The Aeolian Islands’ Cookery
The Aeolian Islands are not only the natural paradise, but they also represent a fascinating destination because of their typical flavours, and of the peculiarity of its cooking.
The Aeolians are a perfect mix of ancient peasant and seafaring traditions, that is why it is unique of its kind. The dishes remind the smell of the sea and the colours typical of the landscape. The use of herbs marks flavours of the Aeolian dishes, adds fragrance to each dish, and are a pleasant reference to green space, which the landscape generously gives the tourists. Undoubtedly the uncontested king of the typical dishes on the Aeolian Islands is fish, followed by the Aeolian capers, and the typical tomatoes “a pennula”.
The Aeolian cooking, similarly to the Sicilian one, is of ancient roots; the sequence of various dominations, the heritage of different cultures, which ruled over this terrestrial paradise, surely left deep signs in cooking, and in the way of better use of local resources, making the culinary genre so unique.
The Aeolian dishes have balanced nutritive qualities, ideal for a correct and rich alimentation, and they fully reflect characteristics of the Mediterranean diet, envied in the whole world. In their presentations, the dishes are real master-pieces, a bridal of all the senses; they satisfy the sight because they are a triumph of colours, the smell because of strongly aromatized fragrances; they are a celebration for the palate, thanks to the various range of tastes and flavours, capable to satisfy the more exigent palates. Each dish has its own history, and recalls a certain tradition. Just think about the characteristic sweets of Carnival, for example “gigi”; they are delicious fried sticks immerged into cooked wine, warmed with low flame, and covered with powdered sugar and cinnamon. For Saint Giuseppe Celebration it is possible to taste “vastidduzzi”, sweets with raisin and almond, together with “spicchiteddi”, cooked wine-, herbs clove- and cinnamon-based. The ancient knowledge of dominations which followed one another left the “nectar of gods” as heritage, the famous Malvasia, to drink before or after meals together with typical biscuits, such as: sesamini ( biscuits with sesame), and piparelli (biscuits with almonds, honey, and orange tree essence).
