Posts by Pamela
From the Archives: An Islamic Map for a Christian King
When we last left Sicily, the Roman Republic had taken Siracusa, which became the capital of Roman government in Sicily. The Romans held Sicily for 300 some years. The island was subsequently occupied by the Byzantine empire in 535 CE, Arabs from North Africa in 965 and the Normans in 1060. * Under the Normans,…
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In which I take a side trip in time and space to consider the Mayans, the Aztecs and Chocolate
During our visit to Antica Dolceria Bonajuta, the artisanal chocolate producer in Modica, our guide emphasized the fact that most modern chocolatiers, who use heat based methods such as conching and tempering to create smooth chocolate with a shiny appearance. By contrast, the Bonajuta chocolate makers still used a traditional “cold-processing” method similar to that…
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Cheese, Chocolate, and Siracusa
Our second stop in Sicily was the city of Siracusa, which is a history nerd’s delight, or more accurately would have been a history nerd’s delight if we had been on a different kind of tour. (Two areas of the city are UNESCO World Heritage sites.) Instead of spending our time at the city’s archeological…
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