Monday, May 24, 2010

Something new

Siracusa, May 24, 2010—

OUR LANDLORD RECOMMENDED a restaurant in Ostigia, and walking through that beautiful and entrancing old town this morning we looked in and thought it promising. At a table on the terrace overlooking the harbor we shared melon and prosciutto, then spaghetti siracusana (which is very like Palermo's Spaghetti con le sarde, involving fish, raisins, pine nuts, but in this case basil rather than fennel).

We went on to different secondi, however: Lindsey chose roast squid; I asked for the involtini. These turned out to be really quite wonderful:

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dumpling-like pasta shells filled with a paste of ground almonds and swordfish, flavored with who knows what herbs. This bears looking into.

Afterward, there being no more tiramisu, a little parfait of — almond paste, robed with a beautiful but oddly inedible chocolate sauce that tasted fishy. An error in the kitchen, no doubt about it; errors happen. We scraped it off and gladly ate the parfait. I don't mind almonds with my fish, but I draw the line at fish with my almonds.

"Bianco Sicilia tipica"

•Ristorante La Terrazza, via via Picherali 10, Siracusa; tel. 0932 1840 831; www.laterrazzaristorante.com

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