Where to eat in Erice: convent sweets, couscous and Trapanese flavours

Local specialties and traditional dishes

Erice, a medieval village perched 750 metres above sea level with views of the Aegadian Islands, preserves a culinary tradition where Trapanese maritime cuisine and the flavours of the Sicilian mountains merge. It is also the home of the legendary convent sweets, handed down by cloistered nuns for centuries.

Among first courses, busiate with Trapanese pesto are the symbol of local cuisine: spiral-shaped pasta dressed with fresh tomato, basil, toasted almonds and garlic, all pounded in a mortar. Fish couscous is the other great star: semolina worked by hand, steamed in a cuscusiera, and served with a rich mixed-fish broth. Spaghetti with lupini clams and spaghetti with sea urchins complete an exceptional seafood first-course panorama.

For main courses, fresh tuna alla trapanese (with onions, capers and tomato), sarde a beccafico, and boiled octopus with oil and lemon are unmissable classics. Roast lamb with Monte San Giuliano herbs represents the land-based cuisine.

Best trattorias and osterias

Erice's old town, enclosed within Norman walls, hosts restaurants and trattorias in evocative settings: rooms with fireplaces, inner courtyards with climbing plants, terraces overlooking the salt pans and the Aegadian Islands.

Trattorias along Via Vittorio Emanuele and in the small side squares offer seafood and meat menus at reasonable prices. The venues most popular with residents are those slightly off the beaten track, where the cook is often the owner and the menu follows the seasons and the day's catch.

In winter, when mist wraps the village, restaurants with blazing fireplaces offer a magical atmosphere. Try them with a steaming plate of couscous and a glass of Grillo.

Convent pastry shops

Erice's pastry-making is famous throughout Sicily. Almond and candied fruit sweets, genovesi (oval cream-filled puffs), mustazzoli, and ericine (royal paste biscuits) descend directly from the recipes of the cloistered nuns of the Monastery of San Carlo. Several pastry shops in the centre continue this centuries-old tradition.

Street food and snacks

Street food in Erice is less varied than in Sicily's larger cities, but flavour is not lacking. Bakeries sell pane cunzato, sfincione (focaccia with tomato, anchovies, onion and caciocavallo), and arancini. Shops offer sandwiches with local tuna in oil and Pantelleria capers.

The street sweet par excellence is the genovese: an oval brioche cut in half and filled with warm custard cream. It can be found in every pastry shop in the village for just a few euros. In summer, almond granita with brioche is the perfect breakfast before exploring the castle.

Local wines

The province of Trapani is a land of great wines. Marsala, the historic fortified wine, comes in several types: Fine, Superiore, Vergine. Grillo, an indigenous grape, produces fresh and aromatic dry whites, ideal with fish. Nero d'Avola is the most widespread red.

Wineries in the Marsala and Alcamo areas offer visits and tastings. For a unique experience, some offer vineyard dinners with views of the salt pans at sunset.

Markets and local products

Erice does not have a large market, but artisan shops in the centre sell excellent products: tuna in oil, capers in salt, thyme honey, Erice ceramics, and of course packaged convent sweets. For a proper market, head down to Trapani on Tuesday and Saturday mornings.

Unmissable gastronomic souvenirs include: packaged almond sweets, flavoured salt from the Trapanese salt pans, jarred Trapanese pesto, and a bottle of Marsala Vergine.

Budget tips

Erice is more affordable than you might think. Trattorias with full fish menus (starter, first course, main, side) offer lunches between 20 and 28 euros, a reasonable price for the quality. Sandwiches and street food cost 3-5 euros.

Avoid restaurants right next to the Cathedral and the Castle: they are the most expensive. Pastry shops have fixed prices regardless of location, so buy your sweets wherever you prefer without worry.

If staying in Trapani (cheaper for accommodation), come up to Erice for lunch and return for dinner in the valley.