Food & Wine

This generous and warm land, full of history flavours and scents attracts food & wine lovers from all over the world increasing this type of tourism.

Gastronomic speaking, in Ragusa’s area, like in all Sicily, is possible to taste typical dishes of the Mediterranean diet, theme of the Expo 2015, recognised from the Unesco Intangible Humanity Cultural Heritage. The flavours and the scents are those from earth and sea, thanks to centuries of exchanges between different cultures and traditions; we find Greek, Arab, Spanish and other oriental culture dishes. The Hyblean traditional food is poor, natural and prepared with fresh ingredients and aromatics herbs.

The old farm scattered all over the Hyblean upland are the historic sites of this extraordinary production. The Greeks handed down: the art of making wine, extracting from pure grapes like “Nero D’Avola” and “Frappato”; blue-fish, meat and legumes dishes; honey and almonds desserts like “giggiulena” (nougat prepared with sesame seeds, honey and flavoured with thin orange skin). The Arabs, who were expert pastry chef, handed down typical Christmas sweets like “mucatuli” (“s” shaped biscuits stuffed with dry fruit). The Spanish handed down ingredients of the modern dishes, like tomatoes, eggplants and artichokes, planted in vegetable garden surrounded by high walls.

Ragusa’s area allows traditional products: the extra virgin oil, called the “prince”, harvested by hand; the most precious wine in Italy, “Cerasuolo di Vittoria” the only DOCG in sicily; the inimitable “caciocavallo or Ragusano” cheese, marked PDO (the most noble in Europe); wheat and barley to produce delicious home made bread. Last but not less important, the vast choice of ice-cream and granite (water ice), typical sweets like nougat, snow flakes and Modica’s chocolate (rooted in old Aztec’s recipes).