From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home

The island of Sicily off Italy’s southern tip has a rich culture distinct from that of the mainland. The island’s unique culture developed over millennia and reflects the island’s geography and history. Sicily’s strategic location in the Mediterranean Sea lured successive waves of conquerors and settlers to its shores. Originally inhabited by over a dozen ethnic groups, including the Siculi, who gave the island its name, Sicily was soon settled by Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans, and later by Byzantines, Arabs, and the Normans. The island became an independent kingdom in the 12th century before being incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, and it finally gained regional autonomy in 1947. Currently one of five autonomous Italian regions, Sicily has been indelibly marked by its various conquerors and settlers, resulting in the island’s unique culture and customs. In addition to its wide array of ancient ruins and medieval monuments, Sicily offers a cuisine that is “an intoxicating mixture of cultures colliding on a plate” (140).

Despite its rich culture, Sicilians are often discriminated against by Northern Italians, largely because of the island’s high unemployment rate, poverty, and diverse racial heritage. Tembi describes these prejudices in detail in Chapter 3, stating: