A quest to find restaurants with matriarchs in charge has stops in Sicily, New Orleans and London

Inspired by my Greek granny’s delicious recipes, I set out four years ago with my friend and fellow cook Iska Lupton to write Grand Dishes, a book of recipes and stories collected from grandmothers around the world.  And we can now reveal some of the best foodie spots that have truly great grandmothers at the … Read more

Chemicals in medieval containers hint at Islamic Sicily WINE trade

It was unlikely that the residents of Islamic Sicily drank alcohol, but that didn’t stop them being involved in a possible thriving wine trade, according to a new study. Chemical residues of grapes found in medieval containers from Sardinia and Pisa led researchers from the University of York to speculate on how they were used. … Read more

Chemical residues of grapes in medieval containers hint at a thriving WINE trade in Islamic Sicily

It was unlikely that the residents of Islamic Sicily drank alcohol, but that didn’t stop them being involved in a possible thriving wine trade, according to a new study. Chemical residues of grapes found in medieval containers from Sardinia and Pisa led researchers from the University of York to speculate on how they were used. … Read more

Boy walks 1,700 miles for 93 days from Sicily to London to hug his gran

A boy of 11 spent 93 days walking 1,700 miles from Sicily to London with his father so he could give his grandmother a special lockdown cuddle.    Schoolboy Romeo Cox set off from Palermo on June 20 with his father Phil, 46, on a journey through Italy, Switzerland and France. The pair fought off a … Read more

The Allies’ capture of Sicily in 38 days was the beginning of the end for Third Reich

HISTORY   SICILY ’43 by James Holland (Bantam £25, 640 pp)  Sicily was a tough nut to crack for the Allied forces from Britain, Canada and the U.S., who landed on the enemy-occupied Mediterranean island in the blistering summer of 1943. They came from fighting Rommel’s tanks on the wide open deserts of North Africa to … Read more

The REAL star of TV’s Montalbano: How Sicily is even more charismatic than the show’s leading man

Sicily may be awash with Unesco World Heritage Sites (seven, including Mount Etna) but the unspoilt south-eastern shores of this Mediterranean island have a more contemporary appeal thanks to the success of fictional detective Inspector Montalbano. Jumping from the pages of Sicilian author Andrea Camilleri’s best-selling novels and inspired by his homeland, the TV adaptation … Read more

Private island off the coast of Sicily hits the market for less than £1.7million 

Private island off the coast of Sicily with a 17th century watch tower hits the market for £1.7million Isola delle Femmine is an uninhabited, wild 37-acre atoll, almost 1,000 feet from the mainland of Sicily  It is located within a protected Italian marine park that is a hit with both scuba divers and snorkellers  Island … Read more

Discovering south-east Sicily, an architectural wonder

Wherever your travels lead in southeast Sicily, you’re never far from 1693. The earthquake of January that year destroyed more than 70 cities, killing some 60,000 people —including two-thirds of the population of Catania. Which makes the Baroque cities, built with such nerve and verve following the quake, so awe-inspiring — both from an architectural … Read more

Coronavirus spreads to the SOUTH of Italy as illness hits Sicily

Italy has confirmed its first case of coronavirus in the south after a holidaymaker from the north fell sick while visiting Sicily with her husband and friends. The 66-year-old woman, from Bergamo, travelled to the Sicilian capital of Palermo on Friday morning before her home region of Lombardy was put on lockdown following a surge … Read more