Day 8: Cerda (3rd night)

 IF READING ON YOUR PHONE, TILT SIDEWAYS FOR THE BEST VIEW:)

September 25, 2023: This would be our last day in the north/central area of Sicily and we wanted to venture out of the coastal areas. I think there is a tendency when traveling in Sicily to stay along the coastal routes so seeing some inland villages sounded different and appealing. 

We had another leisurely breakfast at the B&B. Our fellow travelers were all different people today. With

the tables set up for pairs, there isn't much mingling in conversation with others, but there were more British travelers on this particular morning. 

How to chose a central village to visit...Well, we didn't want to drive more than 1 hour south so that narrowed down the choice! We picked Castellana Sicula which was about a 45 minute drive on what turned out to be some beautiful farmland roads (see video for a short segment). As we wound down into the village and entered the streets, there was a feeling of understanding as to why people might want to live here. Tucked away just an hour from the coast, it seemed the perfect location for small town camaraderie and seclusion while still having accessibility to more metropolitan areas. 

Unlike many places in the U.S., I doubt many of these townspeople 'commute to work' outside of this area. They are mainly small business owners, farmers and blue collar workers who thrive locally.  What a concept! This was actully the first spot on the trip that I chose to finally have a gelato, and as it turned out, a cannoli :) We wandered the streets and randomly chose a place for lunch that had minimal signage but looked like some authentic Sicilian food could be had.

Oh how right we were. Now, the farther you get from the coastal towns, the less English tends to be spoken, but it's okay. The owner behind the counter was very nice and with a little help from Google Translate we had some salami and cheese coming our way. The plan to was to just have something small like that, but upon finishing, his big smile, nodding head and salesmanship (can I call it that when we couldn't understand what he was saying?) moved us to give in and say 'You decide!' He pointed to himself, smiled, nodded and went off to the stove where he started preparing some fresh pasta and sauce. It smelled so amazing, but we weren't the least bit hungry! -- Oh, and 2 local guys sitting at a nearby table were taking in this whole ignorant display and clearly joking with the owner about how lucky he got with us!

Of course, we ate regardless of appetite and I will tell you, it was AMAZING. It was a sausage based sauce with the underlying sweetness that seems common not only in many Sicilian red-sauces, but in other meat and fish courses. We loved it and so fresh! I think he was surprised when we absolutely refused a 'secondi' (second course), but he did bring out some cannoli, regardless. Love this guy! Oh, and I jokingly asked for the recipe and he greed! He asked for Tom's phone and began speaking into the Google Translate, but his rapid manner of speech clearly overwhelmed the app and the recipe still remains a mystery. I suppose it was just meant to be cherished in memory. 

With our goal for the day complete, and then some, we headed back to the B&B. That was a late lunch and with no intention of more food on our horizon, headed to the actual town of Cerda for the evening. 

So deceptively light!

Our B&B is near the town, but we hadn't actually visited with so many other spots on the agenda. Our initial route was not the brightest choice. It was getting dark and the country back-road was pockmarked with deep potholes and wide ravines from rain runoff. The seemingly short route took quite some time and would absolutely not be repeated on the drive back!

La Casa dei Sapori, owner

Cerda was a general disappointment with the only fascinating take-away being a spot along the main town road that was teaming with local middle aged, serious-looking guys. It was dark and they sat or stood outside under the artificial lights in groups, talking amongst themselves, but also staring at us. I got the distinct sense that staring back might not be advisable so I took them in peripherally while increasing my pace. I don't know, something seemed off, but whose to say? Could have been just a nightly gathering of guys who don't appreciate the ever-intrusive American tourists invading their space!

Well, we decided we were a little bit hungry at this point and headed back to find the local pizza place that our hosts had told us about. This is when we learned that 'pizza place' was not meant to convey just pizza, but that they serve a good pizza, and dry-aged steaks and fresh fish and pasta and the most lovely desserts on a rolling display cart I've seen in some

time...It was a good spot and so nice inside which you'd never guess from the lack of signage and dilapidated outside appearance. We SO wish we'd known about it earlier! The other patrons were well-dressed and it was packed for 10pm with more people just arriving. 

We ordered a drink and then decided on what seemed that it might be a rather basic pizza of tomato and anchovies. My friends, this pizza was probably the best one I've had in years. Depicted here, the sauce tasted like the anchovy was blended into it and, topped with some thin onion and light tomato, had a perfect salty and savory flavor that I'm sad I may never find again!

This finished our final night in Cerda and we would be off to the west coast of Sicily in the morning --- Ciao!

Sicilian Cassata