Pure Sicilian Food, Wine and Cooking Tours

2012 June and August Tours SOLD OUT!

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“To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily, is not to have seen Italy at all for Sicily is the clue to everything" ...Goethe

Conquered by the Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Angevins, Hapsburgs and the Bourbons the island of Sicily has been the desire of many a nation. Sought after for its rich fertile soils, surrounding crystal waters bursting with fresh seafood and its proximity to some of the most beautiful islands in the world, it is a place with unparalleled historical legacy. To me there is no other place I would rather explore.

For those of you who have travelled to Italy and fallen in love, Sicily is more, who have eaten some of Italy’s finest local produce, Sicily will evoke you, who have been lost in history, architecture and tradition, Sicily with lift you up in its arms and carry you further. Whether you are more attracted by Greek temples, Roman villas, Norman cathedrals or Baroque churches, Sicily offers a range of historical sites that are not easily matched. Its cuisine full of flavours that grab you by the collar and awake your senses, a blend of exotic cultures combined with peasant style.

Join me, Dominique Rizzo for my “Pure Sicilian Food, Wine and Cooking Tours” as I take you on a sumptuous food, history and wine journey to discover the rich beauty behind this intoxicating Island. My two personally guided 16 day and 14 day tours showcase the two sides of Sicily, the rustic West Sicily and the captivating East of Sicily including 4 days in the alluring Aeolian Islands.

Pure Sicilian Food, Wine and Cooking Tours offer more than the flavours, sights and sounds of Sicily. These unique tours will give you an insight into the people and history of this island, bestowing upon you an experience that you will carry for the rest of your life. Pure Sicilian Food, Wine and Cooking Tours consist of small groups of 12- 14 people, in order to ensure you personalised attention and quality of service so that you can completely relax and enjoy your holiday. My tours are not about racing you around the island of Sicily, but instead, they are about giving you the opportunity to experience, appreciate and enjoy each and every moment. You will have time for yourself to wander through towns, shopping or simply absorbing the atmosphere, relaxing, and always savouring the amazing views throughout the tour. Our mini busses are air conditioned, and where it is warranted, we will have a local tour guide assisting us to take us deeper into the traditions of the Sicilian way of life, and it’s incredible history.

Pure Sicilian cooking classes, market banquets, degustations, and wine and olive oil tastings are designed to give you a unique culinary food and wine experience showcasing the best of Sicilian cuisine and food culture. We will share unforgettable moments with deeply-rooted Sicilian natives, who will share with us secrets of their cooking and preparations of traditional recipes, while we immerse ourselves in our newfound knowledge and their language and ancient gestures. As much as we are focused on the food and wine aspects of Sicilian culture on our tour, we are equally passionate about the journey of exploration as we guide you through the historical monuments, archaeological parks, remarkable churches, piazzas, museums, dramatic castles, cobblestone streets, extraordinary baroque villas and stunning coast lines.

Pure Sicilian Food, Wine and Cooking Tours offers two different and equally beautiful tours of Sicily. An amazing fourteen day, thirteen night tour of Western Sicily and the stunning“Shalia” Eastern Sicily and Aeolian Islands tour comprising of sixteen days and fifteen nights, including four days on the Aeolian Islands. Within these tours we explore a kaleidoscope of realities and landscapes that change with the seasons. Each explores a different season and therefore each will have its own style, and specialise in giving you particular insights into the history, culture, and beauty of the contrasting regions of this charming land and its surrounding islands.

My tour encompasses all the wonderment of this enchanting place Sicily, with regional hands on cooking classes, lunch time and dinner banquets, the alluring call of the street markets and experiencing the making and tasting of some of Sicily’s oldest cheeses. We savour the art of sweetness, with renowned pastry chefs and old time cooks serving their time honoured pasticceria and partake in the making of some of the oldest recipes.

