Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons: Travels in Sicily on a Vespa

Esteemed food critic and writer Matthew Fort takes to his Vespa in search of Sicily’s culinary delights.

At the age of twenty-six Matthew Fort first visited the Italian island of Sicily. He and his brother arrived in 1973 expecting sun, sea and good food, but they were totally unprepared for the lifelong effect of this most extraordinary of Mediterranean islands.

Thirty years later, older and a bit wiser - but no less greedy - Matthew finally returns. Travelling around the island on his scooter, Monica, he samples almond ice cream on the spectacular coast and intoxicating mouthfuls of sausage stew in olive groves, and goes fishing for anchovies beneath a star-scattered sky.

Matthew is drawn once again to the intensity of life in Sicily, its dramatic landscape and traditions, and discovers how the island’s vibrant food culture is intertwined with its often turbulent past.