The last Europa Food Tour talked about the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which consisted of the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Sicily. In January 1848, the people of Palermo in Sicily revolted, expelling the army of the Kingdom of Naples and establishing a bourgeois provisional government, which opened the prelude to the Italian War of Independence. In the 19th century Sicily became the main center of the revolutionary movement, with constant uprisings. In 1860 Garibaldi organized the famous Thousand Men Army (Red Shirts) from Genoa, crossed the sea to Sicily to support the insurgents, liberated Sicily, and the following year Sicily was incorporated into the United Kingdom of Italy.
Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean, and the entire island is triangular in shape. The total area of the island is 25,700 square kilometers, 300 kilometers long from east to west, and 200 kilometers wide from north to south, and the terrain is mainly mountainous and hilly. The highest point of the island is Mount Etna, with the port of Palermo in the northwest corner, the port of Syracuse in the southeast corner, and the port of Messina in the northeast corner, separated by only a narrow Strait of Messina from the Italian city of Calabria, and the entire island is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Sicily occupies an important place in the Mediterranean commercial trade routes and has therefore been considered a strategically important place in history.
In World War II, the Allied invasion of Italy chose Sicily as a landing point. The Sicily landings were one of the largest landings of World War II, aimed at wiping out Axis naval and air forces on the island, freely allowing Allied ships to pass freely through the Mediterranean, and removing Mussolini from power to withdraw Italy from the war.
At the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, the U.S. and British heads of state decided to carry out the Sicily landings immediately after the Battle of Tunis, scheduled for July 10, 1943. In the summer, the Allies assembled a large number of troops in north African coastal ports to prepare for the Sicily landing operation plan code-named "Husky". General Eisenhower was the commander-in-chief of the campaign, and General Harold Alexander was in charge of the landing operations. The 15th Army Group under the command of General Alexander, under the command of the British 8th Army and the US 7th Army, a total of 13 divisions (including 10 infantry divisions, 1 armored division and two airborne divisions) 3 independent brigades, with a total strength of 478,000 people, more than 4,000 combat aircraft, and about 3,200 combat ships and auxiliary ships. The British 8th Army, commanded by Montgomery, was tasked with landing in the area southeast of the island from Silakusa to Paquino and then advancing toward Messina; the U.S. 7th Army, commanded by General Patton, was tasked with landing at the Gera to Licata section southwest of the island, cutting the enemy in half through the center of the island and eliminating the enemy forces in the northwest corner of the island.
Before the Allies made the landings, they carried out a plan of deception code-named "Meat Stuffing". A corpse that looked like a Allied staff officer, carrying documents about the attack on Sardinia and Greece, floated off the coast of Spain. Hitler, receiving information from German intelligence, misjudged where the Allies might land and transferred the main German forces to Sardinia and Greece. However, Marshal Kesselring, commander-in-chief of the Denan Front, still felt that the Allies were very likely to attack Sicily, so he sent the German Goering Panzer Division and the 15th Panzer Infantry Division to Sicily, strengthening the island's defenses. In June 1943, the Italian 6th Army, commanded by Italian General Guzzoni, defended Sicily, had nine Italian divisions and two German panzer divisions, with a total strength of about 255,000 men.
On 11 June 1943, in order to gain a forward base for an attack on Sicily, the Allies landed on Thera Between Sicily and North Africa on The Island of Banterelia, two days later took two more neighbouring islets, and 4,000 aircraft were dispatched three weeks before the landing to bomb the airfields and facilities in Calabria and Sicily day and night. On 1 July, the Allies gained air supremacy over Sicily and southern Italy, and 1,400 German-Italian aircraft withdrew to southern central Italy and Sardinia. On 5 July, the Allied attack fleet departed from six ports in North Africa, including Oran and Algiers, and carried troops to the island of Malta to rendezvous. At the same time, the British Navy dispatched large warships such as the aircraft carrier Invincible, the aircraft carrier HMS Intrepid, and 6 battleships to cover the attack fleet. Aircraft carriers also maneuvered in the direction of Greece to confuse the enemy.
