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- A quick round-up, fermentation fest announcement, and paige Lipari Island No. 2 with Etna Mess compendium
A quick round-up, fermentation fest announcement, and paige Lipari Island No. 2 with Etna Mess compendium
the joy of the Etna Mess Part One
Paige Lipari
September 03, 2025
the latest
No. 1 → | No. 2 → |
No. 3 → | No. 4 → |
No. 5 → | No. 6 → |
or “They could only hold on as do things which should not last”
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The recipe for this Etna Mess is at the very bottom of this email. Here is a trailer for the bottom of this email at the top of this email.
first encounter in notebook, May 28, 2019
Etna is erupting. She is always in activity. Si, she’s a she and not just to me. Creating and destroying. Constantly renewing. The area around her is fertile and the crops are lifted by volcanic soil. Entire villages have been ruined. Things hiding under the surface made visible.
Sometimes, my psyche and the psyche of the volcano are indistinguishable. Creativity can feel like an eruption; the unseen is made seen. I spew out and in!
I remember it was from a brunch menu. Si, I was writing a brunch menu with a plan to start implementing it in 2020. I wanted to make something like a granola + yogurt bowl, but through the lens of the Cyclops. Lava arrived before the cue.
Two years later, you all welcomed this inhospitable volcano dessert breakfast with open arms and gratitude. Thank you. I hope I can return it as I take it in. I have whipped up something like 38 of these mothers.
You may or may not have noticed, but I’ve been Etna Mess dormant for about a year and it isn’t by accident. Something happened that stopped me from making, from renewing, from creating.
So now I must erupt this repressed fury, as nothing great will come from keeping the fire inside. Much more on that in Etna Mess Part Two in September. Today we are in the joy. In the primordial Etna era.
Please go forth and make your own beautiful one at home and feed your cats a tiny bit of the cream.
Love, love,
ppppp
 no sticker on this one! | #1July 23, 2022
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 sticker says: strawberry pie, gin chocolate, ricotta cream, meringue, marsala honey | #2July 24, 2022 Official weekend special: the ETNA MESS. A play on the classic English dessert “ETON MESS” but featuring the ACTIVE Sicilian volcano ETNA and the foodsy riches of her territory. She is erupting as we type. |
 sticker unknown | #3July 30, 2022 MYSTERY Etna - I will keep looking in my notes, but it looks like blueberry pie and caramel. |
 fresh apricot, meringue, ricotta, whip, vermouth caramel | #4August 6, 2022 ETNA MESS 🌋🌋🌋 today and tomorrow we have some fresh apricot cooked in vanilla bean and Prosecco and the meringue and the ricotta whipppo and the Vermouth Caramel. #etnamess #glutenfree |
 sticker unknown | #5August 13, 2022
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 yellow peaches in Moet, ricotta whippp, meringue, saffron goat milk caramel | #6August 20, 2022 🌋🌋🌋 ETNA is weeping saffron caramel and lightly boozy peaches in whipppo ricotta and meringue. |
OECONOMIA DIVINA (From The Rising of the Sun)
I did not expect to live in such an unusual moment. When the God of thunders and of rocky heights,
The Lord of hosts, Kyrios Sabaoth,
Would humble people to the quick,
Allowing them to act whatever way they wished,
Leaving to them conclusions, saying nothing.
It was a spectacle that was indeed unlike
The agelong cycle of royal tragedies.
Roads on concrete pillars, cities of glass and cast iron,
Airfields larger than tribal dominions
Suddenly ran short of their essence and disintegrated
Not in a dream but really, for, subtracted from themselves,
They could only hold on as do things which should not last.
Out of trees, field stones, even lemons on the table,
Materiality escaped and their spectrum
Proved to be a void, a haze on a film.
Dispossessed of its objects, space was swarming.
Everywhere was nowhere and nowhere, everywhere.
Letters in books turned silver-pale, wobbled, and faded
The hand was not able to trace the palm sign, the river sign, or the sign of ibis.
A hullabaloo of many tongues proclaimed the mortality of the language.
A complaint was forbidden as it complained to itself.
People, afflicted with an incomprehensible distress,
Were throwing off their clothes on the piazzas so that nakedness might call
For judgment.
But in vain they were longing after horror, pity, and anger.
