The Mahdi Times The Mahdi Times July 2014 | Page 97

The other type of desert introduced by
the Africans was little cakes made from
ground nuts. They have no flour, just
almond or pistachio flour, egg white and
sugar.

Although this prejudice is considered by
many to be more historical than
contemporary, you will find that an
ample number of Sicilian families who
believe it still exists.

CROPS: The Africans imported plants

As a Sicilian-American woman in my
mid-50’s, I can remember my
grandmother’s childhood warning to me
to always say I was Italian, not Sicilian,
because if others knew I was Sicilian
they would be mean to me. She based
her instruction on the fact that the
Italian women in our neighborhood
wouldn’t eat the food she prepared for
the parish potlucks because they
believed that Sicilians were dirty, and
food cooked in their kitchens was
somehow contaminated. The memories
of her warnings flooded back to me in
1996 when I made a batch of Sicilian
fried green tomatoes for a neighbor man
who had h V