Join me as we indulge in the tasting of some of the finest gelati and sampling the traditional and unique gelati al brioche. A tour of this abundant land would not be complete without visiting some of the islands most prestigious wineries and olive groves to sample their finest drops and discover the history and stories behind the family estates. We rest up in boutique B&Bs' elegant hotels and private stone castles as we travel to some of Sicily’s most famous historical archaeological parks, medieval cities and beach front picturesque sea side towns.

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An introduction to the journey in Western Sicily

9th - 23rd June 2013, 14 days, 13 nights

This tour welcomes you to Sicily, We start in Menfi, a seaside town originally built by the Spanish aristocrat Diego Tagliavia d’Aragona. In Menfi, we stay at an exquisite estate in the mountains with the alluring colours of nature setting the stage, the beautiful aromas of the mountain lavender, rosemary, and thyme, and views of the sea that to this day cause the land in this part of Sicily to be suspended in its own rhythm of life. We travel through Selinunte, Mazara del Vallo, Mozia, un Isola dello Stagnone, and the salt pans of Marsala, sampling some of the region’s most well-known and finest wines, and dining in restaurants, agriturismo (farmhouse) and cantinas that will take you back in time. This part of Sicily is known for its regional produce, agriculture, salt pans, wind mills, and the rich flavours showcased in our cooking classes with specialty chefs, including Dominique herself, and other passionate personages we meet along the way.

Our journey continues through the seaside town of Sciacca, famous for its fish markets, coral and ceramics; Porto Palo, a seaside village; and a unique visit to an historic Sicilian museum of hand crafts, hidden from tourists, where we will cook up a feast of traditional Sicilian fare using local seasonal produce collected that morning. For the second part of this tour we progress to the city of Palermo. Its great history as a land conquered by the Arabs, Normans, Greek and Spanish, as well as many others, has left it with a rich imprint of foreign cultures in art, design, architecture and cuisine. Visitors will be astounded by the monuments such as la Cattedrale di Monreale, la Cappella Palatina, le Catacombe dei Cappuccini, the must-see Castello della Zisa, and the Giardini della Pallazzina Cinese within the Parco della Favorita.

We make our way through Palermo, rich in all that Sicily has to offer with tours to Mount Pellegrino, and to the Grotto of Santa Rosalia, a sacred place of religious devotion, adorned with an extraordinary variety of bodily symbols by the “Palermitano” and celebrated with great festivities on religious holidays. It is impossible to visit Sicily without taking in the vibrant humming of the Sicilian cities’ markets. We surround ourselves to the colours and aromas of these street markets, where local Sicilian characters speak their Sicilian dialect and use the old gestures, appearing to star in an operatic musical as they call out their daily specials. As we wander through the countless stalls we share moments with the locals. Mesmerised by their cooking and their preparation of traditional street foods, we understand that in every corner we are surrounded by the traditions of Sicily inviting us to sample and lose ourselves in its deep culinary history.

Following a traditional lunch right in the heart of Sicily, we visit hilltop Erice, a picturesque medieval town built upon much older Phoenician and Elymian sites. There we will sample a degustation of pastries with recipes that have been handed down across the sands of time. Our last days of the tour will offer relaxation amid the iconic scenes and stunning views of the waters of Cefalù, from our seaside hotel. We head out onto the Mediterranean in a sailboat to dine alfresco for lunch, and then we’ll wander through the cobbled streets for wine tasting and a degustation of local products in a quaint enoteca (wine shop) in this world-renowned seaside town. After leaving Cefalù, we drive through the Madonie Mountains, Castelbuono, and Santo Stefano di Camastra, enjoying some of the traditional mountain produce and marvelling at the art of hand-painted traditional ceramics, which are sought after throughout the world.

We end our tour at a prestigious landmark hotel, marvelling in its breathtaking position overlooking the coastline. Standing in its majestic place for more than 100 years, it was restyled in the 1800s and now remains one of the best examples of Art Nouveau decor in Sicily.

