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Sultan of Ciccio Ristorante Duomo in Ragusa Ibla, the Sicilian Baroque in the pot

C ICCIO Sultan chef and owner, with his partner gourmet Angelo Di Stefano, Duomo restaurant in Ragusa Ibla, has long been known to the national food chronicles. Much has been written about him and also shows the same remarkable capacity media well supported by a strong personality. C dare during the last year I decided to try several times the kitchen of the Sultan, to see if he can be, almost to embody the prototype of ' culinary artist. Moreover visits have also established useful opportunities for developing a better understanding of the Baroque Ibleo. On 2 August, I visited the Sultan, accompanied by Claudio Sacco, the Gourmet Traveler of Altissimo Ceto that in preparation for the online guide to Italian restaurants of the highest level, held by the Sultan a must. At the sound of the gong Sultan surprised us with a 1:00 to 2:00 that would have knocked out even the most severe of gourmet The direct face came through slices of black truffle Acreide Palazzolo ('s friend Ciccio Sultan, who is under the ground, being careful not to be discovered not to reveal the secret places of the collection, remember that summer is called scorzone ) And toasted bread with cold ice cream inside to taste the same scorzone .. .. while the hook to the chin - to complete the entree - came from a must art of Sultan Asetra caviar with strawberry tree honey and ricotta over amberjack fillet To accompany, great champagne proposed by Claudio Marrale sommeliers, 45 years of Ragusa, in the past 26 spent in the room and at the best wineries to find those wines that during our journey took us combine with each giving it food or even enhance their value .. .. back to the two entrees, with the following characteristics: the scorzone that had a typical scent that only those who had the good fortune to know the truffle can imagine. The cut in slices also gave him a kind texture on the palate in between the crunchiness of the leaves of toast and almost soft ice cream, which with its freshness by a clean left side of the mouth, on the other, softened by setting in taste buds once again hints of truffles in Sicily. Even clearer in the second, the contrast of textures and temperatures that would explode in your mouth like a multicolored fireworks. The salty caviar, whose consistency in the mouth and t'introduce breaks the sweetness of strawberry tree honey and then declined rapidly towards a soft meaty yellowtail up to l'agognato arrivo con una ricotta che ti rimbalza verso i ricordi di un'infanzia in cui un padre, mio papà, mi portava in braccio ad assaggiarla, ancora calda, direttamente dalle mani grandi grandi del formaggiaro..

immersi in un mondo fantastico e bombardati da emozioni violente..

e Claudio Sacco, alias Viaggiatore Gourmet, sembra testimoniarlo..
..il sommelier ci propone un ottimo zibibbo, ma non quello della tradizione siciliana, minimo 18 gradi, stucchevolissimo ed ormai blando ricordo presente soltanto nelle osterie di periferia, ma uno zibibbo in purezza cresciuto a Pantelleria, macerato a freddo, fermentato e maturato in contenitori d'acciaio dall'azienda De Bartoli. Si chiama Black Stone (who knows why .. guess Pantelleria), is fresh, crisp and consistent scents that allow him to accompany dishes whose characteristics must be the flavor of the sea, possibly that of the Sicilian Channel ..

Zibibbo De Bartoli goes well a number of fish tartare .. from the one with the watermelon and its juice served warm ice that contrasts with the wheel ..

