A festival of fresh flavors: Simple and Sicilian

A taste of Sicily has been brought to Jeddah by Park Hyatt’s Nafoura restaurant. During a 10-day food festival, held from Feb. 19-28, Estate Chef Angelo Pumilia is joining the Nafoura team, presenting delectable and traditional dishes from his homeland, the island of Sicily in Italy.
“Sicilian cuisine is very different from Italian cuisine,” Pumilia explained in a brief interview during the launch of the festival. Sicily has a very hot climate and as a result people don’t like to prepare complicated meals, the chef explained.
Another distinctive feature of the Sicilian cuisine is the exclusive use of fresh produce. “All the vegetables you can imagine grow in Sicily.” Surrounded by sea, there is also an abundance of fresh fish and seafood. This richness makes import unnecessary, he said.
Besides that, Sicily’s location on the crossroads of various cultures has made it a fusion cuisine. “The influence of the Greeks, Arabs, and French is very strong, so our culture is a mix, as is our cuisine.” The use of couscous, a staple food in Northern Africa, is an example of this.
The main ingredient of their cuisine is olive oil, said the chef, who works from March to November in the kitchen of La Foresteria, a four-star resort on the southwestern coast of Sicily surrounded by vineyards and olive groves. Planeta, the company that owns the boutique hotel, is also a renowned producer of olive oil. The heart-healthy oil is used for everything, from salad to marinating fish, and even for sweets. “We have many traditional ways of preparing cake with olive oil,” said Pumilia, who added that olive oil is even used in ice cream. “We use it to give flavor to the ice cream.”
The Italian chef grew up in Sicily and only decided to become a chef when he was in college. “In Italy, cooking school starts in high school, so students can attend cooking classes at the age of 14,” he said.
When Pumilia was a law student, he woke up one day and decided that being a lawyer was not his calling in life. Following his passion, the 22-year-old went back to Sicily to join cooking school among 14-year-old teenagers. After completing culinary school, he traveled to Spain, France, Northern Ireland, and Japan, among other countries, to gain experience. After 15 years of working all over the world, Pumilia went back to his roots, where he has since been working as a chef in La Foresteria and going on promotion tours during the remaining months. Pumilia has visited numerous countries, such as China, Emirates, Kenya, the Ukraine, and now Saudi Arabia.
The chef said he was very happy and excited to be in the Kingdom, and enjoys the collaboration with the Nafoura restaurant team. “I give the chef the recipes and ideas, but I leave the touches to them.” Pumilia understands that his recipes sometimes have to be changed slightly to adopt them to the local taste buds. “For example, Italians love their pasta ‘al dente’, or very crunchy, but outside Italy nobody likes it that way.” So, he leaves details like cooking time, amount of salt, and the preparation of local meat to the team to decide.
Every day of the festival, new, fresh dishes will be presented, including various types of fresh pasta, risotto, lasagna, salads, fish and meat, and desserts.
If you are a cheese-lover, the highlight of the evening could be the four cheeses Pumilia himself brought from Sicily, which can be enjoyed with delicious homemade marmalades.
The Taste of Sicily festival is being held from Feb. 19-28 and from 6:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. at Park Hyatt’s Nafoura restaurant in Jeddah.