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Trapani style Cous Cous with Sardines. “Sicily has suffered thirteen foreign dominations from which she has taken both the best and the worst. The sequence of different cultures has made Sicily a fascinating place, quite unlike any other” ( Andrea Camilleri, writer) [He wrote the Inspector Montalbano series, we had the whole set in the Oxfam bookshop earlier this year in an English translation which is quite rare]. It’s been a while since we had a chat about food. So, as it’s

Skipper high above the Duomo di Cefalu. In 1131, Roger II had been on a visit to his dominions on the Italian mainland to sort some of the usual issues with his people. One problem town was Amalfi, and Roger had despatched his Levantine Greek admiral, George of Antioch, with a fleet to blockade the town. Simultaneously, another of Roger's Greeks, Emir John, approached with an army sweeping up other rebellious towns before them. Amalfi soon fell. Duke Sergius VII of Naples had

Old map of Palermo. It shows the east-west axial street from the port to the western gate heading towards Monreale. The ‘Castello a Maro‘ is Arab then Norman. Roger II's palace complex is located south of the west gate. The Norman cathedral just north-east of the palace. When I studied Urban Design at Gloucester University, one of the first things you learn is that no matter how many times the buildings change over the centuries and even millennia, the street layout or patter

Monreale Cathedral. You may remember (from ‘ The Norman Conquest ’) that Roger’s Sicilian campaign started in 1061, when one of the Emirs (Ibn al-Timnah) asked him to come to his assistance during the infighting against other Arab rulers of the island. But this was not the first time that an external force had been invited, by an incumbent, to invade the island! You may recollect (from ‘ The island where east met west ’ ) that the Byzantines ruled Sicily from the 6th century,

Alix arriving at Palermo. I’m not going to dwell too long on our crossing from Sardinia . Richard has written about it, and I can’t really add much to it. Except, perhaps, to say that I did find it a lengthy night. We slipped lines at 07:00 and arrived the following day just before 13:00. The autumn nights are much longer; it was dark by 20:00. I need to do watches, which means I needs to rest when I am off-watch. But try as I might, I’m not one these people who can just put