Sweet Sicily: The Story of an Island and Her Pastries [Hardcover]

Victoria Granof (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 2001

There's nothing subtle about Sicily.

From the towering cake known as the Triumph of Gluttony to the pert cherry-topped pastries called Virgin's Breasts to puckery, palate-tingling ices made from the island's luscious lemons and tangerines, Sicily is known for its audacious -- and delicious -- desserts. Pastry chef and food stylist Victoria Granof has traveled throughout Sicily learning sweet secrets and local lore from the island's pastry chefs and home bakers, and the result is Sweet Sicily, a lushly photographed exploration of authentic Sicilian pastry-making.

For more than two thousand years, Sicily has been coveted for its fertile land and unique location in the Mediterranean. The Greeks, Romans, Normans, Austrians, French, Bourbons, and Saracens have all landed on its shores, and in turn left their imprints on its food. Granof's magical tour takes us to Modica, where Franco and Pierpaolo Ruta of the Antica Dolceria Bonajuto create chocolate pastries using a five-hundred-year-old recipe that originated with the island's Bourbon conquerors, and to the Baroque town of Noto, where master pastry chef Corrado uses jasmine blossoms planted by Saracens more than a thousand years ago to flavor his jasmine gelato. Granof goes on a quest to find the most authentic ingredients and recipes, including delectable homemade ricotta made from the milk of sheep that graze on fragrant herbs and pistachios that grow in the shadow of Mount Etna, the island's still active volcano.

In Sicily, every holiday and festival has its proper sweet accompaniment: marzipan lambs at Easter, honeyed pastry fritters at Christmas, crunchy, clove-scented cookies called "bones of the dead" for All Soul's Day. Granof explores these customs and festivals, gathering heirloom recipes, along with local anecdotes and advice. In addition to sweets that are already familiar to Americans, such as cannoli, cassata, and lemon ice, she introduces us to dozens of delectable pastries, confections, and cookies that are destined to become favorites as well.

With a guide to festivals and pastry shops throughout the island, and nearly one hundred recipes formulated for use in American kitchens, Sweet Sicily is an unforgettable exploration of the desserts of the world's most beguiling island.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Sicily they eat ice cream for breakfast. That fact alone was enough to convince Victoria Granof that she had to go there. Sweet Sicily: The Story of an Island and Her Pastries is the result of a number of Granof's visits to Sicily, during which she confesses she ate more sweets than she ever thought possible. With plenty of humor and great respect, Granof shares what she learned from her experiences in Sicily and the friends she made there. Few of these sweets are fancy, and all are very traditional. Light and crispy Sweet Ricotta Turnovers from the Bar di Noto in Piana degli Albanesi and Chewy Pistachio Cookies shared by Giuseppe Chemi of Pasticceria Etna in Taormina are Sicily personified. All 106 of the recipes, such as the elegant little Engagement Cookies filled with almonds and cinnamon and honey-drenched Rice Fritters, call for the same ingredients the Sicilians have used for centuries. Learn to make homemade ricotta cheese and you won't believe how good your cannoli can be. --Leora Y. Bloom

From Publishers Weekly

Sicilian sweets are more than simply desserts each one has a particular significance in the island's varied and unique culture and history. In this, her debut work, Granof, a New York City chef who trained at Le Cordon Bleu, wonderfully integrates the myth and mysticism of Sicily with solid, easy-to-follow recipes and gorgeous photos. N'zuddi, for example, are orange and almond cookies shaped in a square to honor Messina's patron saint, the Madonna della Lettera, and the letter she brought to the town from Jerusalem in A.D. 43. Minni di Vergine, or virgin's breasts, are small mounds of pudding encased in pastry dough with candied-cherry nipples, which Sicilians eat "with reverence" to honor the martyred Saint Agatha. The Rice Fritters of Siracusa were originally made in the 18th century by Benedictine monks, and Jasmine Gelato uses flowers originally planted by Arabs over 1,000 years ago. Some Sicilian desserts, such as Cannoli, are well-known in the U.S., but Granof presents them in their classic form. Feature pieces on Sicilian bakers, like Franco Ruta of Modica's Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, are great fun, as are the author's recollections of her own experiences eating in Sicily. With inspired confidence, Granof offers an unusual addition to the crowded shelves of Italian cookbooks. (June 1)Forecast: Part history book, part travel memoir, this original, beautiful book seems destined for success and will certainly appeal to fans of Mary Taylor Simeti and Carol Field.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks; 1 edition (August 21, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060393238
• ISBN-13: 978-0060393236
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #899,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Sicily: The Story of an Island and Her Pastries, September 4, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Sweet Sicily: The Story of an Island and Her Pastries (Hardcover)

This book contains authenticity throughout--the photographs, the history, and the recipes. Beautifully written and photographed, the book will warm the heart of Sicilians and non-Sicilians alike. Every recipe I attempted resulted in a delicious pastry reminding me of my childhood surrounded by Sicilian family and friends. The writing is eloquent and heartwarming, and the history is fascinating and authentic. I would wholeheartedly recommend Sweet Sicily: The Story of an Island and Her Pastries.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book, February 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Sweet Sicily: The Story of an Island and Her Pastries (Hardcover)

This is a fantastic book! The recipes are great and the photography is really beautiful. The history of the island is so fascinating and is covered well in this book. It is a nice set up to the recipes... its wonderful to get some background on why Sicilian pastries are the way they are. I also enjoyed learning which pastries are associated with religious observences. This book also brought back great memories. The Ricotta Turnovers in the book are very similar to the "Cassateddi" that my Sicilian grandmother loves. The author does an excellent job of providing mail order resources for some hard to get ingredients and provides infomation on how to make a reasonable approximation of other components yourself. (like Fresh Ricotta) I would also like to clear up a misconception. Two previous reviewers indicated that there was a typo on the Chewy Pistachio cookie recipe just because flour was not listed. It is NOT an ingredient in the cookie. If you read further and pay attention to the instructions, flour is not called for. Not every cookie has flour and not every cookie is made like Americans make things. As for the person who said that the picture showed flour... rest assured, the cookie is dusted with powdered sugar which is in the recipe (and much tastier than dusting it with flour). No typo there, just a different (and delicious)type of cookie.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not so Sweet, December 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Sweet Sicily: The Story of an Island and Her Pastries (Hardcover)

The history in this book is wonderful. However, the recipes are very inconsistent. Missing ingredients, etc. make it impossible to use this cookbook. I tried twice to make the Little Tea Cookies (pg.70) with no success. The dough would never come together (obviously some ingredient is missing).