Lessons Learned - Sicily Provisioning 2022

Determining the menu for our Sicily trip was the easy part. The larger challenge is making sure you have a solid team for provisioning, and that your crew members are on board to help prepare meals. Here are some other considerations when you plan your sailing trip to the Aeolian islands:

Availability of different foods

Don't assume that you will be able to prepare your favorite taco recipe or chicken teriyaki in Italy. Although there were a few international foods available, the best availability is always going to be for local foods and local recipes. Through my research beforehand, I learned that Italians generally eat a light, sweet breakfast, like biscotti or pastry with coffee. Our group tends to eat a lot of yogurt for breakfast, and muesli is pretty common in Europe, so that was a good combo (one of our crew mates mixed the yogurt with muesli, banana and nutella - yum!). Seafood is popular in Sicily, so I knew there would be plenty of tuna, sardines and anchovies. We rarely provision fresh fish, but if we were to prepare it, it would be bought same day from a local fisherman, or eaten on shore. We bought groceries at both Lidl and Eurospin. There were also road-side stands for fresh produce. Some countries only have fresh produce at local markets.

Pasta

What I was planning to buy prior to the trip: spaghetti, orecchiette, & rotini

What I actually bought: spaghetti, rotini, couscous and rigatoni

Did not find: orechiette, shells

Starches

What I was planning to buy prior to the trip: pre-cooked polenta, medium potatoes, pre-made gnocchi

What I actually bought: dry instant Italian cornmeal, medium potatoes, refrigerated pre-made gnocchi

Did not find: pre-cooked polenta

Vegetables

What I was planning to buy prior to the trip: fresh eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, onion, zucchini, green and black olives, minced garlic

What I actually bought: fresh eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, onion, zucchini, spinach, jarred giardiniera, green and black olives, whole garlic, jarred sofrito, canned whole peeled tomatoes

Did not find: pre-cut garlic, had to go to a road-side stand for broccoli

Proteins

What I was planning to buy prior to the trip: chicken breast, steak, tuna, anchovies, eggs, cheese, prosciutto, salami, ground sausage

What I actually bought: chicken breast, thin-sliced steak, tuna, anchovies, eggs, grana padano, fresh mozzarella, buffalo mozzarella and a variety of mild hard cheeses, prosciutto, salami, hard un-cooked sausage

Did not find: ground sausage - if we had had a grill, we would have also bought fresh fish from the merchants who would motor past and hawk their product

Condiments

What I was planning to buy prior to the trip: basil pesto, salt, pepper, mustard, mayo, tomato sauce, olive oil, sunflower oil, balsamic & white wine vinegar, crushed red pepper, nutella, peanut butter

What I actually bought: genovese (basil) pesto, pistachio pesto, salt, pepper, mustard, mayo, tomato sauce, olive oil, sunflower oil, balsamic & white wine vinegar, crushed red pepper, bruschetta herb seasoning mix, puttanesca herb seasoning mix, oregano, nutella

Did not find: peanut butter

Key provisioning strategies 

Before you arrive:

- Based on the itinerary, think about how many meals will be eaten on land, and how many on shore - the skipper said to plan 4 meals on the boat

- Find out what the locals eat and incorporate that into your provisioning choices 

- Plan to over-provision: add 2-3 meals that you could eat in a pinch with minimal additional ingredients - ideally meals with non-perishable ingredients (i.e. spaghetti & marinara, tuna fish with crackers)

- Think about what appliances you will have available - typically 1-2 gas burners, an oven, maybe a grill (less common on the Mediterranean), pour over coffee maker, moka pot

- Think about what will we eat under sail. Do we have easy-to-eat meals or snacks when the sea is rough? Do we have light foods like crackers in case of sea sickness?

- Ask the marina if they can do some of the provisioning for you in advance. Our boat broker said orders needed to be submitted 10 days in advance, but ours was basically submitted the same day, so it doesn't hurt to ask. Keep an additional copy of your order in excel format in case you need to re-send it.

- Order 1 gallon of water per person per day - if you order nothing else from the marina, order this

- Pack your own salt and pepper shakers if possible. If you have any meals that require unusual spices, or non-local flavors, pack those as well (i.e. taco seasoning in Italy)

Once you arrive:

- Confirm your order was received, review it for errors, make a plan to obtain missing item's 

- Alcohol was market up 3 times on the base - try to provision alcohol beforehand if you have the time, or have people grab duty free

- Ask for a cooler for ice (some marinas rent coolers, but Portorosa didn't really). Our friend Danillo, at the icebox gave us a flimsy styrofoam cooler that last all of 4 days before someone stepped on the lid and it was all over

- Buy 4-6 bags of ice for the fridge, and another 4-6 bags of ice for the cooler/ cold drinks

- Provisioning for a week typically costs $1000-1500 for 8-10 people 

- Allow 3 hours to fully provision or 1-2 hours if you can order some foods in advance

Mid-week:

- If you are able to dock at a marina during the week, take that opportunity to clean out your fridge of rotting foods (chicken, spinach, bananas and bread often do not last)

- Re-provision fresh bread and salad greens at local towns - eat salad greens within 24 hours

- Stay flexible - some planned meals will inevitably be missing a key ingredient at this stage, pivot and plan new meals that you do have the ingredients for

- Focus on using up fresh ingredients - canned and jarred foods can be left at the marina for the staff or other boat rentals