"The typical ragusan farm", the masseria and cooking traditions

In the territory of Ragusa there are lots of family run farms which preserve the typical traditions of the south eastern part of Sicily, especially cooking traditions.

Among the most important dishes we have causunieddi: home made pasta seasoned with pork sauce or tomato, ravioli: home made pasta stuffed with ricotta, sugar and cinnamon, and manichi ri fauci, home made pasta cooked with pulses and seasoned with oil and salt, maccu: a typical broad bean soup.

In the old Sicilian farm men spent their day working in the fields while women in addition to their domestic job, helped their husbands with the farm, made bread, took care of the poultry, and took care of the children.

The stone oven is present in any ragusan farm where focacce are cooked: it is home made pasta stuffed with tomato and cheese, with ricotta onion and parsley, with aubergines, with broccoli, with ricotta and sausage. Then there are the " 'mpanate " typical of Easter tradition. They are buns stuffed with lamb meat or turkey meat seasoned with pepper and parsley.

In the typical “masseria” we have the bagghiu : a courtyard enclosed by drystone walls and farmers' houses. Inside the house, the family used to spend their life in a room called "casa ri mannira" , where ricotta and provola and caciocavallo, the typical ragusan cheese was manufactured . In the tannura, a stone-cooker the women prepared their meals.

Two times a day after milking “ricotta” was prepared: it is a typical Sicilian soft cheese.

At Christmas, the family prepared the sausages and pork chops. Typical sweets of Christmas are mpagnuccata, pasta cooked with honey and served on a lemon leaf, and the ghiugghiulena sesame seeds cooked with honey.