Enzo and Aldo visit the beautiful city of Syracusa, where they combine a delicious mix of history, ice cream, fish, and light hearted banter. In this episode, calamari is served in a unique Sicilian and Greek style, reflecting the city’s ancient roots and its proximity to the sea.
A big favourite for tourists, the hill side town of Taormina, is the setting for Sicilian dishes of baked sea bream and wild strawberries in pepper, which Aldo and Enzo prepare against a stunning backdrop of hills, sea, and a very brooding Mount Etna.
It could be cooking on the moon in this episode, but on closer inspection, we find that Aldo and Enzo are in fact in a crater at the top of the very active volcano, Mount Etna. Chefs Aldo Zilli and Enzo Oliveri prepare wild boar, local sausages, and miniature Sicilian pears in a pistachio liqueur at the top of Mount Etna.
The exceptionally pretty seaside town of Cefalu provides the setting for a fish inspired programme. Enzo and Aldo arrive at the town by fishing boat, set up their kitchen on the harbour-side, and prepare locally caught cuttle fish.
Trapani is a major fishing town and is closer to the coast of North Africa than it is to mainland Italy and, therefore, considering the Arab influence on the region’s cuisine it should come as no surprise to find cous cous on today’s menu. But, before that, Aldo and Enzo prepare an impressive sea bass which is encased in a coat of local sea salt before baking. It’s a veritable sea food fest.
Even the Mafia enjoyed their food and in Corleone, birth place of the infamous crime organisation. Aldo and Enzo set up their kitchen in a tiny picturesque square and offer sardines - Sicilian style and, allegedly, the Don’s favourite dish of bucatini, an offer you simply can not refuse.
Fusion food is not a new concept but when food and music are brought together then the result is the very Sicillian pasta dish, Spaghetti ala Norma. With the Greek temple of Segesta as an impressive back drop, Aldo and Enzo create a dish fit for an opera, the Sicilian opera Norma that is and then offer it to a world renowned opera singer
Like the bad boy of Sicily, Palermo sits on the northern coast in the shadows of the towering mountains and it is the setting for a programme that features street food, Sicilian style. Palermo is Enzo’s home town and he is keen to show off to Aldo, the culinary delights the street has to offer, but perhaps you have to be a native of Palmero to truly embrace some of the more rarefied dishes!
Monreale, sits high up in the mountains overlooking Palermo and, being sufficiently far enough from the sea, it depends on its meat trade. The pretty and bustling town boasts a thriving collection of well stocked butchers, one of which provides Aldo and Enzo with the lamb cutlets needed for their dish of Sicilian-style lamb. But, before they set up kitchen in the town square, Enzo and Aldo, each have a very close shave.
An hour’s drive inland from Catania is the small rural town of Reisi which is set amid the centre of one of Sicily’s major wine producing areas. Sicily is renowned for its wines so it won’t be a total surprise to find Aldo and Enzo cooking in one of the local vineyards and creating three very impressive and distinctly Sicilian dishes which, of course, are cooked with local Sicilian wines and set against a gentle, rolling Sicilian vista.