A Sicilian Dinner at Donna Carmela’s

Food is certainly not just for nourishment in the Sicilian culture, but truly a work of art; chefs place their heart in the task and there is a desire to always improve upon one’s masterpieces.  A testimonial to such a philosophy came when I recently enjoyed an evening at Donna Carmela’s in Carrubba, Sicily.  The setting was an upscale rural tourism refurbished in the old Sicilian style; the owners run a very large nursery which extends over an  area of Sicily and northern Africa and the grounds of the facility in Carrubba are adorned by exotic plants.  As one enters the grounds, large palm trees illuminated by flood lights below are to be found along a green plush lawn.  The table for our group was set upstairs on a terrace overlooking the coastline below.   Describing in words the exquisite meal could never do justice to the chefs’ creations and the whole ambience which made the experience unique.  I shall briefly introduce some of the courses and leave the reader to just view some pictures taken that night.  Highlights of the meal included fried sage leaves as one of the hors d’ouvres, eggplant parmesan revisited and served in a small glass, homemade pasta in a swordfish sauce with crushed pistacchio.  The sorbet at the end was made with tangerine juice which had been squeezed previously when the tangerines were in season and the addition of “nepitella”, a Sicilian herb which grows wild in the countryside and brings the fragrance of both oregano and mint.

The wines served were a Frappetto for starter with the light hors d’ouvres and a Nerello Mascalese to accompany the main courses.  With regards to the olive oil, it was the highlight of this writer’s evening.  As I enjoy tasting a variety of olive oils, I enjoyed the three types of olive oil that were brought to the table and added at the time of serving the dishes.  All three olive oils served were produced from the Tonda Iblea olive of the southern coast of Sicily.  One picture shows one of the olive oil bottles which was a reserve olive oil  produced from a small selection of olives taken from the olive  harvest.  Once a palate becomes accustomed to a fine olive oil, it is very difficult to live without it.

Both the company and the food were excellent I  knew this meal was one to remember!