Bitter Almonds: Recollections and Recipes from a Sicilian Girlhood

In the early 1950s, Maria Grammatico and her sister were sent by their impoverished mother to a cloistered orphanage in the ancient Sicilian hill town of Erice. It was a Dickensian existence—beating sugar mixtures for

In the early 1950s, Maria Grammatico and her sister were sent by their impoverished mother to a cloistered orphanage in the ancient Sicilian hill town of Erice. It was a Dickensian existence—beating sugar mixtures for six hours at a time, rising before dawn to prime the ovens, and surviving on an unrelenting diet of vegetable gruel. But it was there that Maria learned to make the beautifully handcrafted pastries that were sold to customers from behind a grille in the convent wall. At 22, Maria left the orphanage with little else than the knowledge acquired during a childhood spent preparing delicacies for others. Today, she is the successful owner of her own pasticceria in Erice, a mecca for travelers the world over. A frequent customer, Mary Taylor Simeti—author of On Persephone’s Island and Sicilian Food—became first a friend and then the chronicler of Maria’s extraordinary story.