Nuts, another mill

Having already written about where all of our bakeries get their flour, I remembered another mill operation I had seen. So I stopped by and met Dominico 'Mimo' Catanese and his wife Rosa Genovese. I have driven by their operation many times, as it is about a block from where I get my mail. And they are not precisely a mill. They run a small operation where anyone who has an almond tree can get their almonds shelled, and where pasticierias, gelatorias, and other folks who use a lot of almonds can go to buy shelled almonds.

The almonds usually arrive in bags, and Mimo and Rosa put the almonds through the shelling machine. I am not sure how old the shelling machine actually is, but Tesla wired it for electricity before he left for the US, and his losing battle with Edison as to how the US should be wired. Some of the old boards used to make the machine had the original labels that Noah put on the stall doors for the various types of animals he was carrying.

The machine was not up to snuff when I was there, but then again, the almond season is in the late summer and early fall, so Mimo has time to fix it before there is a rush. When there is a rush, he no longer can store all of the almonds in large bags near the machine, and has to use a large storage area.

As people need almonds, they come and get them shelled fresh. So it is that the local folks who make their living making almond flavored cookies, quarisimillia biscotti, and almond flavored gelato, among other things, are able to use local almonds in their work. I can not imagine finding such an operation in too many places, and it is the loyalty of the almond growers and almond users that have allowed Mimo and Rosa to continue to do a wonderful thing for the city of Sciacca. Bravi!!
Just a little side note. They were very polite as I asked them questions, and they showed me around and let me take whatever pictures I wanted to. When Rosa finally asked me why I had come to Sciacca, I told her, and told her how much I liked Sciacca. When they asked if I had many friends here, I asked them if they knew Paolo and Ignatzia, or Rino and Gabriella Marinella. It turns out they are good friends with all of them, and then they seemed really happy to see me. Finally, Mimo went over and plugged in his machine, which will only shell the almonds now, but after it is fixed will separate the almonds from the shells. Before I left, he picked through the shells and gave me a handful of freshly shelled almonds, all of them perfect.