Who would have thought that some of the most beautiful Doric temples in the world are in Sicily! Day 3 of our trip dawned sunny and bright and off we traveled along the western coast of Sicily to see the temples. A very pretty drive leads you to a valley where on high you could see the temple. We took a small bus even higher up the hill to see the theater, then hiked down to see the temple below. The perfect 65 degree day in lovely sunshine was so delightful in November to us from the wintery NE of the US. Along the way, we saw some modern artistic structures we wished we could climb to see the view of the temple! We much preferred the ancient structures to the new.
Erice
Aurelio, our highly skilled driver navigated hairpin turns to climb us high onto the mountaintop to our next stop. The kitchen of Marie Grammatico was in an old historic building with white cows grazing just out the back door. We learned that this wonderful chef at the age of 11 was placed in a convent with her 8 year old sister. When it came time to take her vows, she chose to go out in the world. She had only enough money to buy some almond flour and sugar. Marie made cookies with it as she had been trained in the convent. Selling them and buying more materials, eventually she became a hugely popular baker! We attended her class on cookie making and learned to make those 1st cookies! Of course we don’t have a wood fired oven that heats to 700 degrees F! Cookies made at home have not tasted quite as good! Marie laughed as my husband’s cookies which were to be shaped as nun’s breasts, instead came out like rockets! The gang all laughed!
Read the book that is far more than just recipes called
Bitter Almonds: Recollections & Recipes from a Sicilian Girlhood
by Maria Grammatico , Mary Taylor Simeti
Marie is telling us 2 ingredients for her fabulous cookies. They are just almond flour, sugar and a bit of water!