.. to that of tuna, tuna belly, leaves of rice and egg sauce with Marsala (De Bartolo, La Vigna Fuse, aged 5 years) .. .. the stomach in particular gives the palate an original thickness, it seems the first swell in his mouth, but not to burst dopo, piuttosto si rompe mantenendo un'inaspettata elasticità, quasi fosse una chewing gum .. la salsa all'uovo poi presenta al palato una soavità che non ha nulla a che vedere con il gusto dell'uovo cui siamo abituati ed i sentori di un elegante marsala completano l'opera.. .. ma Ciccio è un fiume in piena e le sue tartare non ti concedono tregua... così il cucchiaino di madreperla sfiora la bocca posando sulla lingua un gamberone rosso di Mazara inumidito da una salsa di corallo setosa.. .. proposto su una tartara che a differenza di quelle normali non ti confonde con asprezze varie, mantenendo un equilibrio assoluto.. nel frattempo il maitre prepara un'altra delizia ecco il maitre: Giuseppe Romano, messinese 34 year old, recent and valid purchase of the team of Sultan .. and now a masterpiece: two small pigeon breasts, as if they were crispy bacon, but much softer and more elegant taste, resting on a potato very light that hides an oyster. The spoon will require a single bite .. lucky! Even the photos you can see the pigeon breasts for the presence of Maldon salt (named after the English town where it comes from strong winds will lead to the formation in very large crystals in the shape of a pyramid that not only donate to the food crispness but also dissolve ritardatamente generating unexpected explosion of the mouth-watering) .. a flavor that opens up a tidbit that a wise harmony and closes with the same tone, the salt of the sea with Østre that leaves you in the mouth water .. Meanwhile, the sommelier has synesthesia, a successful synthesis of Sicilian grapes which Inzolia Sauvignon blanc and French as proposed by the Abbazia Santa Anastasia winery known. Here too cold maceration, fermentation and aging in stainless steel and then bottled. Yet another symptom of abandonment increased by more careful Sicilian wineries immoderate use of barrels in that time have been approved and flattened the perfumes of our land .. Sultan From Ciccio the spaghetti is done in-house, like all the meals offered to guests. If you then jumped slightly in the pan for flavor, buy a stand-alone, lying on a bed of carrots and topped with a tuna tartar and a tremendous level of roe, served here is that there is yet another culinary masterpiece .. .. Sultan Ciccio's Restaurant and Angelo Di Stefano only do not mind cooking, but also to all the other details that allowed him to receive the prestigious second Michelin star, one room down from Campania. Cutlery Sambonet poltrocine Frau, linen tablecloths, crystal Spiegelau, white ceramics German quality and above all a service by the time Europeans. Already eat slowly because the food does not mean waiting for who knows how long, rather served with i tempi dovuti. E da Sultano la parola d'ordine tra una pietanza e l'altra è massimo 2/3 minuti d'attesa. L'acqua nel bicchiere è sempre fredda così come il tovagliolo è sempre pulito. Particolari che fanno la differenza e costituiscono un giusto contorno ad una cucina di livello Ed ecco un simpatico spuntino con gli ingredienti appartenenti alla cultura gastronomica di questa Isola: acciughe, bottarga, piselli, formaggio ragusano dop, sfoglia tostata di pane, olio d'oliva e.v. ( quello buono, il Pianogrillo di Lorenzo Piccione, coltivato a Chiaramonte Gulfi, ossia a due passi dal laboratorio di Ciccio Sultano ) . Ci trovi il mare e la terra con i loro frutti, che l'uomo con maestria trasforma in bottarga, pane e formaggio. Instruments playing in harmony one of the scores composed and conducted by quell'infallibile conductor that is revealed each time it runs Ciccio Sultan And here's another single that makes Splenda LP (Long Play Lunch Play instead) and Ciccio Sultan performs a request from his shop (as the old name of the workshops of the Sicilian Baroque): crackers with amberjack fillet stuffed with liver and fish cocoa beans .. from crunchy to soft steps of amberjack, and then meet up with the bitter-sweet of the liver, enhanced and dried cocoa .. .. our Earth offers great quality of lentils (known as the Ustica, Pantelleria and the Slow Food) and small pigs of a breed derived from centuries of natural selection and resident wild Nebrodi Mountains in the north of Sicily. This is the black pig Nebrodi, whose rind decorate and give taste to spaghetti with lentils House Sultan .. another work photographed by Claudio Sacco ..

which shows the wonders of his new camera to a curious Ciccio Sultan

Ciccio Meanwhile, the workshop continues to churn out works of genius, as this mullet larger (ie rock), full of dough beccafico to the tradition of Palermo, with bread cunsatu with sundried tomatoes and peppers. All a broth of lemon ice. Ciccio once again proves to master the techniques. The lemon ice enriches the mullet without attacking it with its peculiar acidity, while the filling of sweet mullet gives the dough a typical warbler (raisins and pine nuts in the ingredients), which is a trench in the natural hot pepper on sheet of bread. So the play of textures ranging from crisp acrobatically of bread dough, the liquid of the broth to a soft paste, the filling of the mullet .. a crescendo that is a triumph not only because by the end of the work still must be other acts ..

