Page 7 - PIACERE SICILIA N1 ESTRATTO DUE ART

PIACERE SICILIA|FAVIGNANA
TUNA
AND TONNARE
From time immemorial Trapani has dialogued with the sea through
tuna fishing, an activity that has been one of the most flourishing
trades in this area. For centuries in Trapani, tuna factories, in Italian
tonnare, were the places where business was tied to tradition and
culture. In 2006 Favignana permanently closed its business on one of
the oldest tuna factories. The choice was dictated by economic requi-
rements and European restrictions on tuna fishing.
But how to tell the story of Trapani and tuna today? We asked Ninni
Ravazza, an expert in tuna and a fan of scuba diving.
“Unfortunately there is not much left to show tourists, because all the
tuna factories in the area have been permanently closed in recent years.
The sad demonstrations of tuna slaughtering that are shown from time
to time are just cruel and not very representative of the history of tuna
in Trapani, which has always been a history of respect between man
and animal, the livelihood of entire families.”
Since there is no tuna fishing in Trapani, one wonders where the bluefin
tuna that is served in restaurants comes from.
“It comes from the Mediterranean, which indicates good quality. The
methods of capturing tuna are the use of long lines or launching tuna
nets that continue to operate off the coast. There is no bluefin tuna
caught in Trapani, only tuna caught in the Mediterranean, one should
bear this difference in mind.”
Can food and wine bring this lost tradition of taste and flavours back?
“Wine, food and typical tuna recipes are some of the more effective
narrative tools, but images of tuna fishing and the industrial architecture Aragonese, until the sixteenth century, when it became pro-
of the buildings where they processed tuna, are also useful. Numerous
recipes for tuna processing are still on restaurant tables and that is
where you can start to learn more about this tradition.”
Tuna products are still available to this day, the so-called “sea pig”
praised, hated and loved by Trapani’s fishermen is the basis of many
restaurants gastronomic specialties. Heart, roe (eggs) and tunnina (va-
rious parts of the tuna in brine), lattume (seminal fluid) are eaten fried, building material, up until the second half of the nineteenth
roasted or au naturel and are the true traditions of the tuna refineries.
The ficazza, or tuna salami, for example, originates from the tonnare
thanks to the work of children and women who detached residual meat
from bones and preserved them in a gut casing with salt and pepper.
The ficazza is a unique specialty, one of Trapani’s traditional products.
This is how, once more, rituality is reflected in dishes and flavours,
telling the story of this land and its sea.
TRAVEL ENCOUNTERS
THE TERRITORY
Favignana and the Egadi Islands
The Egadi archipelago (Latin ‘Aegates’), some seven sea-
miles off the coast of Trapani and Marsala is composed of
three main islands, Favignana, Levanzo and Marettimo, the
small island of Formica and the Maraone and Porcelli Rocks,
which constitute the municipality of Favignana.
Beautiful seabeds rich in fish, marine organisms and archa-
eological remains and wild coastlines not only make it a pa-
radise for nature and sea lovers, but also make it home to the
largest marine reserve in Europe.
Favignana is the largest island with an area of 19.38 sq km
and a coastline of 33 km of jagged rocks, sea caves and
coves accessible by land. On the southern side of the island
are the islets Galera and Galeotti.
In the 1970s, artist Salvatore Fiume called it the butterfly on
the sea due to its shape, as acclaimed by its ancient name
Aegusa (butterfly). Its present name derives from Favonio,
the warm westerly wind, which determines its very mild cli-
mate.
From the late Paleolithic era on (10,000 BC), human presence
is evident in the traces of ancient settlements in the caves of
the ‘Faraglione’ and of the ‘Pozzo’ in the Saint Nicola zone.
The islands were the scene of the Egadi battle in 241 BC,
which marked the end of the First Punic War and the Romans
defeat over the Carthaginians. Legend has it that the blood
shed on that occasion gave its name to the stunning ‘Cala
Rossa’ (Red Cove). After the collapse of the Roman Empire
the Egadi followed the fate of Sicily with the subsequent do-
mination of the Vandals, Goths, Saracens, Normans and the
perty of the Genoese family Pallavicini-Rusconi and then in
1874 of the Florio’s - an important Sicilian, industrial family,
who ran the Favignana and Formica tonnare in the second
half of the nineteenth century.
Since Roman times Favignana’s white tuff (typical sandstone,
It. ‘tufo’) quarries provided the province of Trapani its main
century- an important source of income for the islanders.
Objects and sculptures in tuff are still widespread on the
island and are often bought as souvenirs.
Monte Santa Caterina, 314 meters above sea level, is name-
sake to the twelfth century Norman castle, a place of detention
for political prisoners during the reign of the Bourbons. The
mountain is often shrouded in clouds that hide part of the
fortress, visually alluring and very interesting to photograph.
History and life in Favignana have nearly always been inter- 55
twined with the ‘Mattanza’ – the great annual tuna slaughter
that, until a few years ago, the island's entire population par-
ticipated in, and whose images are recognizable in paintings
and photos in many public places.
The town is built around two squares: Piazza Europa and
Piazza Madrice, connected to the main street, the most popular
place for an evening stroll.
The main beaches and bays
Cala Azzurra, Lido Burrone, Cala Rossa, Cala del Bue Marino,
Cala Rotonda, Cala Grande and Punta Ferro can be reached
by car or by bus (every hour).
Caves
The islan’s western coast slopes into the sea, forming caves.
Every ‘good’ summer morning, fishermen at the port offer to
take tourists on the discovery of the most beautiful scenery:
‘Grotta Azzurra’ (named for the color of it’s water), Grotta dei
‘Sospiri’, (Cavern of ‘sighs’) which makes its sighs heard in
winter and the ‘Grotta degli Innamorati’ (Lovers Cavern) due
to the position of two identical rocks side by side at the back
of the cave.