Sciacca in Berkeley

One of the things Carl and I did while we were wandering around the bay area was to try to find some hints of Sciacca, or indeed, Sicily, around the area. this is a picture of the olive oil sold by the Genoa Deli and Italian specialty shop near the border of Oakland and Sciacca. I was pleased to see Cucchiara Oil prominently displayed in one liter bottles, three liter tins, and five liter boxes. I was even more pleased to see that it was fresh oil, not last years. I had a nice conversation with one of the sons of the man who started the shop, and whose grandfather had come to the area from Trapani. He knew some of the language, and when I started waxing poetic about this year's oil, he seemed happy to have the information to pass on to his customers. He also made great panini, even though he did not have the best ciabatta I have ever tasted (that is made by my friend Calogero at Panificio Americana here in Sciacca!!) We also found folks anxious to speak Italian with me in a small restaurant in North Beach. That man was from Messina, and dreams of going back some day. Bravo.