An introduction to the Shalai tour of Eastern Sicily and the Aeolian Islands

25 August - 9 September 2013, 16 Days, 15 nights

There are tours that open your eyes – as well as your mind, heart and soul – to experiencing what the world has to offer, and this tour of Eastern Sicily is one of them. The Sicilian dialect term ‘’Shalarvi’’ has Arabian origins which come from the word Shalai, a word used by Sicilians to express an intense satisfaction or pleasure of the soul – something that is enjoyed from the first to the last moment. Through our Pure Sicilian Food, Wine and Cooking Tour of Eastern Sicily and the Aeolian Islands, you will discover an old world and its traditions, get to know people of great humanity and hospitality; enjoy eating traditional foods cooked by skilled masters – chefs and locals who love their work; and admire the vast, brilliant oceans and those uncontested masters of the territory, the volcanoes. You will marvel at the wealth of monuments, churches, cathedrals and archaeological sites, which will give you a glimpse of the infinite magnitude of this intoxicating part of Sicily.

This stunning tour of Eastern Sicily offers you the opportunity to not only discover the islands of the Aeolian, and the rich lands surrounding the famous Mount Etna, but also to journey to some of the most beautiful historical provinces of Italy, Syracusa and Ragusa, including the town of chocolate-loving Modica, Noto, and the island of Ortigia.

We welcome you to Catania which is, after Palermo, the lively and second largest city in Sicily. We enter into Sicily’s age-old history, rich in unique archaeological sites and monuments, with one of the more famous being the Villa Romana del Casale. We indulge in the surrounding historical towns that showcase timeless crafts such as hand-painted ceramics, dine on regional artisan products created using proprietary and specialized techniques, and spend evenings dining with newfound friends and locals. You will experience the triumphant shouts of the Siciliani, and a spectacular array of vibrant colors of spices, seafoods, and seasonal fruit and vegetables as we wander through the iconic food markets of these areas. You’ll be thrilled to see the local produce displayed as if they were works of art instead of mere merchandise for sale, and you will relish the tempting morsels offered by locals to sample.

The beautiful island of Ortigia, joined to the mainland by three short bridges, is the spiritual and physical heart of the Grecian province of Syracuse, and is also home to some of the best dining venues in the region. For a little town, it livens up in the evenings just like a Parisienne city. Best explored by foot (as cars are not permitted through most of the town), we wander through a labyrinth of narrow streets that are home to grand Baroque architecture, and visit one of the most beautiful and elegant squares in all of Europe. We settle into our white-washed and beautifully restored bed-and-breakfast, with its name taken from the old Jewish quarter “Giudecca,” sitting on Piazza San Filippo and overlooking a 15th century Jewish synagogue. Rich in culture, history, art, theatre and sculptures, Ortigia will not disappoint. Here, you will be lost in time, and you will soon find yourself full of passion for this tiny town.

Crumbling away on a hilltop, Ragusa Ibla occupies the ancient site of Hybla Heraea, which was later refounded by the Arabs and called Rakkusa. An important centre for trade and agriculture, when Ragusa was divided by an earthquake in 1693, the aristocrats rebuilt the town where it now stands, while the wealthy middle class built a modern city to the west named Ragusa Superiore. Both towns showcase ornamented balconies, neoclassical architecture, little stepped streets, historic palazzos, and sumptuously decorated duomos and churches. We head north continuing through the province of Catania, and through the towns of Caltagirone with its stunning art nouveau and baroque buildings, and Piazza Armerina, famous around the world for its mosaics, where we enjoy a tasting of local specialties in a renowned enoteca. A passionate food and wine lover, the enoteca’s owner will leave us speechless with gratitude for his grand hospitality, and his specialty almond products.

