Exclusive Cooking Show: An Ode to Ancient Catanese Cuisine!
We're excited to have you at our Cooking Show for an immersive and unforgettable journey, entirely dedicated to the authentic flavours of our Etnean city and its deepest tradition. We'll guide you through the masterful preparation of three culinary pillars.
- The Sarda a Beccafico Antica Catanese:
This isn't the usual rolled sardine. We'll be presenting the Antica Catanese version, a dish that celebrates popular ingenuity in response to aristocratic luxury. The name is an ironic tribute to the Beccafichi, small birds that once only the rich could afford to hunt and stuff, leaving the tail protruding. The people of Catania, unable to afford the game, replaced the Beccafico with the most available oily fish: the sardine.
Unlike other baked island variants, the ancient Catanese recipe clearly stands out:
The sardines are arranged in a “sandwich” (one on top of the other), with the filling in the middle.
The filling is enriched with grated Ragusan caciocavallo or pecorino cheese, a distinctive element that enhances its flavour.
You'll also find raisins, pine nuts, and aromatic breadcrumbs, balanced by a hint of citrus.
- Ancient Sicilian Catanese Cuttlefish Ink Sauce: The Essence of the Sea
This sauce isn't just a condiment, but a concentrate of Catania's seafaring soul, where nothing goes to waste.
The Secret: The preparation of “sucu di niuru di siccia” dates back to the kitchen of necessity, where every part of the catch was valued. The ink, once discarded, was transformed by the cooks into a sublime ingredient.
We'll show you how to properly extract and use the ink from the freshest cuttlefish to make a sauce with a deep, glossy colour and an intense, enveloping flavour. Unlike modern versions, the ancient Catanese recipe calls for a robust aromatic base, a long reduction of the ink, and a balance with a very small amount of tomato concentrate, which only serves to give body without covering the penetrating taste of the sea. The result is a thick, velvety sauce, perfect for a nice plate of linguine.
- Sicilian Espresso Tiramisu: The Dessert That Lifts Your Spirits
We'll wrap up the tour with the historical and local version of the Ancient Sicilian Tiramisu.
The Sicilian Reinterpretation: The recipe we'll share replaces northern ingredients with the island's finest, making the dessert instantly recognisable as Etneo:
Instead of generic liqueurs, the ladyfingers are soaked in a Sicilian fortified wine made from zibibbo or a dry Marsala, for a unique aromatic note.
The final touch is a generous sprinkling of unsweetened cocoa and a light zest of untreated orange or lemon, a typical Sicilian touch that refreshes the palate.
A unique opportunity to learn, taste, and celebrate the authentic Sicilian Etna tradition.
