CALTABELLOTTA AND M.A.T.E.S.

A VISIT FROM EMIILIO-Our neighbor Emilio knocked at the door Sunday morning, just as Steve came home with the warm bread from the bakery that we have for Sunday breakfast. He wanted to know if we wanted to go up to Caltabellotta and eat with the gang from the parties at his house next to the tennis court that I have described elsewhere. We wondered about the snow up there, and he said that there was snow, but not on the roads. So we said yes, and got dressed for the cold.
It was Paola and Angelo, Mariarosa and Emilio, Lillo and Mariela and their daughter Mariangela, the fashion model. When we got there, another couple and their son joined us, Gilda and another Lillo and their son Enzo. We had met or seen all of these people all summer long, and so it was a jolly gathering at a truly incredible place

THE MATES RESTAURANT is a hole-in-the-wall set into an alley off a street in Caltabellotta. It’s initials indicate that it is a museum of ancient technologies of olive oil pressing. And when we entered, we could not believe the walls! There was a back room with a curved high ceiling, similar to the ones we have seen in the “baglia” or cantinas where wine is produced. I think they had to be shaped this way to drive horses in or to back the wagons into the workspace, but that is only a guess. The walls were rough but freshly painted to accentuate the holes and rough spots. There were implements hung everywhere, an immaculate floor, and attractive tables set for many people. We were a big group normally, but the next table held about double our amount, with seven little kids that ran and scampered all over throughout the meal. The bathroom was a big laugh too-it was outside the restaurant, down the street and two the left. A door opened to two very clean bathrooms, which were as cold as any I have ever been in. Remember it had been snowing up there, and snow was still hanging around. According to the thermometer in Emilio’s car, it was 3° C!

THE MENU was seasonal, but essentially the same, only changing to whatever was freshest and most plentiful at the time of year. It consisted of preserved goods also, many of which were for sale in a corner. For appetizers, we started with cheeses and homemade sausages, olives, caponata, bread, fresh ricotta cheese, pancetta, sun dried tomatoes preserved in oil, and a rosé wine that was remarkably light but flavorful. All were supposedly grown and made in Caltabellotta. Then there was a frittata, and as usual, I made the Sicilians laugh by asking what vegetable it was, and they answered, “verdure” or “greens,” and I asked in Italian, “But what kind of greens?” No one ever knows what kind of greens they are, but they sure know how to pick them out in the wild. I see people all of the time walking along roadways with plastic bags and knives.
The pasta course consisted of two choices, a medium-sized shell coated with a green ricotta cheese (again, the greens blended for the sauce were unidentifiable), and a fettuccini with eggplant and a little meat in a tomato sugu. For the meat course, there was a wonderful fresh pork roast, sausage, and lamb ribs. For dessert, there was an Arabic combination which I never remember the name of, but it had couscous, cinnamon, almond, dried fruit, and orange in a thick cream sauce served on little white paper cups, and then fruits such as citron, grapefruit, oranges, and mandarins. The coffee espresso came next, and last, freshly made cannole with fresh ricotta was the fitting grand ending to the meal.
We were given a book about the entire history of olives, written by Gilda’s brother who is an archaeologist who lives in Barcelona, Spain. In it were pictures of the olive presses that are pictured at the restaurant. Guess what the whole thing cost? $26 euro per person!