Pomp and Sustenance

There is a great book available if you are interested in our Island/Sicilian cooking heritage. This is one that follows cooking traditions through the centuries, through the various invasions and occupations of our part of the world. Mary Taylor Simeti is an American woman who married a Sicilian man and moved to Sicily. There she became fascinated with cooking traditions in the region and wrote a great book about her discoveries. Though we are not strictly Sicilian, we were influenced over the centuries by Sicilian culture and cooking traditions. We were usually over-run by the same people as Sicily! It is wonderful reading.

Pomp and Sustenance--Twenty-Five Centuries of Sicilian Food--Mary Taylor Simeti--ISBN 0-394-56850-8

is a bit difficult to find, but it is worth the search. It is usually a bit expensive having seen it anywhere from sixty to one hundred and sixty dollars depending upon who is trying to scalp you.