Arancino / Arancina
Fried-rice ball with filling. Eastern Sicily (where we are) = arancino, masculine, conical (Etna-shape). Palermo = arancina, feminine, round. Classic fillings: ragu, butter (ham + mozzarella). Catania pushes pistachio and squid-ink.
Best on this trip:
Savia or Serafino (Catania)
Bar Midolo (Siracusa)
Cannoli
Tube of fried pastry shell, filled on order with sweetened sheep-ricotta. Pre-filled = soggy = wrong. Topped with chopped Bronte pistachio, candied citrus, or chocolate chips.
Best on this trip:
La Pignolata (Taormina)
Pasticceria Iudice (Ragusa)
Voglia Matta (Ortigia)
Savia (Catania)
Cassata Siciliana
Sponge cake soaked in liqueur, layered with sweet ricotta, encased in green pistachio marzipan, topped with elaborate candied fruit and white icing. Festive, sweet, very Baroque-looking. Available year-round in good pasticcerie. Heavier than cannoli — share a slice.
Caffè Sicilia (Noto)
Caffè Costanzo (Noto)
Voglia Matta (Ortigia)
Granita & brioche col tuppo
Granita is finer-textured than American shaved ice — icy crystals you eat with a spoon. Sugar + water + flavor (no dairy, no egg). Texture is everything. Brioche col tuppo is a sweet eggy roll with a "topknot" — tear off the top, dip into the granita. Almond, lemon, mulberry, coffee are the classics. Mulberry (gelsi) is at peak in June.
Bam Bar (Taormina) — before 10 AM
Caffè Sicilia / Costanzo (Noto)
Caffè dell'Arte (Modica)
Pasticceria Iudice (Ragusa)
Pasticceria Savia (Catania)
Pane Cunzato
"Seasoned bread" — open-faced loaf split, drizzled with oil, topped with anchovies / tomato / oregano / cheese. Western-Sicilian origin but found around Taormina now. Try with the granita di limone at Bar Vitelli (Savoca).
Bar Vitelli (Savoca, ~30 min north of Taormina)
Iris al forno
Catania's baked twist on the Palermo deep-fried Iris. Brioche-like bun stuffed with sweet ricotta and chocolate. Find it at Savia and most historic Catania pasticcerie.
Pasticceria Savia (Catania)
Bar Spinella (Catania)
Caponata
Sicilian sweet-and-sour vegetable salad — fried eggplant, celery, capers, olives, vinegar, sugar, sometimes cocoa. Eaten cold or room temperature. Most Sicilian restaurants will have a version — Don Camillo and Cortile Spirito Santo do refined ones; Borderi sells it by weight to take home.
Don Camillo (Ortigia)
Caseificio Borderi (Ortigia, take-home)
Trattoria del Cavaliere (Catania)
Pasta alla Norma
Catania-origin. Pasta with tomato sauce, fried eggplant, salted ricotta (ricotta salata), basil. Named for Bellini's opera Norma. The canonical version recurs at De Fiore in Catania. The €6.50 daily-special version at Trattoria del Cavaliere is the value play.
De Fiore (Catania) — canonical
Trattoria del Cavaliere (Catania) — €6.50
Mè Cumpari Turiddu (Catania)
Latte di mandorla
Almond milk — but the Sicilian almond version is its own thing. Made by soaking sweet almonds (often Avola), squeezing the liquid, sweetening lightly. Cool, refreshing. Order at any pasticceria.
Caffè Sicilia (Noto)
Caffè Costanzo (Noto)
Caffè dell'Arte (Modica)
Frutta martorana
Marzipan shaped and painted to look like fruit (or sometimes vegetables, fish, anything). Originated at Convento della Martorana in Palermo. Visually stunning, sweet, fits in a suitcase as a gift.
Caffè Sicilia (Noto)
Pasticceria Iudice (Ragusa)
Bonajuto (Modica) — chocolate version