Neither work nor leisure
Was justified,
Nor the face, nor the hair nor the loins
Nor any existence.
 no sticker | #7August 21, 2022 This one has prune plums and will disarm you |
 cherry tomatoes, strawberries, ricotta whippp, meringue, classic caramel | #8August 27, 2022 |
 pear, panforte cream, ricotta whippp, meringue, caramel classic | #9August 28, 2022 Listen, she can erupt at any moment and we may only have today! TODAY’s SPECIAL #etnaness has floral bartlett pears cooked in wine and spices with some Christmas panforte whipped and whipped into a buttercream with more ricotta whipp and meringue and caramel 🌋🌋🌋 did that make sense? These are the parts in the sum of the whole all working together so we are all in this cup omg |
 no sticker | #10September 3, 2022 The 🌋🌋🌋 #ETNAMESS (Italian for ETON MESS) has the sweetest freshest corn and 🇮🇹polenta cake, a peach vermouth sauce, white stuff (meringue, ricotta whip), and buttermilk caramel (so buttery). |
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 watermelon pudding, dark chocolate, pistachio + walnut, meringue, ricotta whipp | #11September 10, 2022 Some GELO di MELONE inspired #ETNAMESS🌋 this weekend! Involves watermelon 🍉 pudding topped with pistachios, walnuts, and chocolate. So FRIGGIN SICILIAN. Also, white stuff (meringue and ricotta whipp). |
 no sticker | #12September 17, 2022 The #ETNAMESS will stain your tongue purple / come come. The most wonderful purple grapes roasted in the oven and topped with homemade vino cotto (8 cups of mulled wine down to 2 cups of wine 🙏), white stuff (meringue, ricotta whippp) and caramel. |
 apple crumble, meringue, ricotta whippp, matcha white chocolate creme anglaise | #13September 24, 2022 We like our desserts to reflect how we are feeling. The #ETNAMESS today is filled with supercharged spiced apples, a crumbly crumble, ricotta whippp, meringue and some white chocolate matcha creme anglaise. |
 wine poached pear, ricotta whipp, meringue, hazelnut sauce, chopped choc, nocciole vibe | #14October 1, 2022
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 pumpkin squash, cardamom, sesame, orange caramel, ricotta whipppp, meringue | #15October 8, 2022 Today is the #EtnaMess |
 banana donut, wine apples in cinnaspices, ricotta whipppp, meringue | #16October 15, 2022 The #ETNAMESS has donuts in it today! Like a banana cinnamon and sugar one topped with stewed apples and meringue and ricotta whipppppp. Actually, it’s not ‘like a banana cinnamon and sugar one’ - it fully is. Which reminds me of that time my father bought a card for my brother that said ‘Like a Son’ on full accident and we laughed and laughed. |
 flourless chocolate cake, vermouth caramel, ricotta whipp, meringue | #17October 22, 2022 This weekend’s #etnamess is inspired by me wanting chocolate cake on my period. It remains #glutenfree ! Flourless chocolate cake, ricotta whippppp, meringue, and vermouth caramel! |
 | #18November 5, 2022 We are moved and fortunate to bring you an Iranian inspired Etna mess. 🌹💃 All $$$ to the Iranian Diaspora Collective’s urgent call for Mainstream Media Coverage of the horrific murder of Zhina Mahsa Amina and its aftermath. A woman died for wearing an “improper hijab” so FUCK THAT and we present to you our peaceful protest. |
#18 / proceeds went to the Iranian Diaspora Collective with the help of Roya Shariat
 strawberry cake, Meyer lemon curd, meringue, ricotta whippp, simple woman | #19November 12, 2022
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 orange sweet potato + Japanese sweet potato + cranberry sauce with caramel mixed in for back note depth + ricotta whipp + meringue | #20November 19, 2022 The #EtnaMess is filled with roasted sweet potatoes and Japanese sweet potatoes and apples (cooked in apple cider) and this red wine cranberry compote mixed with a little caramel which made it taste nice and the white stuff! Meringue and ricotta whipppp. |
 buttery almond cake, Meyer lemon curd, ricotta whip, meringue, thank you so much | #21December 3, 2022 |
 california citrus clafoutis + jasmine creme anglaise, meringueeee, ricotta whippp | #22March 11, 2023 ETNA IS A VOLCANO AND WE ARE THE MESS 🌋back this weekend is our sicilian spin on #etonmess👩👦filled with coconut and California citrus clafoutis (si, there are coconuts in sicily), with a jasmine creme anglaise (si, jasmine grows everywhere you can sniff it when you land), plus ricotta whipp and classic meringue. |
 panettone bread pudding, blackberry sambuca compote, ricotta whipp, meringueee | #23March 18, 2023 Harriet is a fan of the #ETNAMESS today! It’s got some leftover holiday pannetone which we made into bread pudding and simmered up a sambuca sweet blackberry compote with ritual ricotta whipp and meringue we crunched up and sacrificed. |
 anise scone, golden raisin, tangelo marmalade, ricotta whippp, meringueerree | #24April 15, 2023 #ETNAMESS is back after a short hiatus. She got covid and needed to chill and be dormant for a bit 🛌🛌🛌 BUT SHE SAYS HI HI TODAY and is filled with our anise golden raisin scones and topped with both a heavy and light ricotta whipppooo buddy and meringue crushed and destroyed plus a million tangelos stewed into a bittersweet syrup. If you forgot what bittersweet is and need a reminder come try this syrup. |
 love is a pink cake angel food cake, blackberry sauce, almond ricotta whippp, merinigueeeee | #25April 29, 2023 The #etnamess is filled with the most floofy floofy vanilla cake from @claireptak of @violetcakeslondon with whom we are doing an event this Wednesday, May the 3rd! Blackberry sauce and almond ricotta whipp and meringueeeeee. Simply: very comforting on this rainy day. |
 quince in sherry, tangelo sauce, saffron caramel, ricotta whipppp, meringue | #26May 13, 2023
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 panettone bread pudding, hazelnut creamy, blackberry juice, zest of ruby red, ricotta whippp, meringueee | #27June 11, 2023 Another lost Etna! No post about this one. |
 apricot in wine + port, caramel + ricotta whippp + meringue | #28June 17, 2023 |
A selection of special items I’ve been hoarding, giving love, and now must release to you exclusively. Feel free to purchase or simply admire here. I show and I tell.
