"Coming Home to Sicily" by Fabrizia Lanza is a warm introduction to the sun-bleached and ancient estate that her mother, Anna, transformed into Case Vecchie, an esteemed cooking school.
Her book offers a rich collection of surprisingly simple, traditional recipes, dappled with stories of the rugged, elegant place, its people, and Fabrizia's own journey from art historian and museum curator to cooking school director.
Laced with photos, it captures the gnarled grapevines, windswept hills of wild fennel and oregano, the vibrant markets and sturdy farmers who work this land. In intimate, poetic prose, Lanza evokes the Sicilian countryside, bristling with color and wildness and life.
I chatted with Lanza by phone as she was preparing for her visit to Broder's Pasta Bar on Nov. 18, where she'll be signing books and talking about her life at Case Vecchie and her family's winery, Tasca d'Almerita.
Q How would you define Sicilian cuisine today?
A Sicily is a separate continent, from a culinary point of view. Its diverse topography -- mountains, beaches, flat plains, salt flats and Mount Etna volcano -- is reflected in our cooking. Near the coast, you'll find plenty of seafood; in the mountains, look for lamb and wild fennel.
Our estate is in the middle of the island, which was a poor region, so the diet is built on legumes such as fava beans and lentils, wild greens, sheep's milk ricotta and pecorino, all of the foods that are so naturally delicious and well suited to the way we want to cook and dine today.
Q How has your earlier career as an art historian and museum curator informed your current work?