Glossary S
Sauce Gribiche refers to a French sauce made from Mayonnaise with capers, cornichons, hard -boiled or hard-cooked eggs and herbs.
Stigghiola refers to the roasted or grilled intestines of sheep or goat over fire until crispy. It is regarded and listed as one of the street foods of Italy, particulary in Sicily.
Stigghiola is cooked on a skewer sometimes braided with a strand of Scallions to add more flavor, seasoned with salt, and eaten in bite-size chunks. Like Pane con la Milza (or Vastedda) which makes used of organ meat (spleen), it is said that Stigghiola made of intestines is far tastier
In Sicily and the whole of Italy, there are other recipes existing using offals or organ meats. In Sicily, though Stigghiola is the most common, perhaps because it is sold as one of the street foods and consumed by many.
A popular theory holds that Stigghiola, like chitlins or chitterlings (a similar dish once popular in the American South), was originally a food of the poor. It might be true in earlier times, but nowadays, in Sicily, Stigghiola has become an almost "stylish" cultural symbol of culinary tradition in recent years. The truth is that until the twentieth century, offal was more popular generally, not only in Italy but in many countries.
It has been suggested that Stigghiola, like spleen meat, was popular among Sicily's medieval Jewish and Muslim populations, which did not consume pork.
Sfincione is referred to as thick Sicilian "pizza" but it is actually more precisely a focaccia that is topped with tomatoes, onions, a few anchovies and perhaps grated Casciocavallo cheese, seasoned with a dash of oregano. Outside Italy, the term "Sicilian pizza" is used to describe all kinds of things, but until the 1860s Sfincione which is loosely translated as "thick sponge" was the kind of "pizza" often consumed in Sicily, especially in the western part of the island. Sfincione has a spongy crust up to two (2) centimetres or about an an inch thick, hence, Sfincione is more like bread than pizza which in Italy has usually a thin crust.
Sfincione is a local form of "pizza" in Sicily prepared on a thick bread and which is more likely found in a Bakery than in a Pizzeria. Sfincione is good as a snack or appetizer.
Sfincione has been made only since the seventeenth century. The most important ingredient, the tomato, is South American in origin and has only been cultivated in Sicily since the sixteenth century. There is a story that Sfincione have been invented by some cloistered nuns, but nobody knows for sure if this story is real.
Although the tomatoes are essential in making Sfincione, its real flavor comes from the onions sautéed in olive oil before baking.
Sfincione is regarded and listed as one of the street foods of Sicily and it is made or sold by a Sfinciunaro. Street vendors sell Sfincione at Palermo's open-air markets, but some of the best is made by bakeries around Palermo. Traditionally, Sfincione is served on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and Good Friday.
To prepare Sfincione, only virgin olive oil must be used in the dough and topping and it is baked in a square tray and cut into square or rectangular pieces before serving, unlike the traditional Italian circular pizza.
Sweetened condensed milk refers to a type of milk which is made from pasteurized whole milk that has had 60% of the water removed by heating the milk and concentrating it and then sugar is added.
Personal Note: In the Philippines, condensed milk is mostly used in making desserts, such as Fuit salad and Leche Plan. In Germany, I am so unlucky not to have found Sweetened condensed milk and it is one of the foods I miss whileliving in Germany.