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I’ve been avoiding this post. Not because of anything bad–we had a fascinating and fun time–but for a variety of reasons we ended up on a tour where we had no idea what we were touring. Which presents some problems in describing it for you.
The story starts with a language barrier and ends with a family running a bed and breakfast and apparently not hiring enough help after they had a baby. It also includes the possibility that said family’s sister’s B&B, whom they referred us to, maybe just maybe was being paid by the tour workers to push us in the direction of their tour. They promised it was a food tour and would include hands on experiences with livestock. The above picture is the closest we got to livestock–and only then…
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.%20%20You%20could%20just%20imagine%20the%20local%20elementary%20class%20excursions%20to%20learn%20about%20Sicilian%20history!%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EFirst%20we%20saw%20a%20typical%20peasant%20or%20farm%20worker%E2%80%99s%20dwelling.%20It%20was%20tiny%20and%20very%20humble.%20I%20did%20not%20take%20any%20pictures%20of%20it,%20as%20it%20was%20quite%20crowded%20once%20we%20all%20packed%20in.%20The%20entrance%20to%20the%20dwelling%20is%20the%20picture%20on%20the%20left%20under%20the%20tree.%20After%20that%20we%20looked%20in%20at%20a%20few%20%E2%80%9Cshops,%E2%80%9D%20for%20example%20where%20the%20cobbler%20worked.%20We%20continued%20on%20the%20path%20in%20the%20lower%20left%20picture%20above%20to%20see%20the%20dwelling%20of%20what%20I%20thought%20of%20as%20mid%20level%20management%E2%80%93the%20overseer%20or%20manager%20of%20the%20farm,%20but%20not%20at%20all%20the%20owner.%20The%20kitchen%20in%20the%20above%20picture%20is%20from%20that%20dwelling.%20%20The%20laurel%20tree%20is%20from%20outside%20their%20dwelling.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EHiking%20from%20dwelling%20to%20dwelling%20was%20hot,%20and%20watching%20videos%20on%20how%20the%20people%20lived%20was,%20well%E2%80%A6%20not%20exactly%20un-interesting,%20but%20it%20certainly%20was%20not%20food!%20We%20were%20not%20really%20sure%20what%20all%20they%20wanted%20us%20to%20see.%20And%20that%20is%20why%20I%20no%20longer%20even%20remember%20what%20%E2%80%9Cbuilding%E2%80%9D%20we%20were%20in%20when%20they%20showed%20us%20all%20of%20the%20art%20made%20of%20agricultural%20%E2%80%9Cextras.%E2%80%9D%20The%20theme%20of%20course%20was%20not%20wasting%20anything,%20and%20hence%20we%20have%20this%20amazing%20cathedral%20made%20of%20straw.%20Or%20the%20picture%20in%20the%20collage%20of%20flowers%20made%20of%20dried%20beans.%20The%20straw%20cathedral%20was%20the%20real%20stunner%20of%20course.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EFrom%20the%20village%20we%20moved%20on%20to%20a%20farm%20in%20Ragusa%20where%20they%20made%20ricotta%20the%20traditional%20way.%20Needless%20to%20say%20I%20loved%20seeing%20that.%20They%20also%20had%20a%20gelateria%20with%20gelato%20made%20from%20the%20dairy%20their%20farm%20produced,%20as%20well%20as%20a%20restaurant%20where%20they%20served%20us%20some%20traditional%20Sicilian%20food.%20Finally!%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThe%20ricotta%20is%20made%20by%20heating%20cow%E2%80%99s%20milk%20with%20an%20equal%20amount%20(10%20kilos%20to%2010%20kilos%20in%20the%20above%20picture)%20ricotta.%20The%20previous%20ricotta%20is%20drained%20for%2045%20minutes%20before%20being%20mixed%20with%20the%20milk.%20The%20fire%20is%20only%20fueled%20by%20olive%20wood.%20It%20is%20heated%20to%2080%20C,%20or%20176%20F.%20We%20got%20to%20try%20the%20ricotta,%20as%20well%20as%20several%20other%20cheeses%20they%20produced.%20As%20sublime%20as%20the%20ricotta%20is,%20without%20any%20salt%20it%20tasted%20foreign%20to%20us%20plain.%20I%20think%20it%20is%20fair%20to%20say%20we%20liked%20things%20made%20with%20ricotta%20more%20than%20the%20ricotta%20plain.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EFrom%20there%20we%20moved%20to%20the%20restaurant.%20The%20most%20interesting%20dish%20to%20me%E2%80%93the%20one%20that%20really%20stands%20out%20in%20my%20memory%20and%20was%20very%20different%20from%20anything%20I%20have%20eaten%20anywhere%20and%20was%20also%20delightfully%20humble,%20i.e.,%20it%20was%20clearly%20something%20that%20your%20average%20Sicilian%20farmer%20ate,%20was%20the%20very%20bland%20looking%20warm%20ricotta%20straight%20from%20the%20pot,%20mixed%20with%20crusty%20bread%20pictured%20on%20the%20top%20right%20in%20the%20collage%20above.%20When%20they%20first%20served%20it%20to%20us,%20it%20was%20just%20the%20warm%20ricotta.%20At%20that%20point%20you%20could%20see%20us%20all%20trying%20to%20get%20a%20taste%20for%20it,%20trying%20to%20be%20polite%20but%20not%20really%20sure%20what%20we%20thought.%20The%20ricotta%20at%20this%20point%20is%20not%20salted.%20The%20gentleman%20serving%20us%20showed%20me%20how%20to%20rip%20my%20bread%20into%20it%20and%20then%20I%20enjoyed%20it.%20John%20and%20the%20kids%20not%20so%20much%E2%80%93it%20was%20that%20kind%20of%20homey,%20bland%20comfort%20food%20that%20can%20be%20hard%20to%20get%20a%20taste%20for%20if%20you%20have%20not%20grown%20up%20with%20it.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EWe%20were%20also%20served%20green%20olives,%20salami,%20and%20some%20layered%20dishes.%20I%20was%20not%20smart%20enough%20to%20write%20down%20what%20the%20layered%20dishes%20were%E2%80%93now%20I%20am%20guessing%20some%20kind%20of%20lasagne%20and%20some%20kind%20of%20eggplant%20dish.%20After%20that,%20gelato.%20And%20a%20photograph%20session%20with%20the%20cows%E2%80%93I%20won%E2%80%99t%20lie,%20there%20might%20have%20been%20some%20grouchiness,%20on%20both%20Sammy%E2%80%99s%20part%20and%20John%E2%80%99s%20and%20mine,%20that%20there%20was%20no%20livestock%20to%20interact%20with.%20After%20that%20they%20took%20us%20to%20a%20beach%E2%80%93where%20we%20walked%20around%20for%2030%20minutes%20or%20so.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EAll%20in%20all,%20the%20tour%20was%20not%20as%20promised%20and%20I%20would%20not%20recommend%20it.%20Having%20said%20that,%20I%20cannot%20regret%20any%20of%20it,%20and%20it%20certainly%20was%20interesting.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}