Sweet, intense and colourful is how Sicilian patisserie will appear to the fortunate eyes seeing it for the first time. Those who have time to get to know it well, however, will find it is also sensual, dramatic and irreverent. Because making pastries in Sicily is never a purely gastronomic issue: it may be a declaration of love, social ostentation of personal wealth, a way of mocking a defeated enemy. It is a gesture that underpins countless intentions, coded and described in stories rooted in the mists of time. This anthology collects some of those stories and the mostdelicious traditional Sicilian sweets, illustrated by poignant images and accompanied by some personal tips, the scent of childhood and some memories, all bound together by one embedded certainty: in Sicily, a sweet is never something that is just good to eat. It is a magical microcosm, an ancient tale, a legend that demands to told..