Ragusa · South-east Sicily

Rosso di Sicilia

Tomatoes and conserves from south-east Sicily, wrapped in the painted art of the Sicilian carretto.

House: Giuseppe Rosso Conserve di Sicilia
Since: 1997
Territory: Ragusa, south-east Sicily
Craft: Preserves and ready sauces

The carretto

For more than a century, the carretto carried Sicily's harvests from the fields to the towns and the ports: a two-wheeled wooden cart, drawn by a horse or a mule.

Each cart was the work of many hands. The cart-builder made the frame, the woodcarver shaped the panels, the blacksmith forged the iron, and the painter covered every surface in bright colours: saints, the Paladins of France and the knights of the old tales, and stories of the island. The horse wore a plumed, decorated harness to match.

Motor traffic took the carretto off the roads in the twentieth century. The Sicily it served is gone, yet the cart has become one of the island's best-known images.

Rosso di Sicilia carries the carretto on its labels: the images were painted for the house by two master carrettieri, cart craftsmen of Ragusa.

Painted carretto panel: two knights in armour duelling with sword and scimitar, a castle on the hill behind

A painted Sicilian carretto drawn by a caparisoned animal with tall plumes

No preservatives. No thickeners.

Sound, genuine raw materials, and an aversion to additives.

Every tomato comes from local farms, all year round.

The sauce: the same simple recipe, year after year.

Ciliegino.

From the larder.

A jar of Sugo alla Norma on a round of wood in the grass, beside a whole aubergine — Sugo alla NormaRagusa aubergines, fried without pre-cooking.

A jar of semi-dried cherry tomatoes on a stone ledge, beside a few on a leaf and a round wooden board — Ciliegino semiseccoSemi-dried and soft: for pasta, or on its own.

A jar of Pesto Rosso on a wooden table, with almonds, cherry tomatoes and basil leaves — Pesto RossoFresh basil, pounded within hours of picking.

Why this house

Why Rosso di Sicilia belongs in the ZAGARA selection.

1997

the house begins making preserves and ready sauces

people at work in the house

jars in a Cunzata box

Heritage

A Ragusa conserve house since 1997, bringing together experience, innovation and the food traditions of south-east Sicily.

Origin

Raw materials bought, and in part grown, in the Ragusa province, beside the produce hub of Vittoria, Santa Croce and Pachino: early crops at km zero, all year round.