On 9 July, allied fleets assembled on the east and west sides of the island of Malta. As the landings were ready, the weather suddenly changed, the wind was raging, and the waves were fierce, so the German and Italian troops let down their vigilance. At 2:40 a.m. on the 10th, the airborne troops launched the first attack, and 5,400 officers and men of the US 82nd Airborne Division and the British 1st Airborne Division set off from Tunisia in 366 transport planes and gliders and flew to Sicily. At 3:45 a.m., the 160,000-American and British landing force commanded by Patton and Montgomery landed in 3,200 warships and transport ships, under the cover of 1,000 aircraft, in the southwest and southeast of Sicily. The Morale of the Italians was low, and they gave up after only a weak resistance. By noon, Patton and Montgomery's forces had successfully landed on their respective target beachheads and maintained their attacking posture.
On 11 July, the Sicilian defenders, under the command of Lieutenant General Guzzoni, began a counterattack. The German 15th Panzer Division was transferred from the west of the island to the east coast to prevent Montgomery's British 8th Army from moving north to Augusta, while the German Goering Panzer Infantry Division and the Italian 2 Motorized Infantry Divisions counterattacked Patton's U.S. 7th Army. The German Air Force dispatched 481 aircraft to frequently bomb the Allied beachheads, and allied aircraft came to intercept them, causing a scuffle, and the Allied anti-aircraft weapons on the ground had to shell indiscriminately. The fierce fighting lasted a day, and the German tanks advanced almost to less than 2 kilometers from the BEACHhead position of the US 7th Army. Patton personally went to the front to command the Americans to fight back, and the navy also bombarded German tanks with heavy artillery fire. In the evening of the battle, the Germans lost a large number of tanks and were forced to retreat, and the Americans took advantage of the situation to capture the city of Jella. By 12 July, the British 8th Army to the east had also captured Syracuse.
The first German-Italian counterattack was unsuccessful. General Kesselring led his army through the Strait of Messina to Calabria, Italy, where troops were reinforced and mobilized to prevent the British 8th Army from threatening Messina; de Goering Panzer Division was transferred to Catania in the east; the German 1st Airborne Division also parachuted in Catania; the German 15th Panzer Division blocked the northward advance of the US 7th Army near Onna; and the newly transferred 29th Panzer Division was deployed southwest of Mount Etna. As a result, German and Italian forces built a strong defensive line from Onna to Catania.
On 13 July, Montgomery's 13th Army attacked Catania, and 145 Allied aircraft carrying 1,900 soldiers of the British 1st Airborne Brigade set out from Tunis to parachute into Catania in conjunction with the ground forces. The Germans put up stubborn resistance with the De Goering Panzer Division and the 1st Airborne Division, firmly controlling the coastal road from Catania to Messina. Montgomery's frontal attack was frustrated and forced to send the 30th Army around Mount Etna to attack Messina with the support of the US 7th Army. Patton led his troops into two routes, one was Bradley led the US 2nd Army to support the British in central Sicily, and the other was General Case led by a provisional army to take the Sicily capital of Palermo.
On July 22, the U.S. military took Palermo lightly. Montgomery, on the other hand, was in trouble in two important directions, his 13th Army was blocked in Catania, and the 30th Army, which was winding westward, was also hovering in the Adrano area—the British 6 divisions could not deal with the 3 German divisions and some Italian troops.
Barton and Bradley turned to assists to take Messina before Montgomery, and the march to Messina began here and became a race between the American and British armies. Bradley's 2nd Army, after capturing Petraria in the north, quickly turned east and attacked Messina along the North Coast Road. On 1 August, the U.S. Red Division, commanded by Allen, attacked Troina, but suffered heavy casualties. The Germans held on to Troyna and finally fought with the Americans for 7 days before withdrawing.
On 5 August, the British 8th Army finally captured Catania and began advancing along the East Coast Road towards Messina. The Germans fought and retreated, crossing the river and blowing up bridges along the way, laying tens of thousands of mines. On 10 August, German and Italian troops retreated to the vicinity of Messina, and since the Allies did not plan and operate to cut off the Strait of Messina, 40,000 German troops and 70,000 Italian troops completed the Dunkirk-style retreat to the Italian mainland in 6 days and 7 nights.
