Traditional Sicilian Recipes: Cakes (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

About BookSicily is more than just a land of alluring, enigmatic beauty, offering sparkling blue seas and tree-covered mountains. Each of the many peoples who conquered the island throughout its long history have left a distinctive mark, in the form not only of architecture, but also of fascinating myths and legends. And of course visitors to Sicily are also tempted here by the delicious food the island is famous for, crafted from local produce with a flavour and aroma that originate from afar, from ancient civilisations. From the Greeks and the Arabs, for instance, whose innovative farming techniques did much to improve the island's agriculture, by bringing plants and herbs renowned for their sublime sensory properties. These are the roots of a simple, genuine, yet at the same time elaborate cuisine. A cuisine that we might accurately describe as "georeferenced", in the sense that it is the expression of the multi-faceted persona of the island that has taken shape over thousands of years. The culinary landscape is the result of brushstrokes of aromas and flavours painted by the breeze, in which the golden hues of the grain blend with the red of the poppies and the scent of olives with the tang of citrus.The kitchens of convents and monasteries have also proved to be first-rate culinary laboratories, coming up with some truly delicious dishes and mouthwatering sweets, and anyone who tries them today can almost perceive the subtle, magical taste of days gone by...This is how we like to think of this publication: the fruit of painstaking research into a theme close to our hearts. Our aim is not to produce a specialised treatise on the subject, but rather to make the reader's mouth water as s/he explores the richly illustrated pages. What you are about to embark upon is a journey through traditional Mediterranean cuisine, in which recipes have been handed down through the generations, with jealously guarded secrets and variants improving and enhancing the dishes along the way. Within this focus on the culinary traditions of the island, there is also a place for aspects characteristic of the more modern cooking styles and methods that have taken hold in today's globalised society (such as nouvelle cuisine which, as we know, pays a great deal of attention to the appearance of dishes and how they are presented, as well as the lightness and flavour of the foods featured).The texts that accompany the pictures are of course designed to allow readers to try out the recipes for themselves; but what will continue to lie just beyond their reach is the almost magical touch that can only be afforded by those skilful hands that produce the specialities in the environment in which they were conceived. Certain unique sensations can only be transmitted through the traditions of the land that gave birth to them...Essentially, what we hope to do is create for the reader a  sensory experience rooted in aspects that are generally neglected along the more familiar tourist trails. We would like to dedicate this volume to those visitors aiming not only to explore buildings and monuments, but to take a trip through the flavours and aromas of the island, a journey through a unique land in which a melting pot of races have come together to create a singular love for life. For us here in Sicily, food is much more than merely a necessity: it is an art, one of the most pleasurable aspects of the flow of daily life.