Maiale cu Cioccolatu is a Sicilian dish of pork loin with an exquisite savory rich chocolate sauce.

The town of Modica, in inland south-eastern Sicily, is known for chocolate. We went there in 2018 as part of our Sicilian vacation, but the town itself was crowded and the driving was not fun so we got out of there, having already acquired bitter Modican chocolate at the farmers market in Siracusa.

This dish, called (more or less) Pisci Spata in Crusta ri Fastuchi in Sicily the Cookbook is a pistachio-crusted swordfish very like what astonished me in Chianalea, the swordfishing port of Scilla at the very tow of the boot of Italy. I say more-or-less because that recipe is for monkfish, but Scilla is all about swordfish and that's how I had it. In all other particulars, this is how to replicate that heavenly dish.

This Caponata Croccante is the "crunchy caponata" on p135 of Sicily the Cookbook. 

A caponata is often a melange of flavors, typically based in eggplant and olive oil, to be served as a side salad or on crostini or bruschetta. 

This fresh caponata is finished before the final "stewing" process, making it "crunchy" but the vegetables are soft enough that it's not a problem but rather a benefit. The flavors are zesty and fresh, and it's a brilliant accompaniment to Passaluna to start a Sicilian dinner.

It's amazing what happens when you heat olives. 

We think of olives as a kind of garnish or as a no-effort hors d'oeuvres served cold, but they respond well to heat. It unlocks rich flavors that pair with zesty ingredients like the orange and chili in this recipe.

Passuluna means specifically Sicilian salt-cured black olives, which have a wrinkly appearance. You rinse the salt first, so if you cannot find true passuluna, good black olives (not those woody horrors in the cans) work out pretty well. 

Of course you can tone down the Sicilian heat by using just one or even no chilies, but this recipe is very good as written. 

The origin story of this ancestor of the Martini is shrouded in fog, but it seems that it was developed in San Francisco (near Martinez, CA) in the mid-to-late 1800s, after the Manhattan but before the modern Dry Martini. The basic idea, equal parts vermouth and gin with bitters and a touch of Maraschino, is a clear descendant of the fancy cocktail formula of spirit + triple sec + bitters, except that vermouth adds complexity and Maraschino replaces the triple sec as the sweetening agent.

There's a ton of research on this classic, and a number of recipes have emerged. This version is a commonly-accepted one today, but it should by no means be considered canonical.

I did some careful reseach on this in 2019, during a vacation up the Pacific Coast from LA to Juneau, during which I sampled a number of Martinez cocktails at some very fine bars with knowledgeable mixologists. In fact, that's about the only place that you will find the Martinez, so it's good to know the recipe! 

It's still a good drink, especially to play with different gins and vermouths. It's much less alcoholic than a Martini, so it's good to have when you're out, if you're at a bar that has Maraschino. If not, try Triple Sec.

We had this all over Sicily and then in Rome. It's a classic Sicilian dish of simple ingredients that must be fresh and well-prepared. Make this in summertime when the eggplant is fresh and flavorful. The tomatoes can be fresh in season or canned, but canned tomatoes without preservatives are better than "fresh" tomatoes out of season (the tomatoes were fresh when they went into the can). I like Cento brand canned tomatoes.

This strange-sounding summer-time salad came to my attention when I was planning a feast to celebrate the Kentucky Derby; something similar is made at a ritzy hotel at Churchill Downs.

This is a simpler version and in my opinion better able to showcase excellent ingredients.

I whipped this up when I was confronted with the leftovers of an excellent-but-too-large haddock. It's a simple dish, homey and satisfying. 

I started with the fish flaked into a basic white sauce seasoned with dried dill and chervil, but then I thickened the sauce up with an egg yolk (see Mayonnaise for why that's a good idea) and then proceeded to top it with mashed potatoes and baked it. 

(See Notes for a confession.) 

This is the classic cassoulet recipe lightly adapted to the American kitchen from the master recipe published by the Grande Confrérie du Cassoulet de Castelnaudary. 

Cassoulet is a legendary dish of white beans and mixed meats from Languedoc in southwestern France. Much has been written about it, and much confusion has ensued.

If you're a real cassoulet nerd, you know that there are three "authentic" cassoulet recipes: this Cassoulet de Castenaudary (considered the original), the famous Cassoulet Toulousaine, and the Cassoulet de Carcasonne, which includes lamb.

And if you're a cassoulet nerd of the fanatical variety, then you need to know about D'Artagnan's annual Cassoulet War in New York City!

Here I'll do my best to present something authentic and cookable.   

This is a simple variation on a classic Martini: add a couple of dashes each of Sweet Vermouth and Triple Sec.

A dash isn't much, and two dashes is twice not much - you still can't call it much. This is like spicing up a Martini with a dash or two of Orange Bitters - but this one got a name. 

The biggest trick with this one is figuring out how to get a dash of Sweet Vermouth or Triple Sec from a bottle that's meant for pouring. I just pour a few drops as carefully as I can and call it close enough for my needs. 

This is an easy way to turn your boring New Year's Eve toast into something more tasty, if you're working with cheap champagne. Just add a sugar cube baptized with 2 dashes of the bitters of your choice.

These were a big hit at the Old Colony Club's Casablanca-themed party in 2018. 

A related cocktail is the French 75, also hugely popular. This, of course, begs the question "Will I get in trouble if I add a little gin to my Champagne Cocktail?" - I won't tell anyone if you do!