Harvesting grapes on Mike’s land in Piedimonte

Autumn brings many culinary traditions on the island of Sicily and one of them is making Mostarda.  Mostarda is make from the juice squeezed out of the mosto grapes and cooking it until it is ready to be dried in the sun.  Recently, while enjoying an outing on Mike and Elena’s property, Rosi and I picked some mosto grapes so I could try and make mostarda for the very first time.  This experience comes from childhood memories of watching my grandmother Francesca carry out this process.

After squeezing the grapes and making sure there are no solid particles in the liquid, one cooks the juice reducing it 50% and then it needs to stand for 12`hours.  After twelve hours, one  adds corn starch and sugar until the mixture thickens.  After cooling, the mixture is placed in molds and then it needs to dry in the sun for several days.