This seems like a good place to share some memories from my visit to Sicily, almost 20 years ago. The first is my introduction to the food of Sicily. As a musician, I was on tour for 10 days in Sicily and was to play in Catania, Messina, and Palermo. My group arrived in Palermo after an incredible journey from New York. I was in what could best be described as a medieval opera company, with 21 men and a small boy choir, so we always had cheap, long flights with lots of stops along the way. This trip was no exception. After being up for what seemed like forever, we arrived in Palermo as our first destination early in the evening. My closest mates in the troop liked to ditch the bigger group and venture off to a new foreign city, getting lost and trying to eat where the locals eat. We found a little trattoria, and had our first meal in Italy together: Pesce Spada (Swordfish.) It was sliced thin, unlike any of the huge, thick swordfish steaks I had ever eaten as a kid. The dish was simple; grilled fish with lots of olive oil and lemon. It was one of the best things I have ever eaten; like it jumped out of the water onto the grill. My mouth still waters thinking about it 19 years later! Of course, it was when Italy was actually cheap, and the whole meal was around $7.00, local jug wine included.
The next day after the best cup of coffee I had ever had, my two buddies went off again to scan the city. One of them was both a bagpiper and a world music buff, so we were on the prowl for the elusive Zamponia, the crazy gaida-like bagpipe of Sicily. The first one, pictured above, was in a restaurant, so he was out of luck, but soon we were walking around and found a little shop that had a real Zamponia in the window. The special thing about one of these bagpipes, is that the main air bladder of it is made from a whole goat skin, often with the head and everything, sporting a wooden chanter sometimes coming out of its mouth!
My friend asked in broken Italian to try it out. Now, one of the key features of any bagpipe is the air-valve. The bag is blown so it fills up, allowing the player to blow into it and fill the bag while the air in the bladder is being pushed out with your elbow; this keeps the note going. This one however, was missing that valve, so when he filled up the bag with his own air, it suddenly kicked back at him and filled his lungs with 20 year old goat dust. I thought he was gonna die. Lot's of coughing was all he suffered...the rest of us just laughed. Then the old guy wanted him to buy it anyway! (He didn't.)
Each day we were there, we had another simple, but wonderous meal, but lots of cheap wine, either the house wine or a bottle of Corvo. At that time, Corvo was the one thing we all knew was drinkable, and at $4 or $5 a bottle, a nice bargain. Things have certainly changed for the better.
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