If it isn't Baroque, don't fix it!
Trip Start
May 14, 2011
1
12
25
Trip End
Jun 04, 2011
Where I stayed
Villa Zottopera
What I did
Ragusa Ibla
Noto
Noto, Sicily, Italy
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
We were a bit late getting back to our villa, well, because we’re in Italy and everything takes longer than it should and we had to stop at a grocery store for more supplies. In these situations, the German in me comes SHREAKING to the forefront of my psyche and I get super nervous about being late. I shouldn’t have worried. When we got back at 8:15 (dinner is at 8), we poked our heads in the dining room and no one was there. Anna, who is our host and chef, was still making ravioli (Ravioli?!!! That means we’re having homemade ricotta ravioli for dinner! We’ll wait). We headed back across the courtyard to our villa, as the other couple (German, remember) peers nervously out their door at the dining room door. Luckily, I am also Native, which allows me to enjoy a glass of wine by the well with my travel partner until dinner is ready.
And dinner was worth waiting for. Bruschetta again for an appetizer, with one of the three types being pickled olives and capers, caponata - delicious. The primi was of course the extremely fresh ravioli with ricotta and a light, sweet tomato sauce. The secondi was a pan fried pork cutlet and a salsicce piccante (spicy sausage) with more tomato sauce and an insalta verde (green salad). Dessert to top off this amazing meal was what can most easily be described as donut holes, rolled in sugar. A plate of them. The food here is uncomplicated, simple (you can use both of these words when talking about food I’ve decided), fresh, and absolutely amazing.
(C) My traveling wife understates the hypertension caused by the potential of showing up late. Even though in my soul, I know this won't be an issue, I am somehow convinced that all will be lost if the whole dinner crowd is left waiting for the discourteous Americans who couldn't be bothered to show up on time for their hot homemade pasta. Why do I fall for this???
I poke my head into the kitchen with a very sober "mi dispiace per essere in ritardo per la cena," which translates loosely into something like, "I'm so sorry for being a retard, we were driving on very windey roads." La Signora says to me, "it's ok. my son is a retard too." Just kidding. Instead she apologizes for being late herself - which I can clearly see because she is just now rolling out all the ravioli balls. I'm no Italian chef, but I'm pretty sure those balls still have to go into a dough blanket so we have some TIME. After I about killed us, three chickens, and a goat, we're not the ones who are late. Thank god. Time to open some wine and bring Sara down off the ceiling of the car - where she's been latched since our 8-second ride off the mountain.
OH! Ragusa Ibla and Noto are very cool stops. We narrowed down our rain-limited travel schedule to just these two towns and they did not disappoint. Noto is a beautiful stop - although I'm not sure it would warrant more than a couple of hours. Ragusa Ibla was really amazing. I loved the tiny alleys, stairs and sheer vertical life of these Sicilians. Sara was not as bemused and mostly put up with my Disneyesque blather. We happened upon a wake in the duomo which was very interesting. Other than that - it's a beautiful stop.
Comments
Again, STILL, laughing!!
I can clearly imagine the car ride AND the atmosphere within....
The picture of Sara, latched to the roof of the car....priceless.
And "That's okay...my son is a retard, too.."
That KILLED me!!
Sara, I'm SO, SO appreciative of the food descriptions and pictures! We'll take more of the same, please.
This is my favorite post of the trip, so far....