Sicily so much. Sicily is renowned for its passion in creating sweets in all forms. In fact, I have come to the conclusion that the further south you travel in Italy, the sweeter things get. The list is almost endless, with Cannoli, Gelato, Cassatelle, Sfinci di San Giuseppe, and Genovesi from Erice to name but a few. Over the years, and countless trips to the sun kissed Island I have managed to sample most of these, much to the dismay of my dentist!.
On a recent trip, I had the pleasure of showing our bike group during our recent SICILY NORTHWEST BIKING TOUR, Pasticceria Maria Grammatico, in the hilltop town of Erice.
Maria Grammatico was born in Erice in 1940, and due to family reasons and tragic life events, ended up living some years of her life in the San Carlo cloistered convent in Erice.
The nuns who hosted Maria and her younger sister were specialized in the preparation of sweets and Maria, in her small way, managed to learn the “secret” art of pastry making in the ancient laboratories of the cloistered nuns.
She then decided to open a small laboratory of sweets.
Cannoli –
These decadent, crispy fried pastry tubes filled with luscious ricotta cheese cream are perhaps one of Sicily’s best known desserts outside of Italy. Cannoli are believed to have originated around Palermo during the 9th century, while Sicily was under Arab rule.
Have a granita with a brioche on the side (it’s traditional here) with an espresso. You will see all of the locals ordering this, for good reason, it’s incredible.
