“To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not to have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the clue to everything.” — Goethe

Ciao from Palermo, Sicily!

How fitting that my first bite of food in this beautiful ancient city was a cannolo, cannoli in its plural form. Surprisingly, I found this most famous of Sicilian desserts inside an 800 year-old monastery, home to 400 nuns in its glory. Today, the Monastery of St. Caterina houses a very special shop, I Segreti del Chiostro, The Secrets of the Cloister.

**The Connolo is considered the king of Sicilian desserts and, unlike those found elsewhere, are made exclusively from sheep’s milk.**

And wouldn’t you know, the “secrets” are beautiful and tasty sweets, created from ancient recipes of the sisters. The shop is known for its cannoli, considered the best in Palermo—it was certainly the largest I’ve ever seen, a gorgeous rolled fried pastry, stuffed with a sweet and creamy ricotta filling. Made to order, it was sprinkled with mini chocolate bits and bright green Sicilian Bronte pistachios, then topped with a piece of candied orange and a maraschino cherry. All that for 2.80 euros!

Next time you are in Palermo, make sure to head to the monastery, purchase your cannolo (or cannoli!) and enjoy eating it outside, sitting on a bench in the cloister, a slightly decrepit garden, yet charming in its own way—just like the rest of this gritty city (more on that here). Ciao!