.. Shrimp (ne) on red hot seafood salad on fondue mozzarella and tomato spotted clinging to a wafer of rice with seafood ... the prawn was perfect, as only those who know the techniques of conservation of this valuable inhabitant of the sea can do. In fact, the red shrimp, even after being caught just naturally produces ammonia that regularly gives us heartburn annoying and persistent in the mouth, which by its nature almost always small abrasions to the lips, tongue, palate .. some argue that the fault of fishermen that were already in the boat to shrimp on the amount of ammonia to keep them. It seems to me that fishermen are facing a strange substance in nature to a product unfit for human consumption .. I have heard yet to support with my ears .. fleur de maitre will it be?!?

Returning to this dish and having discovered a capacity for Sultan, namely to preserve the freshness also extremely sensitive products such as shrimp, we can not fail to mention the salad of cuttlefish and squid, boiled (slightly burned but before the plate to make them curl) as well as the lightness of the fake pizza, with mozzarella di bufala that barely denounced its typical flavor note to all of us, softened by patches of cherry tomatoes and basil. Besides the crisp, as dictated by the pattern Sultan, the wafer of rice .. .. finally comes the pasta! Yeah, because so far - you're thinking - we played? Sincerely I did not think you could eat so much .. but it all depends on what you eat .. (On the other hand is in general for any situation in life) and in this case, when I presented them with curly spaghetti and asparagus on Belon oysters from Belon, I spontaneously wet eyes and I launched a happy rush of curiosity, like the sight of the Galapagos Darwin .. to discover new creatures, indeed divine creations .. Ciccio says: ".. the sea vegetable blends very well with the vegetable of the earth ..", hedgehogs and asparagus ".. a dish - takes Ciccio - between sea and land over sea and land ..!. .

Chicken, breast and thigh, with its salsa elderflower and wild rose, with a cake and a jelly Ragusa chicken liver .. Majorcan and then mint, bergamot mint, thyme, marjoram .. Ciccio this time shows that haute cuisine can also be from a chicken. Just cook it is aware that contact with the high temperatures, a perfect wedding with floral and herbal aromas, surgical extraction of her liver, according to a gelatin Ciccio has learned to be able to do by Vincenzo Corallo, his teacher and great pastry Ragusa , and finally a pie from the tradition of Ragusa, revised and lighter ". In short, it takes very little, apart from the art of Ciccio Sultan ..

.. wine changes, and here His Majesty the Nero d'Avola. Alone. This is vinified from Gulfi. But the grapes come from the land between Noto and Pachino, where they are at their highest level .. these in particular have grown in the district Baronj, one of four Cantina Gulfi Meanwhile, changing knives .. .. the blade is sharp and bears the signature of the owner .. And that's where sink. Pig Nebrodi black (in the vertical rib and a side portion of tenderloin) carammellato the carob and filled with stuffing in Ragusa cantaloupe sauce and fennel gratin with baked potato. Once again we return children, dealing with childhood memories of sown by pigs on a spit, iced melon, freshly picked potatoes and grilled fennel. Shaded of carob trees .. All my childhood on a plate ..

.. thinks for a mulberry sorbet .. Ciccio those tree house, with whipped cream and a septum, accompanied by a De Bartoli Marsala finish to capture memories mei comes to a melancholic, returning to the paradise of flavors found .. His Eminence Cannolo with sheep ricotta Iblean, the pistachios, almond ice cream pizzas Avola, warm soup on a prickly pear .. this time it is a champions league final .. seems to hear the song .. "These are the champions .. These Are The Champions" .. there is some pampering, just in case the affection was not enough so far received .. For the record the babaini were higher than those tested in the best Neapolitan pastry .. Ciccio shows us her small garden, to tell the truth seems an excuse for us to see what's in this moment a lot of satisfaction from .. Mohito (with the precise academic Ciccio) that truth is a rascal than six months of life that sometimes .. ago Ciccio worry over a lunch for the King of France. Already .. because that, Ciccio can do it. And how!