Claire Bowen
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First published in Classic Travel
Sunshine sparkling on the turquoise sea, boats bobbing in a pretty harbour and white houses clustered around a bay in the shelter of spectacular cliffs. This is San Vito Lo Capo and the beautiful setting for what must be one of the world’s most unusual food festivals - five days dedicated to cous cous.
Cous cous is a traditional dish in the north west of Sicily and it is here, in this small fishing town, that the idea of a festival was born fifteen years ago.
“It started as a local event when the people of San Vito, on one day a year, offered a free dish of cous cous with a glass of red wine to tourists so they could sample their local dish,” explained Marcello Orlando who is the principal organiser of the current much grander affair.
For the last five years a PR and events company from Palermo, Feedback, has worked with the local Mayor, Giuseppe Peraino, Ninni Ravazza from the Tourist Association and sponsors to put on a truly international affair.
Chefs are invited from every country with a cous cous tradition and vie for the prestigious title of Cous Cous Chef of the Year.
Israel has won twice, Tunisia once and last year Palestine were the victors. But this year, much to the delight of the Sicilians, the silver trophy stayed at home in San Vito Lo Capo as the winning chef, Giovanni Torrente, lives in the town.
This year the international jury munched their way through dishes of cous cous, which is known as the dish of peace, prepared by chefs from Italy, Israel, Palestine, Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, and the Ivory Coast. Each was judged on taste, style and presentation.
Two evenings were set aside for the contest when each nation proudly entered the marquee, in the torchlit garden behind the Saracen church, bearing their creation and processing behind their nations flag and to the sound of their national anthem.
Italians added more drama by being led in by a little girl in national costume and having musicians serenade with a traditional folk song in Sicilian dialect while the Moroccans brought their own band who gave a frenzied performance.
Apart from the Moroccan entry, which was a sweet cous cous usually served at weddings, all were meat and fish based recipes.
And while the high drama was unfolding in the Sanctuary Garden visitors to San Vito were getting their taste of cous cous from the stands which lined the narrow streets. The festival attracts 100,000 visitors annually to the town which normally has a population of 4,000. During the five days 20,000 portions of cous cous, prepared by the 200 chefs in 50 kitchens, were washed down by 10,000 litres of wine.
Each day was rounded off by an open air concert in the Piazza Santuario which is where the presentation was made to the winner. While the Italian fish cous cous won the Albo d’oro this year the lasting memory for many will be the sight of the equal second placed chefs of Ilan Niv from Israel and Mohammed Najeeb of Palestine holding their joined hands aloft to tumultuous applause. Truly cous cous is a dish of peace.
First published in the Western Daily Press
A little girl sat on a bench beside her mum blowing bubbles while other toddlers played around the square. And the sun was shining from a cloudless sky on this peaceful domestic scenario.
But the surprising thing was that we were in Venice and, apart from us, there wasn’t a tourist in sight. For this was the real Venice, the secret squares, dark mysterious alleys and the quiet and picturesque canals where the real Venetians live.
We were in the Cannaregio district which is less than 20 minutes away from the tourist crammed St Marks Square, and the bustling Rialto bridge, but a world apart.
We spent seven magical days exploring these hidden areas which offer so much to the visitor who wants to discover what it is really like to live in a carless city surrounded by water and awash in history and culture.
Here hotels and restaurants are cheaper and you’re more likely to sample real Venetian cuisine as well as its hospitality.
We had been to the city before and had ‘done’ the usual tourist haunts so this time we were exploring further afield. We stayed at first in the Castello area, to the west of the St Mark’s district and adjacent to the Cannaregio, in a wonderful palazzo which had been converted into an historic guest house called the Ca’ Bauta. It was tucked away down a tiny alleyway, called a calle, but not far from shops and fruit and vegetable stalls where the locals did their daily shopping.
From here we made forays to the busier parts of town to visit museums and churches but had the joy of returning to our quiet and beautiful base every night.
Half way through we moved to a more down to earth hotel - the one star Minerva - near the station. This was further north but ideally situated for getting around.
We also took advantage of a brilliant innovation by the Venice City Council - the Venicecard. This has to be bought at least 36 hours before your arrival day, and is a single ticket which provides free access to a number of museums as well as travel and toilet facilities.
You can choose between two cards - one just covers transport and toilets - and select whether you want it for one, three or seven days. The card also gives discounts in some local restaurants and shops.
And you can use it to get a discount on yet another card - the Chorus Pass. Chorus - The Foundation for the Churches of Venice - helps restore and maintain the cities churches and their art treasures and the pass allows access to 15 churches which have already been restored to their former glory.
An excellent way to see Venice is by waterbus or vaporetto and hopping on an off is made easy with the Venicecard. We used the number 51 and 52, which goes all round the city as well as the 82 which plied the Grand Canal, on numerous occasions, and it’s a really good way of getting your bearings when you first arrive.
Take a waterbus for the short hop to San Giorgio Maggiore where the best view of Venice can be had from the top of the Campanile, the bell tower of the Palladian designed church. From here you look back across the water to Venice. And the next stop along on the Giudecca, another island facing the city, gives access to plenty of cafes with a canalside view to die for and prices half that of St Mark’s Square.
A trip out to the islands is a must - Murano home of the glass factories, the pretty Burano with its multi coloured houses and lace museum and sleepy Torcello. We spent a relaxing day at the latter exploring the cathedral of Santa Maria dell’Assunta and it’s fantastic Byzantine mosaic wall depicting Judgement Day, watching a wedding party - the bride and groom are the last to leave the church and emerge to the applause of their guests - and enjoying a long and leisurely lunch by the canal.