Cucina Che Vai Natura Che Trovi
The most beautiful cookbook series ever written (si) is the In Bocca (In the Mouth) series from Edizioni il Vespro. Starting in 1976, it is comprised of 20 excellent regional cookbooks also heavy in local lore, art, poetry, slang, and much more. The books are extremely rare and the editions roughly go for $400 ish bucks in the US.
The cookbook (now available to purchase) I’m featuring above was some kind of related side project of the series called ‘Cucina Che Vai Natura Che Trovi’ which very roughly translates to: You go to the kitchen, you find nature.
The editor’s distinctly wanted to focus on the simple, natural dishes that formed the backbone of Sicilian cuisine. Garlic aioli with a large red mullet, grilled and wrapped in fig leaves, seasoned with oregano and basil. Also, lamb, hare, rabbit, and fish, simply grilled. Almond and honey based pastries. Bread and vegetables like bitter chicory. The wine whose grapes sprung out of the fertile terra firma around Mount Etna.
They chose to call attention to the cuisine of the truly poor and omit very lengthy recipes (no time) or recipes that require special tools (no money). It’s more a soup of wild greens gathered on the way home from working in the fields enriched with maccu (a creamy bean paste) over a prawn couscous which would specifically require a couscoussier.
There are incredible historical images and drawings throughout. There is also a chapter in the book titled ‘Sicilian things' which has a collection of sayings and proverbs and riddles.
The last time I was in Alcamo visiting my family, I scooped myself a big plastic bag of dried chickpeas from the produce stall around the corner from them. It had a great sign and somewhere I have a pic! Lemme see. Ok, I found it:
Oasi della frutta / Oasis of Fruit
I think they cost something close to 4 euro for about 70 ounces. It ended up being extremely simple to bring back in my suitcase and were the most delicious chickpeas I’ve ever had in my life.
A translation of the ‘Minestra di ceci’ recipe above:
Chickpea Soup
This soup also boasts an ancient tradition and is still prepared today in both western and eastern Sicily. In the evening, soak 800 grams of chickpeas in water overnight with a pinch of baking soda. Transfer the chickpeas with their cooking water (which should well cover the legumes) to a pan, add salt, and bring to a boil over low heat. Cook. In another terracotta pot, sauté 2 sliced onions in olive oil, add 2 ripe tomatoes, peeled and cut into wedges, a pinch of rosemary, ground red chili pepper, salt, and black pepper. Add the chickpeas with the cooking water and let them absorb the flavors. Serve this soup piping hot.
Me here: Serve this soup piping hot…with a few big glugs of olive oil, sea salt, primu sale cheese, and semolina bread on the table. Obvs. Ahhhhh! This reminds me —
During the Sicilian Vespers, Sicilian soldiers would ask supposed allies to pronounce the difficult word for chickpea (ciciri). If they pronounced it wrong or with a foreign dialect, they knew they were enemies trying to infiltrate. I just learned this linguistic quirk or insight is called a shibboleth.
It reminds me of how my Papa used to tell me when I was little that American soldiers in NYC would do a similar test on potential German spies during World War 2. The word/trap in question here was the ‘Houston’ in How-stun Street. Later, he told me he thinks he completely made that up.
I wonder what you call the Sicilian instinct to make sacred a small quirk and use it as a trick to catch outsiders THUS making yourself feel even MORE like a Sicilian.
There is not a whole ton on the internet about the il Vespro book series, but I just found this short film which features them nicely. You can get a sense. I deeply enjoyed the second half when they start cooking…
