CHEF AND RECIPES
Sandro Cicero
Dishes successfully inspired by the international cuisine, where "fusion" is the watchword.
Dishes successfully inspired by the international cuisine, where “fusion” is the watchword. Great experience of taste for Sandro Cicero, chef of Palazzaccio in Castelbuono – a renowned restaurant, loved by all gourmands. Sandro Cicero, together with his business partner Giuseppe Migliazzo, proposes suggestive culinary insights that put the ingredients centre stage and compares different experiences, lands and stories.
Sandro Cicero, 41, married with one child and another on the way, is a young chef with plenty of experience in Italy (Tuscany and Aosta Valley) and abroad (USA and Sweden). Professionally equipped and with an abundance of energy, he creates precise and defined dishes- never banal – ranging from meat to vegetables and desserts. A menu rich in instinct, fantasy and technique that has also been appreciated by the famous chef Massimo Bottura.
“Every day is a challenge against myself I always try to improve,” says Sandro Cicero, “the best dishes of our restaurant are, for starters – the Madonie beef marinated with salt, manna (a typical Sicilian product made of ash tree sap) and herbs. Here is the recipe: 400g of beef, 150g sugar 80g of manna, mix with herbs and put under vacuum for 4-5 days; once the marinating process is complete, the dish is ready to be served. The best first course is certainly the pesto of “cualazzi”, a type of cabbage, with breadcrumbs and anchovies; the dish is served with a pecorino cheese fondue. As a second course,” adds the chef, “I would recommend a fillet in an ancient wheat crust with sauce, tomato extract, flavoured with orange or lemon. To prepare my dishes I use many local products, which I choose myself. Some of them, like mushrooms and asparagus or wild vegetables, I collect personally – the secret of my cooking is authenticity and love.“
The Restaurant
Il Palazzaccio
The Palazzaccio is a rustic, yet elegant venue, located in an ancient palace in via Umberto I, 23, in the heart of the historical centre of Castelbuono, in the so-called…
“Testa di Turco by Chef Sandro Cicero”
An unmissable dish here at Palazzaccio is La Testa del Turco (the Turk’s Head), a typical dessert of Castelbuono, of Arabic origins. According to the legend, this traditional dessert was first created by the jubilating inhabitants of Castelbuono many centuries ago to celebrate the Norman victory over the Arabs, who dominated the town until then. It consists of a thin sheet of fried dough and a delicate cream flavoured with cinnamon and lemon. If you want to make it at home, here are the ingredients! For the dough: 100g of Italian 00 flour, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of sugar, a pinch of salt, vegetable oil; for the cream: 500 ml of milk, 100 g of sugar, 50 g of starch for desserts, the grated peel of one lemon; for decoration: cinnamon powder, chocolate chips/sugar sprinkles/hundreds and thousands.
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 100g of Italian 00 flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- a pinch of salt
- vegetable oil
For the cream:
- 500 ml of milk
- 100 g of sugar
- 50 g of starch for desserts
- the grated peel of one lemon
For decoration:
- cinnamon powder
- chocolate chips
- sugar sprinkles
- hundreds and thousands.
