Joe Ray

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Spreadable Springtime

Ciccio Sultano looks and acts a like a grown-up version of one the kids from the Sicilian version of “The Little Rascals.” Built like a stubby-fingered butcher who roams the streets in a driver’s cap, he is Sicily’s chef of the moment; his restaurant, Il Duomo, which is only steps away from the real thing in the heart of Ragusa Ibla, has recently been awarded its second Michelin star.

Yesterday, Francesco and I went to see Ciccio to drop off a small crate of green almonds. Right now, they’re a beautiful fuzzy green and, not to mix nuts, but they’re about the size of a walnut right now.

Sultano, who gets his ‘regular’ almonds from Francesco’s family farm, has a bit of an almond fetish.

“I used to steal the green ones as a kid,” he says, flashing his trademark boyish grin. I can understand why; I’ve been known to steal a few from a neighbor’s tree at the edge of Francesco’s family farm. (Is it really stealing if they’re hanging over your friend’s property?)

Green almonds have very peculiar flavors. Right now, the “nut” in the center is white, slightly gelatinous and tastes a bit like cucumber water. The green outside is bitter, a well-loved flavor characteristic here, and quite vegetal, but nibbling one or two in the middle of a field makes for a perfect way to connect with the world around you.

“This isn’t something you sell - It’s for the emotion it gives to people. I give these to people from abroad who don’t know what the real thing is like,” says Sultano. “I just gave one to one of my apprentices â€“ he didn’t believe you could eat it whole.”

“It’s something extraordinary in Sicily,” he says pulling out his menu and opening to the dessert page. “Out of five desserts, three have almonds.”

This makes sense â€“ almonds are a huge crop here and have been for over 1,000 years. They show up in everything from main courses to ice creams, cookies and “pasta reale” - marzipan “fashioned to look like anything but almonds,” writies Robin Goldstein on Fodor’s.com. Today, I saw them shaped to look like apples, sugar cane andâ€¦a ham sandwich.

On the non-sweet side, his Sicilian Pesto features almonds and it’s grand stuff.

As an 11 a.m. thank you to Francesco, Sultano lines us up at the bar, slathers up some of his own bread with the bright green goodness, sprinkles salt and a few bits of sun-dried tomatoes over the top, drizzles some olive oil onto it from a great height, then pours three glasses of red wine.

It’s like green, spreadable spring on toast. Wiping the olive oil from my chin, I ask if he’s interested in the almonds health benefits that seem to be all the rage in the United States right now.

â€I don’t care. People in Europe, we don’t go crazy for products for their health qualities,” he says. “The quality of the raw materials is what’s important. To me, presenting products like these is the best way to respect my clients.”

This is Joe Ray reporting from the Motherland.