“One of the greatest combinations of pasta and fish,” according to (the also great) Anna del Conte, the flavours of this Sicilian speciality reflect the turbulent history of Italy’s south. In her book Two Kitchens, Rachel Roddy tells the story of the ninth-century Byzantine commander Euphemius of Messina who, feeling peckish after landing near Marsala, tasked his cooks with making dinner from what they could find to eat there. “The hillside provided them with wild fennel, raisins and pine nuts, the sea with fish … a pleasing legend,” Roddy concludes, “which, whether true or not, ties the dish to a place and time, and reminds us of the riches that once thrived – and still thrive – in Sicily.”
The use of fruit and saffron suggests the culinary influence of the north Africans who displaced the Byzantines, but whoever’s responsible, they should be thanked for a flavour combination that Elizabeth David records as “discordant but exciting” – the perfect description for this deeply aromatic dish.
