Author Toni Lydecker spent time with chefs and home cooks in Sicily for her book “Seafood alla Siciliana.’’
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G Force
Toni Lydecker: From the sea to Sicily
Author Toni Lydecker spent time with chefs and home cooks in Sicily for her book “Seafood alla Siciliana.’’
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In her recent book, “Seafood alla Siciliana: Recipes and Stories From a Living Tradition,’’ writer Toni Lydecker explores the fish dishes of Sicily, the fishermen who sell their catch right off their boats, and the women who make stews, pasta sauces, and other appealing dishes. Lydecker lived in Italy at one point, so she can speak the language. She used those skills to cook with women all over the island. She spoke from her home in the Hudson Valley, just north of New York City.
Q. How did you happen to write about Sicily?
A. The region isn’t as familiar, it’s still a little bit exotic to us Americans. When I went, I fell in love with the beauty of the island and I noticed how central seafood was to the culture in a way I hadn’t seen in other regions. Sicily almost has regions within it. There are dishes on the west coast that people on the east coast don’t know.
Q. Some dishes show a strong Arabic influence.
A. There’s a fish couscous soup. Instead of lamb, [Sicilians] combine the fish with couscous.
Q. Isn’t there also a Spanish influence in the cuisine?
A. If you eat a Sicilian seafood risotto, it’s not too different from a paella. Sicilians say the Spaniards learned from them. It’s lost in the midst of history - which direction the influence ran.
Q. What are Sicily’s indigenous ingredients?
A. In addition to seafood, olives, wine, sea salt, the best capers in the world, citrus - blood oranges and lemons. It’s a paradise of all these agricultural products.
Q. How did you learn about the traditional dishes?
A. I organized research trips and spent several months working with home cooks, chefs, cooking teachers, going with them to the market. I really needed to get into the kitchens and see what they were doing.
Q. It must be very different working with home cooks than with chefs.
A. Home cooks work with these little 5-inch knives; they can cut an onion in their hand. Even restaurants are small. They’re more like a home kitchen. One of the things that surprised me was the quantity of olive oil that they use. We tend to be very sparing. They use good olive oil, and it’s flavoring the food as well as cooking it. We think of southern Italian food as being garlicky and strong tasting. Sicilians have a more subtle approach.
Q. If I lived in Sicily, where would I buy fish?
A. There would be a great fish market in your town, you could go to the open market, even the supermarket. In some cases you could walk down to the port and buy directly from the fishermen who bring the fish in.
Q. What are they selling?
A. Whatever they found that day. If it’s a day boat, it might be sea bass, there might be little fish that would be good for a fish soup, there might be some of the darker fish, fresh anchovies, some sardines, mackerel. If they’re very lucky, they might bring in aragosta, which are spiny lobsters that are prized.
Q. What are they making with lobster?
A. They might cook it very much like we would - boiled or steamed - and serve it with very good olive oil, or a selection of olive oils. Or lobster soup with broken fettucine. If you eat that in a restaurant, you have to order it a day or two ahead of time.
Q. Is there a quick pasta dish you make often?
A. Spicy linguine with anchovies. This dish is made with linguine, good olive oil, garlic, anchovies, a whole lot of parsley, and hot pepper flakes. I always have the ingredients on hand. If you’re throwing together an impromptu meal - like if you come back at 10 at night - you eat that.
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