FRUTTA DI MARTORANA

By Sara Rubino

How to make the mixture:

INGREDIENTS

500gr of ground almonds
500gr of icing sugar
4 drops of almond essence
 

1.  Put all the ingredients into a bowl
2.  Put a little lukewarm water into the bowl
3.  Mix with your hands all the ingredients which are in the bowl,until they become a
uniform mixture

How to make the fruit:

If you want you can buy some moulds and put into them your mixture oryou can mix with
your hands the mixture and give it the fruit's form:  apples,oranges, grapes, peaches and
other forms as you want.  At the end, colour the fruit with vegetablecolours.
 
 STORY

A long time ago in a Palermitan church (which still exists now) called"La Martorana", a
community of nuns was waiting for the visit of the Bishop.  Therewere a lot of trees
around the church and the convent, but it was autumn in that periodand the trees were
without fruit and with yellow, red and brown leaves.  So the nuns,to make the view more
beautiful for the Bishop, thought about hanging some 'fake' fruitson the branches.
So they made with some ingredients different lovely fruits and (wow!)they could eat them.
They coloured them and hung them on the branches.
 
 

Recipe 2
 
 

AUBERGINE (EGGPLANT) 'CAPONATA'

By Stefano Rotolo
 

Recipe for 5 aubergines

Method:

Cut them into big pieces and put them in a colander with salt.
Leave it for an hour to drain them.
After, dry them and put them in a big dish with 250gr of green oliveswithout their stones,
50gr of capers,  little pieces of celery, 2 big onions, chopped,2 tins of tomatoes and a lot of
olive oil.
Mix well and put it in the oven at 240'C for about 1 hour.
After half an hour, mix it again and then when the hour is gone, takethe big dish out of the
oven, make a hole in the mixture and put there 2 spoons of sugar and1 glass of vinegar
(even less).
Mix and put it again in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes.

HISTORY

When the Bourbons were reigning in Sicily, a lot of French cooks came. A boy of a French
cook saw a recipe with 'cappone' (which is a kind of chicken), olivesand tomatoes.
He came home and he told the recipe to his Mum, but his Mum said, "wecan't do this with
'cappone' because it is too expensive!"
She thought a minute and then she said, "why don't we do it with aubergines?"
This is the history of the 'Caponata'.