I’m exploring Sicily’s unseen plant-based food. Get ready for a food tour around the island to experience traditional Italian dishes you might have never heard about before. 🇮🇹
This is Vegan Cultures, a series where I explore traditional plant-based food from around the world. Huge thanks Seggiano for showing us how ancient grain pasta is produced, and to@SlowFoodInt and Meatless Monday for supporting this show. Thanks also to @MircoManninoInViaggioconTe from Go Ask a Local for taking us to see the process of making Frutta Martorana.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
01:02 Semolina
04:01 Lolli con Fave
09:37 Seggiano Ancient Grain Pasta
12:59 Pasta con I Tenerumi
14:43 Almonds
21:16 Frutta Martorana
27:57 Biancomangiare
29:29 Maccu di Fave
Find all the food spots here (mobile only):
https://link.stepyourworld.com/hermann
We’re kicking things off at an old mill, where ancient grain durum wheat is milled into semolina, the flour that is used for pasta and bread.
We’ll then see how the semolina flour is turned into fresh pasta for Lolli con fave, a traditional dish of pasta with fava beans, and Cavatelli alla Norma, cavatelli pasta with a tomato sauce and fried aubergines.
There’s one more stop to the pasta journey, because I’m learning how ancient grain pasta is produced on a slightly larger scale and that it is usually made without egg.
Afterwards, I’m visiting a small restaurant to taste a secret Sicilian dish, pasta con i tenerumi, which you can only find for a short period of the year in summer.
In the middle of the countryside of Noto, I’m visiting an almond farm to see how Slow Food Presidium almonds are grown biodynamically/without intervention. We’re then turning the Romana almonds into freshly squeezed almond milk.
In Scicli, the almond theme continues. Here, at a small Dolceria, almonds are turned into a traditional Sicilian sweet, Frutta Martorana. These days, it’s rarely bought by locals, and thus either used by the Dolceria to display in their windows or to be given as a gift, because it’s nice to look at. The flavour is however quite sweet because of the large amount of sugar that is added. Locals prefer the almond pasta, pasta di mandorla, which is less sweet, and a little cheaper.
I am then visiting one of Sicily’s famed caffès to try a lesser known dessert called Biancomangiare, which is almost entirely made from almond milk.
And finally, I’m visiting a Slow Food restaurant close to Mount Etna, to taste three traditional Sicilian dishes. Pasta con trunzu, Maccu di fave and Caponata.
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Let me know in the comments which country I should visit next and what kind of dishes I might find!
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Thanks for watching!
24 Comments
Love the full length videos! Have gotta get to sicily soon. I think it is worth noting that many people with medical issues with gluten (celiac, of course being the main one) have no benefit at all from flour with "less" or "more easily digestible" gluten. This is in fact a bit of a toxic myth, as it misinforms people about how gluten intolerance actually works and can lead to poor communication about what is and isn't safe to eat.
This is so good never had an idea Italy would have vegetarian street food 😊
Hey there
The dishes are so simple but so healthy and good. You show that being a vegan is not a trend but something which we had from a vey long time. The time and patience you have and take to bring out these recipes and techniques are incredible. You appreciate all the efforts that has been done to get a simple looking dish. The nature always gives us alternatives for what we cannot eat. The way you say nothing is veganised but natural plant based food shows how its always a patt of our lives.
Appreciating your efforts to bring out these.
All the very best for your steps you are gonna take ahead.
I'm Sicilian, from Palermo, you have to try the pasta soup with tenerumi and broken spaghetti and the pasta with cabbage (tronzo) soup I love them even they are eaten in summer
I realy like the videos you share ,and the food is also very good….thank you very much for all this👌👌👌👍👍👍😉😉❤️❤️❤️❤️
♥️♥️😍😍👍
Been soooo, looking forward to the next instalment of your series and it didn't disappoint! Thank you so much! Time to experiment with recipes at home!
Will you have some recipes soon, for home made vegan pasta?
I'm loving this series – not only am I learning about new vegan recipes, but getting to practice my Italian comprehension! <3
Great. I was getting fed up with the shorts no matter how good they were, good to c u posting videos, especially like this one. Keep it up.
Bravo! Thanks for this excellent documentary.
I love the length and content of this video. Enjoyed seeing the factory grinding semolina. Never knew. Watching dishes being made, so good! Thank you.
You are such a fantastic presenter! Another wonderful video! Thank you so much!
Lovely videos. Great quality and a lot of soul! But you said there – honey isn't vegan. I understand the premise, that living organisms (bees) processed it. If so, then, by that logic, leavened bread and other fermented produce like sauerkraut, kombucha or wine shouldn't count as vegan. Even worse – you eat those living organisms, which do the fermentation.
Thank you! That is what vegan food should be about: finding traditional recipes from cultures, which preserved it. I've always wondered where the traditional vegan food recipes are, and then I found this channel! You don't need to invent vegan recipes around non-vegan dishes. In every part of the world, wherever there's agriculture, there are recipes, tested throughout the generations. Tasty and sustainable.
I loving the series ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
i grew up with occasional treats of fruit shaped marzipan. now i share my love of marzipan with the next generations of my family.. i just no longer have access to the fruit/decorated ones
I love this kind of series! Love your content
I really enjoyed this, I'm a big believer that in the rush to recreate vegan options of everything, we are overlooking the traditionally vegan foods and meals that have been or are being eaten across the world.
Shane that pasta mill used silk and the shellac coating the marzipan sweets
That lolli con fave looks absolutely incredible. (Not that Italian food doesn't always looks great!) Am envious of your linguistic fluency, Hermann. Your English is flawless. Have you spent time either in the UK, or in the States? Are you living in Italy now? What a good life you've made for yourself. (EDIT: Found your website and read your bio. Ignore my question about your flawless English! 😁)
I've been waiting for this episode, the truth is that I'm delighted with the content. I realize that the saying "eating meat is cultural" is a fallacy. Because our cultures in relation to food were in harmony with nature, perhaps that is why they enjoyed good health. Thank you for sharing this great adventure with us. A kiss and a hug. ❤
I just discovered your channel and I instantly had to subscribe! I love your content, and all things plant based! 💖
As a vegan and son of Italian, this was a supreme trip🪷🙏🏻💙💜
Pehli baar baigan ko pasta mein jatey dekha itna ajeeb laga 😂😂