Hello friends, Dominic Sr. here.
I guess many of you know that my family is originally from Sicily, and many of the tastes and recipes at Il Michelangelo’s are influenced from that region. But what you may not know is that my father was also a chef and I guess you could say that his love of cooking and his high mastery of the art, infected most of my family to take it up as well. He even taught my mother to cook!
My mother is named Maria and is 87 years young. She still lives in Palermo, Sicily in the house I grew up in, and this past October my brother Aldo and I paid her a “surprise” visit. We landed in Rome and took another short flight to the island where we were met by my brother Pino (also a chef, now retired) and taken in great secrecy to our house. My mother was of course shocked to see us, and became very emotional, filled with happiness. She is still mostly healthy and active and being surrounded by all her boys was very overwhelming but joyful.
During our stay my brother Pino prepared for us his patented “Pani ca Meusa” one of the best Italian dishes you never heard of. Probably because of what is in it: a delicious soft Focaccia bread filled with cow lung, heart, spleen, thin sliced and cooked in liquefied fat then boiled. (Don’t worry I’m not planning on adding it to the menu…) It is a staple of Italian street food where I grew up and the taste of it is like opening up a chest filled with warm childhood memories. Pani ca Meusa comes either “schettu” or “maritatu” meaning with or without ricotta. If you are ever brave enough to make it, by all means make it with the ricotta!
We stayed with my mother for 9 days. Inevitably going back to Italy involves a level of eating most Americans would find hard to digest. Every day there were multiple visits to see friends and family and every visit to friends and family revolved around a meal, wine, cheese, and great conversation. I can say that the simple but delicious food served in most home’s in Palermo are the deepest inspiration for the food in our restaurant. For instance our Spedini, so widely regarded by our customers, was a recipe my brothers pried loose from my tight lipped father before he passed. It was difficult to get anything out of him, it was “a pinch of this, a bit of that, a handful of this…” but a few of his masterpieces have survived to influence the menu at Il Michelangelo’s. In his life he worked at a hotel called the Albergo delle Madonie, a very high end hotel in Petralia Sottana where he ran the kitchen. He would bring home scraps of food and fresh meat for us and whip them into creations that made us cry: succulent and delicious meals that we all still remember like it was yesterday.
When we had to leave, my mother and my brothers and sisters were sad. My mother will never leave Palermo and at 87 every parting feels permanent. Nevertheless I came home with new ideas and inspirations from my travels, and 10 more lbs I need to lose. Look for some more of the simple but delicious meals that inspired me on our specials menu.
And if you are ever considering a trip to Palermo or any part of Sicily, don’t be shy about asking me where to go and what to do and most of all, what to EAT!
All the best – Dominic Sr.
