“Pantesca” Salad (Photo: sicilianfoodculture.com)

Chi: Welcome to the Food Delight on VOV24/7.

Normally, on the show, we have chefs who share with us their special recipes as well as cooking tips. But today, we have a special guest.

Sara: Hi, My name is Sarah. I’m from Italy. I’m 23 years old.

Chi: This is the first time Sara has visited Vietnam. She comes from Sicily, an island in the South of Italy. Sara, as far as I know, Sicilian cuisine is said to represent Italian gastronomy.  I guess maybe you have special meal every day?

Sara: Sicilian people have simple meals every day but they have a special meal for Sunday lunch. Usually for lunch, we only eat pasta, maybe busiate, but we have only one meal. Only on Sunday, we have a lot of food.

Chi: Oh really? Tell us more about this.

Sara: In Sicily, Sunday they dedicate to the family. For the Christian family, in the morning, they have a mass. After, the family gather for the lunch. Lunch is usually at the grandmother’s house. It’s really a long lunch. It starts at 1 p.m and finishes at 4 p.m.

Chi: It’s a really nice tradition in Sicily to dedicate the weekend for family gathering. What do you usually have for Sunday lunch?

Sara: We start the lunch with small dishes. This can be Bruschette. It’s bread with fresh tomato inside or caponata. Caponata is a mix of vegetables with tomato sauce. We also have different types of cheese. We can eat like Primo sale, Parmiggiano, Cacio Cavallo. These are typical cheese in Sicily.

Chi: It seems that you have too many for starter. Normally, I think the meal should start with something light, so that we reserve our stomach for the main course.

Sara: No no, Sunday lunch is not light. It’s a really big and strong lunch. The typical Sicilian food is not light.

Chi: I’m impressed with your starter. What about the main course?

Sara: After this we continue with the first. This is always pasta. In my family and other families, we eat baked pasta, in Italian, it is Pasta al forno. This is a special kind of pasta. The form of the pasta is the ring shape. It is the type of pasta you can find only in Sicily. We put the pasta with meat and tomato sauce and béchamel.

The lunch will continue with the second with different kinds of meat like lamb, chicken or pork. We have all food on the table and we sit by the table, and we can choose what we want to eat. To conclude, we have desserts and fruit accompanied with black coffee.

Baked Pasta (Photo: sicilianfoodculture.com)

Chi: It’s really a big lunch! That’s why it lasts for long hours. Who normally prepares the meal? Do you often cook the lunch?

Sara: Everything starts at dawn, when the Sicilian woman transforms her kitchen, while all the members of the family sleep, in a triumph of smells and flavors, starting to prepare the ragù with which to season pasta from to bake.

The lunch is at the grandmother’s house. The grandmother cooks the whole.  It’s so amazing because you can see a big table with a lot of food and the preparation is made by the grandmother.

Chi: The lunch is often held in the grandma’s house. But what will it be like if you live far from your grandma?

Sara: My grandmother does not live the same city where we live. The uncle or one of her daughter does the lunch. For example in my family, my mother does the lunch for the whole. My grandmother lives in another city near Palermo. My mother can come in my house. My mother does the lunch, she is one of the daughters of my grandmother. She takes the position of my grandmother now.

Chi: When the lunch ends, the whole family helps in cleaning the kitchen. It is a wonderful moment of sharing with the whole family. It’s really interesting to talk to you, Sarah about a cool tradition of Sicily, your hometown. Thanks for being with us. Good bye.