“Ah, this is Sicily,” exclaimed our Roman friend as the waiter in the Osteria Antica Marina, a fish restaurant in the town of Catania, brought us a dozen small white bowls of antipasti. Like so many, he had clearly fallen for the charms of this fascinating island.

At the time I couldn’t help but agree; 48 hours later, however, after eating at a disused railway station waiting room that had been converted into a restaurant, breakfasting in a 127-year-old pasticceria and buying sweet oranges from a van with snow-capped Mount Etna in the background, I began to appreciate that there is far more to Sicily’s food than just its fish.