Grains of history. Couscous and multiculturalism - West of Sicily

Grains of history. Couscous and multiculturalism

Food & Wine

EXPLORE

The west of Sicily is a land of multiculturalism. You can sense it at first sight, first smell and first impression here, in the ancient land of the Elymians.

If you head south, towards the island’s coastline that overlooks the Sicilian Sea, you can wander through the narrow streets of Sicily’s only Medina, in Mazara del Vallo, home to the most famous Satyr in the Mediterranean, the graceful Dancing Satyr.

On this voyage of discovery into the multicultural roots of this area, culinary traditions convey their profound essence, and you can’t miss the experience of the preparation of the dish that epitomises the coming together of peoples and cultures: couscous

The “incocciata” of couscous is a real culinary ceremony, a practice that involves a distinctive rhythm of gestures and words.  The wheat semolina – poured into the mafaradda with a little salt water – begins to be transformed into a symbolic dish through various stages and steps, which is strictly seasoned with fish broth.

Here, the preparation of couscous is pure ritual: skilful hands bring out all the multicultural flavour of this traditional dish with their circular movements, each grain a story, interweaving knowledge and flavours to create an experience that is not to be missed when visiting this part of the world!