Delizie Siciliane

Food: 7/10
Service: 5/10
Ambience: 7/10
Value: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

Today we should all be in Sicily paying homage to the pistachio at the Sagra del Pistacchio in Bronte, the undisputed Italian capital of the pistacchio.  The pistachio harvest has just taken place, each pistachio harvested by hand, and this is cause for celebration. The Sagra del Pistacchio  is an expo promoting this exquisite green fruit that grows in volcanic soil on the slopes of Mount Etna. It is a grand festival in which this delicacy, touted as Sicily’s green gold, is revealed in all its facets.

Since Arab rule, pistachio plants have been grown around Sicily. They especially thrive in Bronte, the town wholly dedicated to the specialised cultivation and harvesting of this gastronomic green gem. Granted European Union PDO (protected designation of origin) status in 2009,  Bronte pistachios are prized and much sought after for their size and singular characteristics. Brilliantly green, they are quality pistachios; fragrant, delicately sweet and slightly salty. The Bronte pistachio is perhaps the most precious ingredient in Sicilian cuisine.

Pistachios are incredibly good when enjoyed in the simplest possible manner,  shelled and salted. But they enjoy great adaptability in the kitchen – a quality that the Sicilians have mastered. Indeed, pistachios play a significant role in Sicilian gastronomy. Savoury recipes are greatly enriched by the use of this wonderful fruit. Often the pistachio is simply presented, as the principle flavouring for a pasta as in the case of aromatic pistachio pesto and the Sicilian favourite, pennette al pistacchio. Pasta itself is also fashioned from pistachio flour. Pistachios are also deployed as a flavour enhancer in cheeses and meats such as the salsiccia al pistac­chi and are exceptionally good in salamis and mortadellas. They make another appearance in the arancina al pasticchio, another sublime indulgence.

Every time I visit, I am transported back to Sicily and, for that, I am grateful

Above all else, pistachios are synonymous with Sicilian sweets. Sicilians use pistachios extensively in pastries and cakes such as the torta al pistacchio and the  filletta, a traditional Brontese cake. Pistachio’s adorn the bucellato and cannoli, the Sicilians’ pride and joy, and are transformed into the most fabulous ice creams. At Delizie Siciliane I was sinking my teeth into a crunchy sfogliatina filled with a velvety-smooth pistachio cream that oozed out in thick, creamy clumps. Oh my. You think you’ve died and gone to heaven; the thin, flaky sfogliatina leaves giving way to the rich crema di pistacchi. I have developed a serious habit for these moan-inducing little gems.

I’m also deeply fond of Delizie’s crema al caffe. It’s just coffee, cold cream and sugar whisked together but the result is sheer bliss. The cappucino is equally good.

There are hits, and misses. Moments of utter rapture mingle with more meh moments. Another visit at breakfast time reveals cornetti – the perfect breakfast pastry. There is a selection of cornetti ripieni (filled) – enormous, fat crescents, swelling with a variety of fillings: jam, honey and pistachio. But the texture of the pastry is stodgy and heavy and very unpleasant. Dry mouthfuls stick in my throat as I swallow. The cornetto alla crema contains a nice enough custard cream, but the chocolate cream in the cornetto al cioccolato is nothing to write home about. Neither are the very mediocre squares of tiramisu. I have more luck with the paste di mandorla, little soft almond biscuits that go down a treat with unsweetened iced coffee.  A toasted, cracked, slightly crisp shell breaks away to reveal a dense, soft and chewy heart of almond marzipan. Lovely.

On another pit stop in the middle of the day, my friend and I are surprised to find two vacant bar stools. We pounce. Delizie Siciliane is a place of minute proportions. The food counter and bar take up most of the limited space. There is barely any room to move and food and drink are frequently consumed hurriedly, in a standing position. Hastily we perch ourselves on the bar stools as I begin to mentally eat my way through all the delizie on display. This time I’m in the mood for something savoury. Sicilian street food comprises a seemingly endless list of traditional delicacies, from the fabulously moreish (the greasier the better) to intriguing curios that are not for the faint-hearted like Palermo’s infamous spleen burger. You won’t find this charming specimen at Delizie Siciliane.

What you will find is an abundance of pezzi di rosticceria – calzoni, squares of scaccia and tightly wrapped rolls of girelle of spinach and mozzarella, all bursting with flavour and rustic simplicity. Above all there is an abundance of arancine, the deep-fried beauty that is the queen of Sicilian street food and the rosticceria siciliana. She has been here since Arab colonisation, deep-rooted in Sicilian gastronomy. The arancina was probably my first introduction to the joys of Sicilian cuisine and I owe this delectable rice ball a considerable debt of thanks. Delizie’s arancine bolognese were wonderful, oozing with strands of hot cheese and richly savoury ragu. The gorgeous swordfish and eggplant arancine made for a tasty surprise, dripping with flavour.

For dessert we sought out some recherché treats, two renowned Sicilian classics. There was the cannolo with its crunchy, fried pastry tube packed with sweetened ricotta and topped with lashings of crushed pistachios; as impossibly good as it is impossible to eat graciously. And the traditional cassata, the lavish, ricotta-filled cake, draped in marzipan and decorated with candied fruit. Here they had been made into individual, little mounds and topped with an unnaturally red glace cherry. Both the cannolo and the cassata were delicious and beautifully executed, redolent of the fragrance and colour that encapsulates Sicily.

At Delizie some items are exceptional while others remain distinctly unremarkable. For better or for worse, every time I visit Delizie Siciliane I am transported back to Sicily and, for that, I am grateful.  It is a great pity that there isn’t the possibility to sit and linger at this eatery in order to sample more Sicilian delights.