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! 

AlitaliaMore pathetic airline food last week. I was starving but so rushed to catch my flight I didn't have a chance to eat properly so I had to suffer through this horrid little thing they call a sandwich. I thought the Italians could do better but am not surprised as Alitalia has been having a lot of trouble lately. So after a disgusting walk through Milan's Linate airport which should be burned to the ground as it is so grey and depresssing, they serve this fake toasted panini which has bresaola inside a sliver of butter and a sliver of ricotta inside it. Not even spread evenly, just in these two hard lumpy lines. It was gross but I had no alternative so ate it. The other options were biscuits but not sure what those would've been like.

Lucky me, I sat beside a troll who snarled at me behind her bifocals. Why can I not sit beside a socialble and mildly attractive person who doesn't get the pillow stuck in their arse crack due to their fatness? This happend on my last flight to Toronto! This pre-Christmas troll had scary facial hair, a big gut and clothes that were too snug and too short which meant that the blub was hanging out! I know I am going to rot in hell but people, when you are that fat a little extra material goes a LONG way! You are not a size 8 anymore.

And if you are so fat that you don't notice a pillow stuck between your ass crack then you need to cut down on something. Maybe start with that bag of candy she scoffed on the flight - pre her two glasses of wine and Coke and her meal. Seriously I wanted to crawl into the barf bag!

Can someone from BA read this and put me in a seat at Easter next to a normal person? I should be flying privately, non?

This is why I am 5 pounds fatter

This post is for Jono and Rexi - famous quote:
'I can taste the limone.'

I had gelato as much as possible last week in Sicily as I knew there wouldn't be any when I got back to the big, grey city. So now I am busting out of my trousers! I went for a run today and may have burned off at least one of my ice cream indulgences.

Bacio tastes just like Baci chocolates. Not sure if the pic above the bacio is caffe (coffee) and the one below is dolce latte. There were so many at this gelateria by the beach it was overwhelming. In the last pic you will see a flavour called Puffo - like the Smurfs, not sure what that one would taste like?!

I always choose the same few flavours though - limone (lemon, which is made without milk), caffe (made with espresso), nocciola (hazelnut - tastes like Nutella), banana & cioccolato (chocolate). TheI sometimes venture out a little bit more but usually stick to the devil I know.

The flavour below is cannoli - so there is ricotta in the ice cream and also some original Sicilian cannoli sticking out of the ice cream too....yum!



My tour guides, the Puzzo brothers enjoying their gelato.

The big cannoli
So every winter my father goes to Sicily for two reasons only:

1) to visit his 85 year old mother and

2) to eat cannoli.

Cannoli is a Sicilian dessert pastry which my father swears can only be made properly in his tiny town of 4,500 people, Delia. These delectable desserts which originated in Sicily are filled with ricotta cheese mixed with lots and lots of sugar. Those who mix other ingredients, according to my father, are destroying the tradition.

The secret to these desserts is the outer shell of fried pastry dough. These tube shaped shells must be filled at the very last minute, otherwise the shell becomes soggy and losses all its flavor. Italian-Canadians have been trying to replicate this recipe ever since emigration started but, according to my father, no one in North America has been able to duplicate this delicacy.

My father’s desperation for this dessert results in my mother packing a suitcase full of shells and a frozen Tupperware container with ricotta cheese every time they return to Toronto. Canadian customs would have a feast (literally) if they ever opened up their luggage. As for this massive sized cannoli – according to my father, this too was destroying the original Cannoli tradition! But we ate it anyway.

xoClara

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!