On the evening of 16 August, the vanguard of the US 3rd Division reached the city of Messina. At 6:30 a.m. the next morning, the American troops entered Messina, and at 10:30 a.m., Patton led a team of motorcycles into the city in a command car. An hour later, a group of British troops also entered the city. On the same day, all resistance on the island ceased and the Sicily landings ended.
The Allies occupied Sicily and from then on unimpeded movement in the Mediterranean, opening the door to landfall in Europe. This was followed by the Anglo-American Allied Italian Campaign to conquer all of Italy. The Sicily Landings were fought between the Anglo-American Allies and the German-Italian Axis, and in the ensuing Italian campaign, Italy sided with the Allies. The Battle of Italy became a battle against the Germans to liberate Italy.
On September 3, 1943, the Italian representatives secretly signed an armistice with the representatives of the Allies. After Mussolini stepped down, he was imprisoned at the Summit Inn of Grand Sasso. On 13 September, Hitler sent SS Lieutenant Colonel Serzeny to command a commando and rescue the imprisoned Mussolini by glider. Subsequently, with Hitler's support, Mussolini formed a puppet government of the "Italian Social Republic" in northern Italy to confront the Badoglio government.
On October 13, 1943, the Badoglio government officially announced its withdrawal from the Axis Alliance and declared war on Germany. At the same time, the British, American and Soviet governments successively issued declarations recognizing Italy as a joint fighter. A year after the war broke through the Gothic Line, the Allies transferred 7 elite divisions from the Italian battlefield due to the need to land in Western Europe, leaving the Italian battlefield in a state of silence.
In April 1945, the Allies and the Red Army on the Western Front simultaneously launched a powerful offensive against the German mainland, the German army was facing a total collapse, and the Italian battlefield was once again active. At the end of April, guerrilla uprisings broke out in northern Italy, and many cities were liberated. The guerrillas captured Mussolini and his mistress in Lake Como, who were trying to flee to Germany, and shot them to death before the Americans could arrive. On 29 April, the US 5th Army entered Milan and the British 8th Army entered Padua. On the same day, representatives of The Commander of the German Army Group C, Fitinhof, signed the Instrument of Unconditional Surrender in Caserta, which entered into force on 2 May. At this point, the Italian campaign was all over.
In 1946, Sicily gained regional autonomy and became the largest autonomous region in Italy. The main body of the Sicily region is Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean, and the surrounding islands of Ustica, Aeoli, Pantelleria, Egadi and Perage.
Sicily is mostly mountainous, with frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. Volcanic eruptions and major earthquakes in the late 17th century once destroyed much of eastern Sicily. Thanks to the financial support of the local aristocratic families, famous architects were used to rebuild the towns in the Baroque style that was popular at the time, and the towns became a highlight of the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Historic Catania is one of these towns. The seafood market in the center of the city is very famous, originating more than 700 years ago, and for 700 years it has been open every day, bustling with a variety of seafood. Many restaurants are gathered on this street, and you can go to the market to pick up all kinds of seafood that you have never seen before, and leave it to the chef to process in the restaurant.
As the largest island in the Mediterranean, Sicily greatly benefits from the sea, and seafood is the best gift of the sea.
The quality of Oysters in Sicily is not the best in the world, but they are eaten in a unique way: pry open the lid of oysters and cook them over low heat. Mix with champagne, fresh cream and white pepper and coat with oysters and heat for 3 minutes. End with a large spoonful of the freshest lemon juice...
Sea urchin is one of the "three flavors of Sicily". Parsley, lemon, olive oil and sea urchin yellow form the perfect Sicilian flavor.
Sea urchin pasta and bibimbap with sea urchins must be tasted.
Sicily is rich in sardines and people are also good at sardine dishes. Sardine rolls and sardine pasta are very special, and some people describe the texture of sardine pasta as "a wonderful interweaving of sweet in sour, sweet with fresh, fresh and fruity and salty".
Octopus salads are popular in Sicily and even Italy.
Tomato cheese anchovy italian sandwich.
