“Sicilian novels and memoirs that speak of food are more important to me than cookbooks,” says Mary Taylor Simeti, a grande dame of the vibrant Sicilian kitchen and culture.  “Sicily’s culture, including its food, is a magnificent melting pot, an accumulation of contributions from all the various civilizations that conquered the island throughout history,” she says. “I am fascinated by this multilayered, multi-faceted quality, which requires much more than one lifetime to explore and understand.”

Expert in Sicilian Medieval and culinary history, the acclaimed author was born and grew up in New York. But a visit to Sicily in 1962 forever altered her destiny. “I came to Sicily in 1962 to work in a community development center for a year before going to graduate school,” she explains from her country house in Partinico, a little town in the province of Palermo.