We continue to Acireale and Randazzo, the magical town set in the foothills of Mount Etna, a wonderful community rich in customs, tradition and history. Hold on tight as this part of the tours ignites with cooking classes, including the age-old art of hand-rolled pasta making, sausage and salami making, cheese making, and a lesson in traditional dolce – sweets – all produced by artisans following family recipes and traditions kept alive with passion through the last century and before. Of course you will taste everything possible as we enjoy degustation of local wines, experiencing the vendemmia wine festival at the time of the fall grape harvest, all while sampling local regional products. If you have never seen a volcano, get ready – seeing and climbing the wondrous Mt Etna will be a wondrous and awe-inspiring experience. We visit one of the original existing “grotto dei ladroni” and learn of the stories behind these amazing ice holes. We continue to Bronte, famous Castello di Nelson, filled with antiques and beautifully kept traditional gardens. All of these towns of Eastern Sicily have a past rich in ancient history, architectural design, and heroic stories rooted in the times when Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese and Spanish struggled for dominance, ultimately leaving traces of high artistic and monumental value for us to discover.

In the final days of the tour we will introduce you to the town of Taormina in the province of Messina, where there is only one unique and great protagonist: the sea. To the northeast of Sicily in a corner of paradise, seven mysteries of nature are reflected in pure sea water: these mysteries are known as the Aeolian Islands. For centuries, nature and history have shaped a landscape sculpted by fire, lava, wind, and sea. The Aeolian Islands have been described as the "seven pearls of the Mediterranean," and showcase sea patches, spectacular views, and enchanted sunsets. These islands have been an extraordinary and breathtaking destination for travelers worldwide since the times of classical mythology. Our last days will be spent on these islands, offering you the freedom to discover countless pristine beaches, and the beauties of the untouched lands. There is also the opportunity to indulge in archaeology, hiking, specialty local food and wines, scuba diving, and of course, the boat trips that will take you on a journey across the stunning waters of the volcanic archipelago, these dramatic pearls of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

My Sicily

My upbringing in an Italian family was really first introduced to me when I was born, a beautiful baby girl with gold hoop earrings and a gold bracelet. When turning 3 years old my father first took myself, my mother, my older brother and my baby brother on our first trip back to his home land of Sicily. As children, we often remember the strangest things. Not in any order but my memories of Sicily, the rustic land the peasant lifestyle and the family filled eating extravaganzas I have never again experienced with such an innocent awe.

My earliest memories of Italy were of my Zios’ farm, the truck ride to the pigs, the smell of the horses, the chickens and rabbits running freely around the farm, gathering the eggs, the lambs coming into the house asleep on my Zios’ huge farmer shoulders. The orchids of lemons and oranges, the grapes hanging from the vies were like jewels and my Zia always brought with her a basket of vegetables to which I was always inquisitive about what they were and what she would be doing with them. Running around the farm and exploring as a young child was the most wonderful introduction to a kitchen that a budding chef could have dreamed of. My Uncle coiling the pork sausages around them selves and then piercing them with sticks ready for grilling, cutting the pigs for the bleed and using every part of the animal fascinated me as I watched with amazement in my party dress was something that was so real and natural.

As I got older and our trips continued, I knew what was going on, I was eating and drinking all sorts of exotic and mysterious foods that I had never seen before and I love it all. It was then that I was in the kitchens with my Zias and my Nonna who herself was a very simple cook, I was picking the vegetables, collecting the eggs, rolling the polpete, stirring the pasta, picking the cucuzza, arranging the fruits and wandering the markets. I was the one sitting out side on a rickety stool cleaning the garden snails, peeling the vegetables and washing the wild greens freshly picked from the adjoining gardens.

Tripe, goats heads, pigs trotters, rabbits, wild fennel, fresh broad beans, fresh pastas, grains, prickly fruits, breads, cheeses from goat, sheep and cow, being the delicacy. It was all there. The sights, sounds, smells and taste of all theses remarkable foods that I was not only to encounter on that journey but on my many trips to Sicily after that fuelled my love and an innate interest in food. I honoured the simple versatility that it offered us, the choices that were endless, the palette of colour and flavour that became my right to do with it what I wanted. This is where my love affair with Sicily and its food started.

For information on my “Pure Sicilian Food, Wine and Cooking Tours” for 2012/2013 please fill in the request more information on this page. I will add you to my Sicilian Tour news update and email you with my exciting new itineraries and all the fantastic details.

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