But when you’re not messing about on canals, diving into calle which look as if they couldn’t possibly lead anywhere or simply sitting at a cafe sipping a spritzer - the local tipple of white wine, water and Campari like bitter - there are a stack of museums and churches to sample.
And even those don’t have to be the ones everyone visits. Give the Accademia a miss and head for the Ca’Rezzonico. This 17th-century palazzo on the Grand Canal, with stunning painted ceilings by Tieopolo, houses a collection of 18th century paintings and furniture and has the most stupendous ballroom. But I couldn’t believe my eyes when I opened a door and came face to face with not just one, but two, exquisite and very familiar Canaletto paintings of the Grand Canal.
And if you’re into painted ceilings the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in San Polo has got to be on your list. Built in 1515, it was here that rich city merchants met to administer charities as well as for worship. Now it is home for a group of musicians who perform baroque music using traditional instruments. During concert intervals the audience are invited upstairs to view the splendours of a massive hall whose ceiling is completely covered in paintings by Tintoretto.
Venice, Vivaldi’s hometown, is a city of music and Verdi wrote la Traviata especially for the Teatro La Fenice. Sadly the 18th century theatre was destroyed in a blaze seven years ago while being rewired but after a number of legal wrangles it, like its namesake, will rise from the ashes and open on December 14.
Reconstruction hasn’t been easy as there were few pictures to depict what the original looked like so ancient paintings as well as human memory has been called upon to ensure that the right colours are used throughout the building. Even a film by Visconti, which had scenes in the theatre, has been watched over and over again for clues.
If you’ve contributed to Venice in Peril, you’ll be delighted to know that the main light in the theatre was paid for from this scheme.
Other areas to explore off the beaten track are San Polo, which is between the station and the San Marco area, and Dorsodura to the east of San Marco. You can walk for miles round these areas dicovering pretty corners and enchanting small squares, called campiello, and you’ll rarely bump into another tourist.
So the next time you visit Venice remember to invest in a good map - you’ll still get lost but it really doesn’t matter - and a stout pair of walking shoes.
CANNY, wine loving, emigrant Italians found a way of getting around the no alcohol laws during the period of American prohibition. They stuck tonic labels on bottles of Marsala which they then purchased from a pharmacy.
And in England, this Sicilian wine was once a fashionable tipple but, like Madeira and Sherry, it fell out of favour. Now it’s rejoicing in a worldwide renaissance.
This unctuous fortified wine is now as popular outside its homeland as it is in Italy itself. It seems we’ve all discovered the joys of dipping Cantuccini biscuits in a glass of sweet Marsala - something the Sicilians have been doing for ages. And it’s become popular in our kitchens too thanks to its use in Italian restaurants which have introduced us to delicious recipes such as Pollo alla Marsala or Zabaglione.
Even the Sicilian city of Marsala is beginning to benefit from the wine’s success on the international scene with money pouring in to restore the many, once beautiful, palazzos.
Marsala was created by accident in 1773 as English merchant John Woodhouse had to find ways of shipping his produce to Liverpool without it turning to vinegar. The wine was an immediate hit in the UK and Woodhouse had a contract to supply 500 barrels annually to Nelson’s fleet.
Thirty years on another Englishman, Benjamin Ingham, founded yet another Marsala firm but it wasn’t until 1833 that the best known of them all - Florio - came into existence.
Founded by Vincenzo Florio, this cantine is alive and flourishing to-day but now under the ownership of the company which makes Disaronno - the famous almond flavoured liqueur.
Florio’s 200 year old tufa cellars, with high vaulted roofs and terracotta tiles which let the air circulate freely, are still packed to the gills with wine maturing in French oak barrels - some casks dating back to 1939.
The area around Marsala is in the Mediterranean Sun Belt which gives Sicily the same climate as Cyprus, Madeira and Oporto and, with its mineral rich soils, makes it ideal for vine growing.
Three types of grapes are used in the blending of this fortified wine - the Grillo, Cataratto and Inzolia. They grow in the coastal vineyards of the north west coast of Sicily and are harvested by hand when the sugar content is at it’s highest.
As in other fortified wines - like Port and Madeira - wine brandy is added to give the Marsala it’s strength and character.
There are four main types of Marsala - Fine which is aged for one year, Superiore for two, Riserva for four years minimum and Vergine for between five and eight years. Almost all have varied alcohol content with Riserva and Virgine coming out tops with 19 per cent.
Marsala can be drunk chilled as an aperitif or as an after dinner digestif in a similar way to Port. Virgine is especially good with salty antipasti and Parmesan cheese while dry Sicilian cakes and Ricotta are the perfect accompaniments to Riserva.
Florio, which prides itself on the quality of its produce and holds 60 per cent of the market, also has a display showing bottles dating back to the 1800s - including one with a tonic label.
Just down the road is the Lombardo cantine which has the distinction of been run by the same family for over 100 years. Founded by Giuseppe Lombardo in 1881 it is now managed by the fourth generation of the family.
It produces 4,600,000 litres of this delicious tipple annually. Of this 1,300,000 litres are matured in barrels and 1,800,000 bottles are shipped abroad. The USA is the biggest market with Italy taking the next biggest chunk.
Despite the fact that Lombardo makes delicious aperitif and after dinner Marsala, the vast majority is used for culinary purposes and in some markets is even used in making ice cream.
In this very businesslike factory 5000 bottles per hour are churned out by three people plus machines.
It’s a far cry from the grandeur of Florio but the end product is equally delicious.