La Mattanza

Villas in Sicily on or near the Egadi Islands >>

For gourmets in Sicily, the months of May and June mean tuna in all manner of recipes.

But the story of how this tasty fish arrives on our plate is both fascinating and brutal. The usually tranquil Egadi Islands, just off the west coast of Sicily, are the scene of an age-old massacre – the “mattanza”!

Each year, unsuspecting floats of blue fin tuna pass through these waters on their way to the Atlantic. What awaits them, however, are a series of nets, "isole", which, becoming progressively smaller in size, usher them inexorably towards the final trap - the “camera della morte”, or chamber of death.

It is here that the islands' fishermen, who would surely have found a friend in Hemmingway, are waiting in their boats, armed with spear-like weapons that are plunged again and again into the flesh of the frantic tuna. The sea boils with blood and the “Rais” – the head of the group of fishermen – incites his team to ever greater intensity.

The fish, which can weigh up to an enormous 800kg, are hauled into the boats and taken back to the islands, leaving the sea to wash away the memory of the slaughter and restore the usual calm.

Much of the tuna is sold en masse to the Japanese market for the preparation of sushi and sashimi, though fortunately enough is kept within Sicily to sate the locals!

Villas in Sicily on or near the Egadi Islands >>