Trapani-style tamales.
Seafood pasta is a must-eat.
Mount Etna on the island is the highest active volcano in Europe and is both a source of destruction and life in Sicily. The dust from the volcano is scattered around, and the rich minerals contained in the volcanic ash make the surrounding soil particularly fertile, which gives Sicily's agricultural products a unique flavor.
The world-renowned grape in addition to winemaking is the Sicilian blood orange. Blood oranges are native to the Mediterranean Sea and are now cultivated in many regions because of their high nutritional value. But in terms of nutritional value and farming history, it is still the Sicilian blood orange as the best product. The blood orange produced by this land is particularly blood red, it is petite but full and full, the skin is rough, and when cut, you can see the ruby color. This is because Sicily has the active mount Etna volcano, and the blood oranges grown under the nourishment of fertile volcanic ash are of better quality.
Sicily is one of the world's three major olive oil producers, and due to the fertile volcanic ash, Sicilian olives are different in taste from olive olives in other regions. The island is full of olive trees, olive fruits are all picked by hand, and then immediately transported to the factory to press oil, or to the workshop to make dried fruits and vegetables for sale.
The three major flavors of Sicily, except for sea urchins, which are seafood, the other two are crops – eggplant and pistachios.
Eggplant can be made into salads, mixed with noodles, and can also be baked.
Pistachios can be used in sauces, dishes and various desserts.
Speaking of desserts, Italian desserts are world-famous, and Sicilian desserts are naturally amazing ~ (the desserts in this article are not limited to Sicily)
The famous Tiramisu.
There is also the familiar Casata cake, which is actually a whey cheesecake originating in Sicily. Mix diced pumpkin or chocolate cubes with sweet fresh cheese, sandwich into a Spanish cake, make a crust with almond flour, garnish with a generous amount of powdered sugar, and finish with a wide variety of preserves and fruits.
Zuccotto dome cake that resembles the contents of Casa tower.
Sicily, which is full of sunshine all year round, has some of the best Italian smoothies.
Sicilian smoothies and sweet breads are Sicilian favourite breakfasts, hot sweet bread, plus handmade smoothies of different flavors, followed by a cream, cold, hot, sweet, refreshing, too good to eat.
It can also be ice cream with bread.
The gelato in Italy is a must. Italians don't recognize their ice cream as ice-cream, they must be called gelato (otherwise they won't sell it hahaha~).
Gelato adopts the traditional family handicraft workshop model, according to the personality and mood of the producer, the proportion of raw materials is randomly mixed, so that each gelato has its own personality, so it can be said that "there are no two gelatos exactly the same in the world". Gelato is made in full accordance with natural principles, using seasonal fruits, natural nuts, milk, eggs, etc., and even in addition to the moisture contained in the raw materials themselves, no more water is added to the production process.
When making gelato, the stirring speed is very slow, and there is less air in, so the texture is very dense and the taste is more delicate. But in fact, gelato mostly uses milk instead of cream, so its taste is both soft like cream and smooth and refreshing like milk.
Coupled with gelato's low-fat, low-sugar, low-calorie characteristics, it is not okay not to love.
Sicilian desserts are varied, and many desserts are inseparable from cheese.
For example, this famous canoir is also called cheese roll, cream roll or creamy pancake.
The traditional espresso rolls are fried at low temperatures and have a plain appearance, a crispy crust sprinkled with powdered fine sugar, filled with creamy and soft whipped cream and local ricotta ricotta cheese, which is sweet and crispy and popular.
Fancy deep-fried cheese rolls are made with lard, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, egg yolks, masala wine, cocoa powder and other ingredients, and when baked, chocolate beans, crushed nuts, diced candied fruits and candied pumpkins are decorated at both ends of the filling.
The brioche in Maria Grammatico's pastry shop in Iris is said to be the best in Sicily.
Maria Grammatico's pastry shop is also famous for its almond sweet ointment, but I don't say you can't tell it is – it's all kneaded into a variety of fruit shapes, even the colors are realistic.
There are Trapani fried crescent buns made with sweet goat's milk, Ricotta ricotta cheese and chocolate beans, sprinkled with powdered fine sugar when they are still hot.
