The Experience
On volcanic soil terraces and aboard fishermen's boats, a simple and rare cuisine is born: small harvests, cultivated just as they once were, found almost exclusively here.
The queen of the island is the Ustica lentil, small, dark, and tender, a Slow Food Presidium since 2000: sown in winter and harvested by hand in June, without fertilizers or weedkillers, on fields reclaimed from the rock. Alongside it grow capers, ancient grains, vines, and olive trees producing island olive oil, while goats provide bold-flavored cheeses. The sea does the rest: the catch from local boats reaches the table that very day, in homemade recipes that change with the seasons. Tasting Ustica means sitting down with the people who grow and cook these ingredients, perhaps even visiting during the days of the lentil festival.
Highlights
- Slow Food Presidium Lentil
- Capers and ancient grains
- Fish from local boats
- Lentil festival