"On Persephone's Island"

In the 1960s, when Mary Taylor Simeti began her life in Sicily, peasants still
used the traditional painted carts to at least occasionally, she wrote. By the time
we were there, only vendors to tourists used them. (Photo from our trip in 2002)

Last night my culinary book club discussed the book On Persephone's Island by Mary Taylor Simeti, which was published in 1986, and describes her life in Sicily from 1964 until the 1980s. Simeti's year abroad after her graduation from college became a lifetime commitment when she married a Sicilian. She tells of her adjustment to his family, how she was raising her children to have both a Sicilian and American identity, and how she had adapted to the rhythm of life in the countryside in summer and in Palermo in winter. Her husband is a teacher and also manages the family farm, and her children were in school in the city.

Last night everyone seemed to have found the book as charming as I do. Most of the books we read take a scholarly or other systematic approach to food. In Simeti's book, food is an important part of family life and community life, but she doesn't look deeply into its history or systematically examine foodways. I at least found this a welcome variation on our usual reading. For example, I loved her description of the tradition for some holidays of grilling artichokes with garlic.

The Martorana Church in Palermo where a wedding was taking place.
Simeti mentions this as a popular choice for weddings.

We agreed that we were surprised by her descriptions of the major impact that the Mafia had on the ordinary people in the book. Huge sums of money were expected: if not paid, the Mafia would blow up homes or businesses. And the Mafia murdered a number of government officials who tried to establish the rule of law.

Though we enjoyed the book, much of our discussion ended up being our own travelers' tales -- of the eight people present, four had been to Sicily. In response, I looked up these photos from one of our trips.

Simeti's book explores her sense of connection to the ancient Greeks who settled many parts of the island, and to the
many Greek myths that take place in Sicily -- such as the abduction of Persephone. Above: one of the temples of
Agrigento, a beautiful and major Greek city.

All of us had very strong memories of the mosaic floors at the villa at Piazza Armerena.
That's me holding a green Michelin guide.

One memorable experience shared by a member of our group was about stopping to talk to a man who was working in his vineyard. He asked about the wine, and the man invited the traveler and his wife (both present last night) to come home with him to taste his wine. The guests were seated in the parlor, which was obviously saved for special events, while the host and hostess prepared food. Several other people from the village joined them, and entertained them for around 2 hours. The people of Sicily, our friend concluded, were among the warmest and most welcoming in Europe.