Le Isole--the crossroads of Italy

Is it any wonder that the food of the islands of Italy is so complex?  These islands have withstood "visits" from the Greeks, the Romans, the Byantines, the Saracens, and now boat loads of tourists from around the world.

First set the tovaglia with bowls of the Mandranova family's 100% Giarraffa olive oil.  This olive oil is slightly bitter, but light, with an assertive peppery taste.  We have been told it was cultivated for the "hyper-niche market of olive oil enthusiasts."  Whew!

To whet our appetites, we were served Arancini con Ragu, a delicious introduction to Sicilian food, and a wonderful accompaniment to wine.  These were crisp, golden brown, golf ball sized spheres of arborio rice that were flavored with saffron, pecorino, eggs and stuffed with a little veal, beef and sausage ragu.  Before being fried in olive oil, the arancini were dusted with flour, dipped in egg whites and rolled in bread crumbs. 

Duca di Castelmonte's Dinari de Duca Grillo IGT 2009 from Sicily was slightly chilled and perfect with the arancini, preparing us for the meal to come.

For the Primi course, we were served Fregula con Mais, a fantastic pasta found in every Sardinian kitchen.  This semolina pasta, originally from North Africa, has a slightly nutty, wheaty flavor, and was served with fresh corn kernals, heirloom cherry tomato halves, sliced scallions and a Lemon Vinaigrette.  A perfect summer pasta, especially when the corn has just been picked.

Pesce Spada a la Griglo was served on top of Caponata di Melanzane from a jar.  While the caponata was tasty, I could not help thinking how much better it would have been if it had been made freshly.  Mario Batali's recipe for caponata was distributed and would have been better than what we had from a jar. This is not to say that the Caponata was not tasty.  It was tasty.

A winey Cannonau Riserva 2007 from Sella & Msca in Sardegna was the perfect foil for the Caponata, yet it did not drown out the delicate flavor of the grilled swordfish dressed with more of that wonderful Sicilian olive oil.

A journey well spent.