Sicilian Life

Our arrival into the established olive, citrus and vegetable growing area of Monasteri, about 20 minutes by car from Syracuse, engendered interest amongst the local people. We felt welcomed. It was amongst our first contacts that we were given the ‘fresh olive oil experience’ during the olive harvest soon after our arrival.

Unlike other regions of Italy there has not been an influx of people from other European countries to Sicily, especially to the agricultural areas.
Despite the fact that Danilo is originally from the Veneto region of Italy, near to Venice, and I am originally from Sydney, Australia, we came to Syracuse after 16 years in London, and therefore are collectively called ‘gli Inglesi’ – the English..

The other adjective regularly applied to us is ‘sempre al lavoro’ – always working. This one is true.

Our backgrounds are diverse – Danilo’s early life in both Northern Italy and Australia in the cultivation of fruit trees, prior to later qualifications in Building. And mine a full time career in Nursing. But always a shared passion in horticulture.

There is still much to do here as our younger olive trees, the Nocellare and Tonda Iblei cultivars, continue to grow and produce. Our old olive trees, the Moresca and Siracusane which border the property, continue to respond to a little more cultivation, water and organic composting than they previously experienced.

Happily we are now able to be as generous to our Sicilian friends as they have continued to be to us since our arrival. They come to us for olive oil when their family supply has run out – usually at the end of summer. This is for us a great accolade.

(I nearly forgot to tell you! We make great red Cab Sauv., Syrah & Nero d'Avola wine, and sweet ' Moscato di Siracusa' white dessert wine. Bottles are opened for guests of course!)

A Recipe For True Contentment - The Sicilian Way!

Take: one autumn morning’s olive picking in early to mid October
Add: the aroma of freshly pressing olives at the ‘frantoio’ around midday
Easily obtain: one loaf of freshly baked Sicilian bread - from a wood fired oven
Drizzle generously: the freshly pressed olive oil over the fresh bead
Enjoy in the Sicilian Sunshine: with equally enthusiastic Sicilian friends
Add a little controversy: and enjoy an amicable argument (in Dialect) as to which olive/s produce the best olive oil. See the answer later!