Caponata Siciliana

Caponata is the dish that proves Sicily is not quite Italy. The sweet-sour balance, the pine nuts, the complex layering of flavors that improve with time: these are the fingerprints of Arab cooking, left on the island during three centuries of Moorish rule. Sicilian cooks absorbed these techniques and made them their own. The result is something that exists nowhere else.

The eggplant must be fried separately, the celery cooked to retain its character, the onions softened into sweetness before the tomatoes arrive. Each vegetable is treated according to its nature. Then they come together with the agrodolce, that ancient sweet-sour combination that the Arabs perfected. The vinegar must be good wine vinegar. The sugar can be white or a touch of honey if you prefer.

I tell you to wait overnight before serving. You will taste why. Fresh caponata is pleasant enough. Rested caponata is extraordinary. The acids mellow, the flavors marry, the pine nuts soften just enough. If you can wait two days, wait two days. The Sicilians know this, which is why caponata appears at every festa and family gathering: it must be made in advance, and it only improves.