Reader\'s Digest IN 02.2020

readersdigest.co.in 103

immersed in a fathomless sleep.

In Palermo they love nothing more

than a stricken Jesus, and a cherub,

thighs rippling with so much fat you

can scarcely believe that mere cement

keeps the creature stuck on.

Even the food here tastes extra vis-

ceral. The spleen sandwiches. The

caponata made with aubergine the

colour of deep bruises, simmered

until its skin eases away like a stock-

ing in your mouth, leaving just the

tanned flesh that feels slightly like

cannibalism. Wild mulberries in the

Ballarò market. Still-bleeding tuna,

squashed, dripping figs and honey as

rust-dark as henna.

Once, on a flight to the city during a

blustery February, the woman across

from me recited the rosary from

Top: Mondello

Beach lures

people out

of the city

during the

hot summer

months.

Right: This

building in

the Plaza

Garraffello

is just one

example of

the dereliction

that runs

rampant in

Palermo.

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