Crescent buns and fresh cheese dumplings, small cuts are a bit indistinguishable.
In addition to pistachios, Sicilian almonds are also one of the specialties. Almonds produce 80% of all of Italy and are of the best quality in the world.
Sicily's almond milk puddings are enriched with cornstarch, which is more mellow and sweet but not greasy.
Born in the Middle Ages, the traditional dim sum almond shortbread is an almond-flavored hard biscuit made from a variety of dried fruits or nuts, which is crispy inside and out. Italians often dip it in after-dinner wine or coffee drinks, soak it a little softer before eating it.
Sweet chocolate sausages are a specialty of Sicily, which is filled with chocolate and biscuit crushes in the shape of a sausage, and is also sliced when eaten. Sometimes a small amount of rum or witch liqueur is added for a unique flavor.
Sabahon is an Italian dessert, or sweet sauce, made with a mixture of eggs, cream and liqueur. It can be eaten cup by cup, or poured on various fruits, can be eaten directly raw, and can also be slightly roasted. Thick and soft egg paste, the wine is rich in flavor, and it is even more caramelized after roasting.
Gelug jelly is naturally coagulated from boiled whipped cream, with a creamy texture and a rich creamy aroma, usually served with jam, melted chocolate or caramel, or even fruit, hazelnuts, etc.
Cinnamon sugar donuts for the Sicilian Carnival.
Very pocketed donut.
Square corn cakes, made with chickpeas and corn flour mixed with vanilla, filled with fragrant sauces, can be served with sandwiches, croquettes, feta cheese or lemon juice, small cuts I may choose to eat dry.
Delicious seven-tier cake.
The melaleuca pastry of the italian sandwich cheese looks like a crispy shell.
There is also espresso coffee that goes further south.
Sicily in movies is always blue, sunny, ancient and mysterious. Many people who have never been to Sicily, when they hear the name "Sicily", they will first think of "The Beautiful Legend of Sicily" and "The Godfather", and now they will think of "Aquaman".
The small town of Taormina, the main filming location for Aquaman and Aquamarine, is located on a hill in the east of Sicily, where you can enjoy the most beautiful scenery on the island.
Trapani in the northwest of Sicily is also the location of Aquaman, which is not only an important fishing port, but also preserves the ruins of Arab, Phoenician and Greek civilizations, that is, the temples and theaters seen in the film. The seawall where Neptune's father and mother parted is also here.
Trapani in northwestern Sicily is new compared to other towns. Most of the city's buildings were newly built after being blown up during the war.
"The Beautiful Legend of Sicily" is filmed in Syracuse, the square in front of the church of Syracuse, which makes people constantly replay the plot of the movie that makes people feel sad, and see the scene of the cold, sexy, charming and lonely and melancholy heroine Elena walking alone in the square.
Cefalù, where Cinema Paradiso was filmed, is the most charming seaside town in northern Sicily, backed by mountains and bordered by a crescent-shaped sandy beach and the Mediterranean Sea.
Palermo, where Godfather III was filmed, is the capital of Sicily.
Palermo's opera house is the first in Italy and the third in Europe, after Paris and Vienna, but Italian opera is the first in the world.
The royal box of the opera house has received countless dignitaries and celebrities, and the American movie "The Godfather" was also filmed here.
The Godfather's Bar is also a scene in the play.
The church where Michael and his first wife married, Chiesa di San Nicolò.
Did you think of the Italian mafia? This little cut is not popular science, search for encyclopedias yourself!
Located at the "crossroads" of the Mediterranean Sea, Palermo is very diverse in culture and food culture, full of street food, street barbecues and many delicious restaurants.
The famous Palermo beef offal, divided into two types. The lungs and spleen of the calf are cooked, thinly sliced, fried in lard and minced. Use sesame soft bread and cut open. The chopped beef offal is stuffed into the bread and smeared with Ricotta or Casivoka cheese, and it becomes maritatu. Without cheese and just sprinkle a little lemon, it is called schetttu.
Who says Sicily is blue? I think it's a delicious color~