Upon entering the 'entroterra', one senses that the past is stronger than the present. Her rustic beauty is robust and passionate, as only a volcanic island could be. Her fertile soil has been drenched in the Mediterranean sunlight for millennia. The roads of Sicily are lined with fruit-producing cacti and native artichokes. Vineyards throughout the rolling hills produce some of the best wines in all of Italy.
Shepherds walk from their fields to the villages each day, bringing milk for fresh ricotta.
Sicily is an agricultural oasis, and her edible offerings are intensely rich in flavor. The simplest of dishes can provide the utmost gastronomic pleasure. Sicily in November turns unexpectedly green. Grass springs up overnight along the roadsides and under the grapevines, which suddenly march across a carpet of cavoliceddi, a wild cousin of the mustard family whose intense, almost bitter flavor when boiled and tossed with oil is perfect company for Sicilian sausage spiced with fennel seed.