Goat's milk - fresh from source

For those lactose intolerant there is goat's milk which is a suitable alternative and tastes just as good. Goat's milk is also the blessed white substance that creates the most delicious ricotta cheese which is used in my ever favourite cannoli. That is why they taste different in Sicily, it is the goat's cheese! Ricotta sold in England doesn't always state if it is made with goat's milk but I think it is usually cow's milk - boo. 

We visited this farm out in the middle of nowhere and got to see an age old style of milking goats using special gates for where the animals needed to stand, these gates were in a stone wall that must've been there for hundreds of years. 

Everything was super ancient and the view from the farm where we took these pics was spectacular. This farm is very hidden, even to the locals, and is situated atop a hill overlooking thousands of acres of vineyards -just beautiful. 

At the farm, we stumbled upon a barn with a hidden secret. It was a church in the 1600s. The inscription on the door said 1641 - how crazy is that?! Jake took some great photos in there of a horse and its baby and we got some great shots of the farmers for the project. I wish I could show you all of the pics but I can't just yet, they must go to publishers first! 

The centuries old practice of shepherding and milking the goats was great to watch and sooo old except for one thing.... the mobile phone rang (!) and the chief milker answered it. It was kinda funny but he went on milking with one hand and chatting away - classic! 

What to do with half a bag of almost rotten carrots?

Like Clara says, 'it's just wrong to let things go to waste,' but.... she believes that to be true with Guiness Beer but doesn't eat leftovers?! Go figure.

Anyhow thinking about her words I decided to make something with the half bag of almost rotten carrots in the fridge. What to do? Nothing too fancy, threw them in a pot with boiling water a whole onion and a few potatoes and some garlic and voila some soup for the chillier nights that are approaching. I added an organic stock cube and lots of chili pepper and salt and ground black pepper. Once it was a little cool, I threw it in the blender and voila I will have soup for dinner the next few nights -although I am out each evening for the next few nights so those carrots may have been cooked in vain :)


And read on Wiki yesterday that almost 70% of Sicilans and descendants from the Mediterranean are lactose intolerant (LI) in comaprison with 5-10% percent of northern Europeans and Americans. All of this new LI info is fascinating.

Come to think of it I never saw my grandparents drinking milk or having cereal...I think my grandfather drank goats milk while he was making his cheese on the farm but that may be it...will have to check with the aunties and uncles about their milk consumption. Giovanna - does your mother drink milk?


x

Ricotta -ree-kawt-tah
Ricotta is an Italian dairy product/cheese made from the whey which is left over from making cheeses such as mozzarella or provolone. The term "ricotta" means "cooked again" ("re-cooked") in Italian, referring to the second processing of the liquid to produce it. It is also great on toast with some sugar sprinkled on top!

In Canada and the UK it is usually made from cow's milk but in Sicily it is made from sheep and goat's milk. So when you taste a cannoli in Sicily it tastes very different from one bought elsewhere. It seems to have a different flavour and taste better, not sure if it is the atmosphere or that you are having it at the mecca of cannoli land.

So what is a cannoli? It is a tubular pastry shell stuffed with a sweetened filling of whipped ricotta, sugar and it often contains nuts (like pistaccios in pic), orange rind/lemon or bits of chocolate.

Here is a pic of a gigantic one that was served to dozens at a wedding in Sicily earlier this year. It is an easy recipe, most people who make them now buy the shells as they are easy to find and purchase. Some old-schoolers do make the shells which is a long process, includes deep frying and using special moulds.

A great xmas treat and sooo delicious -get one if you can at an Italian bakery or make it yourself. Below are pics of bite sized ones served at a b-day party in Sicily a few days after the wedding- ah food glorious food and Sicilan hospitality!