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Did you know ... The family is at the heart of Sicilian culture as it has always been for generations. Family members often live close together, sometimes in the same housing complex, and sons and daughters usually remain at home with their parents until they marry, which tends to occur later than in previous decades. Couples today have fewer children than before, yet babies and children are much revered in Sicilian culture and almost always accompany their parents to social events.
Did you know ... Sicily became the "granary of the Italic peninsula" during the ancient Roman times and still produces some of the best durum wheat in Italy. Bread and pasta continue to be important to the daily diet, and are of excellent quality. The Romans introduced the fava beans, from which it derives a typical soup called "favi a maccu".
Did you know ... Sicilian weddings are lavish, expensive, and traditional. They are normally held in church. The Catholic church is an important feature in Sicilian life. Almost all public places are adorned with crucifixes upon their walls, and most Sicilian homes contain pictures of saints, statues, and other relics. Each town and city has it's own patron saint, and the feast days are marked by gaudy processions through the streets, with marching bands, and displays of fireworks.
Did you know ... The painted carts of Sicily (carretti) have been around for more than two centuries. Once there were several thousands of them, carrying the products of the island and participating in its celebrations. The carts were fashioned from beautifully carved wood and intricately wrought metal. All visible parts were colorfully painted with religious, chivalric, historical, or other culturally symbolic designs and figures. They carried passengers, foodstuffs, wine barrels, minerals, and other cargo from place to place. They were pulled over less than satisfactory roads by horses, mules or donkeys decorated themselves in colorful harnesses and feathers.
Did you know ... Perhaps the most well known part of Sicilian cuisine is the rich sweet dishes including ice creams and pastries. Cannoli, a tube-shaped shell of fried pastry dough filled with a sweet filling usually containing ricotta cheese, is in particular strongly associated with Sicily worldwide. Biancomangiare, biscotti ennesi, braccilatte (a Sicilian version of doughnuts), buccellato, ciarduna, pignoli, bruccellati, sesame seed cookies, a sweet confection with sesame seeds and almonds (torrone in Italy) is cubbaita, frutta martorana, cassata, pignolata, granita and cuccìa are amongst some of the most notable sweet dishes... yum!
Did you know ... Sicilians also enjoy outdoor festivals, held in the local square or piazza where live music and dancing is performed on stage, and food fairs or sagras are set up in booths lining the square. These offer various local specialties as well as typical Sicilian food. Normally these events are concluded with fireworks.
Did you know ... Many Sicilians are bilingual in Italian and Sicilian, an entirely separate Romance language which is not derived from Italian and has a sizeable vocabulary with at least 250,000 words. Some of the words are loan words with slight changes, taking influence from Greek, Latin, Catalan, Arabic, Spanish and others. In the modern age, Italian is taught in schools and is the language of the media and government. Sicilian is now a secondary language amongst much of the youth, especially in some of the urban areas.
So if you can't visit the beautiful island of Sicilia soon, come participate in a Sicilianaire cooking class or buy "The Extraordinary Cuisine of Josephine".
Mille Grazie!
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