Francesco Turrisi
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I rarely eat in the same restaurant more than once when visiting a place, but here I came back 3 times!
When I first arrived in Trapani a few days ago, I headed out for dinner to a restaurant I had read about in several places: Caupona, taverna di Sicilia.
After a few bites I became enamored with the food conceived and prepared by chef Rosi Napoli.
The first night I ordered something rather traditional, but that I haven’t eaten much in the past: ricotta ravioli in a rich fish broth, and I felt immediately a very strong emotional connection to this food. The creaminess of the fresh ricotta somehow tempering the intensity of the Trapanese style dense broth and ultimately this dish was incredibly balanced.
Having grown up with a nonna and a bunch of aunts from Trapani, I am very accustomed and I have an emotional attachment to the flavors of Trapanese traditional cuisine. Here I found all these flavors but always with an extra twist that never felt forced or contrived. There is a deep understanding of the traditional flavors and how they can be combined in an unusual way.
At the end of that meal I decided to come back and the second time around I let Francesca (who works there) suggests something for me. She convinced me to try a starter that I would have never ordered: fried tuma cheese and tuna bottarga. For some reason this combination of deep fried cheese and super salty cured tuna roe made no sense to me…and yet she was so right. This proved to be one of the tastiest things I have had in this trip. This was such a happy marriage, a genius combination, you could hardly tell the two ingredients apart in your mouth. The wafer thin bottarga almost melted onto the hot crunchy crust of the breaded cheese, and the gooey interior harmoniously blended with the umami of the bottarga…in fact this was an umami fest in my mouth and I couldn’t help but smile at every bite. After I also tried a pasta with octopus ragu’ (also recommended by Francesca). I rarely order octopus, I do like it, but I have some childhood experiences that somehow always stop me from ordering it (a story for another time). This dish was a true explosion of flavor. At first I noticed some raw cold diced tomato on top of the pasta and was a little worried about that, but after a few bites I understood this was another stroke of genius, the tomato acting as a mouth freshener just when you were starting to feel the ragu’ was almost too intense. The temperature and texture contrast also really worked as a general freshness mouthfeel.
The third night I ordered a mixed platter of antipasti…every morsel tastier than the previous one, special mention to a melt-in-your-mouth anchovy “meatball” and a cured tuna on top of a panella (chickpea fritter). I finished with a handmade pasta with a kind of pesto made with basil, garlic and almonds, and a tartare of rich and almost creamy Mazara red prawn…so good, it was like a celebration in my mouth!
This is my favorite kind of restaurant, it’s normally priced, heavily based on tradition, but with an intensity of flavor and playfulness worth of a starred restaurant, without the pretentiousness. The food is so balanced and so incredibly well seasoned (not always a given even in nice places).
Every night my mouth and my soul were so happy and satisfied that I felt no need or concentration left for a dessert, so I ordered a glass of sweet wine (zibibbo or marsala) instead, accompanied by a small almond paste cookie.
May I add this place has the best view ever, in front of the beautiful chiesa delle anime sante del purgatorio. If you find yourself in Trapani go visit!
