White Almond Sicily

The Sicilians love for all things sweet has ancient roots and in antiquity honey on the island was prized for sweetening local produce.  When the Arabs arrived in Sicily in the ninth century they brought sugar cane, crystallized fruit and other delicious goodies such as sugared almonds. They also left much more than sugary traces behind in the form of stunning architecture and flavoursome cuisine.  The sugar cane industry flourished in Sicily until the late fifteenth century when, with the discovery of the New World, the sugar plantations moved across the Atlantic. The Sicilian sugar industry responded to foreign competition but survived only until the late seventeenth century.  When in Sicily one look in the window of a Sicilian pasticceria will make you forget any thoughts of the so called Mediterranean diet. The sweetness of nuts and sugar seem to waft in the air and lure you inside like a child in a candy shop.  Amongst other delicious produce that our fertile volcanic land provid

Last year marked the 80th anniversary of the Allied Invasion of Sicily during World War II codenamed Operation Husky.  The battle for Sicily is an extraordinary story ... The Allied Invasion of Sicily was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island in July 1943 and took control of Sicily from the Axis powers (Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It began with a large amphibious (by sea) and airborne operation, followed by a six week land campaign. The 38 day battle for Sicily was one of the most dramatic of the entire Second World War and the island acted as a strategic stepping stone to Hitler's fortress Europe.  To divert some of the Axis forces to other areas, the Allies engaged in several deception operations, the most famous and successful of which was Operation Mincemeat. Operation Husky began on the night of 9th/10th July 1943 and ended on the 17th August the following  month. Strategically Operation Husky achieved the goals set out for it by t