TORONTO – La Piana di Catania, fertile land surrounding Mount Etna in Sicily is home to many flavourful fruits, nuts and vegetables.
This is the land of bright yellow and orange citrus fruit orchards. An area of seas, a melange of indescribable hues of blue. A location where the clear sky wrapped in sunshine follows you everywhere like a mother’s warm hug. The climate here alone is the cure for everything!
The famous Prickly Pear Cactus or Fico D’India in Italian is a plant that dots landscapes along the Catania Plains at the foot of Mount Etna. It is the fruit of this climate.
It comes in three colourful varieties: red, orange and white. All sweet in flavour, soft delicate fleshy fruit that is easy to eat, melts in your mouth and leaves your palate fresh and clean.
The cactus fields, grown in the area of Biancavilla, blossom under the protective care of Mount Etna.
Pietro and his family treat their cactus plants with the same love and protection. For the last 50 years, his family has dedicated their time to these fields.
All fruit here is meticulously picked, processed and packaged by hand.
Pietro humbly offers a tasting of fruits he has picked himself.
A fruit with flavour developed also by the mediterranean sea just 30 kilometers away.
As the breeze moves up the mountain and the water evaporates, minerals add to the soil and the protection of the plant. Continuous volcanic ash and lava add to soil nutrients offering the plant a particular advantage not seen elsewhere.
Packed with high levels of magnesium, potassium, calcium and Anthocyanins, antioxidants present in the fruit, give it that bright reddish purple colour. Pietro insists these fruits and the juice of the cactus leaves are the only thing he eats and drinks each morning.
Sara and Alessia Bua support Pietro in his belief that the health benefits of this fruit need to be shared with everyone.
Ongoing research of the fruit compounds conducted at La Deliziosa O.P. Co-operative, have discovered the presence of Taurine – a naturally occurring amino acid necessary for energy production in the body. A natural energy drink to help daily mental acuity and muscle energy.
In an effort to share their passion for their Sicilian roots and healthy lifestyle, Sara and Alessia have supported La Deliziosa’s effort to develop Sicilio Succo di Fico D’India. A naturally sweet juice with 85% juice of the prickly pear fruit with a natural purple red hue.
A drink that can be used, in their hope, in the production of prickly pear flavoured pastries, gelato and granita in the offseason.
With new tariffs hindering the import of fruits and vegetables into Canada from the United States we should turn our negotiating efforts to imports and revamped trade routes from Italy.
Let’s hope to see Sicilian fruit and Sicilio Juice bottles here in Canada soon too!
(Photos: Fruit and Veg from Europe and Corriere Canadese)
