Barking dogs with muddy paws was a highlight of the week. We visited Filippo a local shepherd and third generation cheesemaker and a hoard of milky white puppies could be seen up the hillside. Four month old lambs were eating in a barn paying no attention to us and a tank of fresh milk was heating up ready to be made into pecorino and ricotta. His large skilled hands skimming the milk or cutting the curd along with his smile reminded me of another charming dairyman, Dave Heidel. It’s so satisfying to watch an artisan at work and watching Filippo was no different. Just until recently he was milking his 340 sheep by hand but it was too much work for him, his son Enzo, and a Romanian worker and they upgraded to a machine. But he does all the cheesemaking himself selling at the cheese markets, restaurants, and directly to customers.

We took some of his fresh ricotta back to Case Vecchie where I made (and ate my first!) cannoli. We cut the sugar in third from a traditional Sicilian recipe and I couldn’t imagine it much sweeter. It was divine!

Friday we took a little bus trip to Caltanissetta and visited a third generation candy shop and helped make toffees and nougats that are Slow Food certified which means, in part, they source their ingredients (honey, almonds, pistachios,..) from Sicily. I was fascinated to learn that these two sisters stick to the family recipes with a little bit of imagination and also that they’re happy to let a gang of hungry and eager students jump in, put on a hair net, and pretty much go loose in the laboratory. It was delicious and fun.

Now on to Catania for the weekend to enjoy the sun, catch a glimpse of Etna, and the feast of their patroness Sant’Agata.