Sabrina and I are sitting on the shady terrace of Gourmet 32 in Taormina enjoying sublimely simple and delicious Spaghetti with Lobster & Chard, watched over by two of the largest ‘teste di moro’ we have ever seen.
Everything is somehow bigger and more beautiful here, from the oversized, bias cut white ceramic bowls in which our pasta is served, to the sunglasses and red-soled stilettos of the lunching ladies at the nearby tables picking at their salad leaves, and the lemons on the produce stand at the chic delicatezza around the corner. It’s easy to see why Ernest Hemingway allegedly said of this UNESCO World Heritage town, “It’s so pretty, it hurts to look”.
Taormina is in Sicily, but not of it, as its selection as the second location for the ‘rich people behaving badly’ TV show, ‘The White Lotus’ suggests. It feels rather like a privileged, pampered sliver of the Amalfi coast has somehow been transported to this island from the mainland. Each time we’ve visited here from our base in Catania, the area around the San Domenico Palace Four Seasons hotel has been cordoned off for the shoot and despite all the secrecy, it wasn’t too hard to get a bored security guard to let slip the identity of the show.
Like their Costa Amalfitana cousins do with Mt Vesuvius, Taormina’s hilltop sybarites live in the shadow of a massive active volcano and nowhere, unless you ride the narrow gauge railway from Catania which circumnavigates Mt Etna, does that looming, smoking presence feel closer. Curious to experience the ‘Ferrovia Circumetnea’ ourselves instead of taking our usual fast train, we joined a bunch of commuters at the tiny station of Catania Borgo, and after fuelling up at the station café on chocolate and pistachio croissants, boarded the two carriage 1960s vintage train for the 110 kilometre three hour trip to Riposto, which is just a few stations on the main coastal line south of Taormina.
Stopping literally every few minutes to drop off and pick up locals, this plucky little train switchbacks its way across an incredible variety of agricultural landscapes between the lava fields of previous eruptions. Prickly pears and orange groves in the western foothills around Blancavilla give way to the justly famed almond and pistachio orchards of Bronte, the vineyards around Passopisciaro and finally to citrus and palm groves, as the train makes its final few stops before the coastline. Etna has at least as many faces as its five craters, with increasing snow cover as you head northwards to Randazzo and massive vapour trails to the east and south, while sometimes its 11,000 foot bulk seems alarmingly close to the small towns and villages we pass through. I can only assume it must be worth the risk, as this volcanic rich soil yields the finest produce and arguably the finest wines, on this famously fertile island.
Even outside of the summer season, the main shopping street of Corso Umberto is not for the faint of heart, Sabrina’s love of Elisabetta Franchi’s store not withstanding. So after our lunch we go for a stroll in the Villa Communale Botanical Gardens to take in the spectacular views of the bay far below. This lovely garden with its eccentric, M.C. Escher-like follies with their staircases to nowhere, is one of two laid out by one of late Victorian England’s great characters, Florence Trevelyan, who settled in Taormina after being banished to the continent from Queen Victoria’s court for having an affair with Edward VII, then Prince of Wales (her other garden is on tiny ‘Isola Bella’ right by the town’s beach).
The winds are too high today for the cable car which you can take down to the beach, (and we are feeling far too indolent for the half hour hike down the steep hill), so we decide to finally brave the crowds and visit the strikingly set 3rd Century BC Greek theatre which shares the same spectacular grandstand view of Etna and the Ionian Sea with the stratospherically pricey Grand Hotel Timeo, which is literally next door (apparently a favourite haunt of that other orange-skinned politician of a certain age, Silvio Berlusconi).
It’s no accident that the two most expensive meals we’ve had in the month we’ve spent on this island have been in Taormina, but like everything here while the cost may be high by Sicilian standards, the quality of the local ingredients is unmatched. Enjoy a spremuta (freshly squeezed orange juice) or a lemon granita and it will likely be the finest you have tasted anywhere. So it was at La Cisterna del Moro on our final visit. Sabrina and I both love Spaghetti alla Puttanesca and were surprised to find it on a menu so far from mainland Naples. We shouldn’t have been of course, as this island was part of the Kingdom of Naples for six centuries.
Spaghetti alla Puttanesca: Serves Three
3 tbsp olive oil
4 anchovies
4 cloves garlic
20 black olives
10 large capers
1 tsp crushed chili pepper
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 lb gluten free spaghetti
Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water until al dente. While the spaghetti is cooking heat the oil in a large skillet, add the garlic and the anchovies. Cook until the anchovies have broken down into a paste, add the chilis and cook for 2 minutes (stand back as the chilis are cooking because the fumes may catch in your throat), then add the tomatoes, olives and capers. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and the tomatoes have become mushy; at this point put the drained spaghetti into the sauce and toss, coating all the strands of the spaghetti. Taste, adding seasoning if necessary.
Unwilling to catch too early a train back to Catania we bar crawl and dawdle our way back down Corso Umberto and while Sabrina pays a final visit to Elisabetta Franchi, I simply look up beyond the luxury goods stores to the beauty that lies above.
Such an evocative piece. Nothing like a rambling local train ride to make you feel you are OF the country, not just IN it.
"Taormina is in Sicily, but not of it, as its selection as the second location for the ‘rich people behaving badly’ TV show, ‘The White Lotus’ suggests.
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I'd add a corollary : Excellent as it was, TWL was a show set IN Italy, but wasn't ABOUT the country. Rather, it was a brilliant satire of the imaginary Italy that exists in the minds of English-speaking tourists.
Also: HOORAY FOR PUTTANESCA! 😋
Any reccos on a wine pairing? When I make it, I usually go with nero d' Avola, but I'm open to others, as long as they're geographically appropriate.
A great overview of a beautiful part of the planet!