Sicilian cuisine is a harmonious blend of the best culinary traditions of Italy, Spain, Greece, and Arab countries. The cuisine of Catania is considered one of the richest and most delicious in Sicily.
Here, they love rice, legumes, vegetables, spices, dried fruits, seafood, and cheeses. Well-known dishes include octopus, shrimp, and shellfish salad, marinated shellfish with olive oil and lemon, mussels, salted anchovies (anciovi), braised seaweed with lemon (mauru), jellied meat (zuzzu), blood sausage (sangeli). When you visit Catania, you must also try arancini - small rice balls with various fillings, and of course, the local pizza - it is simply incomparable here! However, there are a couple of dishes that are the pride of Catania.
Pasta alla Norma - a traditional dish consisting of pasta seasoned with tomatoes and topped with fried eggplant, salted ricotta, and basil. It has been known in Italy since the 19th century. The five ingredients of the dish are quite symbolic: representing the tricolor flag of Italy (fresh green basil, white pasta, and red tomatoes) and the blue-white slopes of Mount Etna (eggplants and ricotta).
Cassata di Sant'Agata - a Catania dessert and one of the symbols of the annual celebration in honor of the city's patron saint. Cassata has the shape of a woman's breast and is made from a special sponge cake batter, which includes traditional Sicilian spices (marzipan and green aromatic almonds). The filling is made from ricotta cheese with the addition of chocolate and candied fruit. The finished cake is soaked in liqueur, covered with white sugar glaze, and decorated with crystallized cherries.
