MAZARA DEL VALLO IS rare­ly the first choice for tourists
in Sicily. It lacks Palermo’s pomp, the
romance of Taormina, and the thrill of Corleone. The
port city in the far west does not cap­ti­va­te with
charm or beau­ty, but rather with authen­ti­ci­ty and
„mol­to gusto.“ Mazara should actual­ly fea­ture a
red prawn on its coat of arms, as ever­ything here revol­ves around the
famous Gambero Rosso. The majo­ri­ty of fishermen
— the har­bor is home to the lar­gest traw­ler fleet in the Mediterranean
— rely on the­se noble cru­stace­ans. The red
cru­stace­ans live at depths of 300 to 800 meters; the traw­lers only bring up 50 to 70 kilos per
net, a maxi­mum of
three times a day. The under­wa­ter curr­ents around
Sicily car­ry a par­ti­cu­lar­ly lar­ge amount of plank­ton, offering
a magni­fi­cent buf­fet for the „litt­le red-legs“ and giving
them their vibrant color, ten­der bite, and
uni­que aroma.

The fishing trips last seve­ral weeks and reach as far as the Greek Islands.
It is said of the Mazarani that most have always
grown up like semi-orphans becau­se their fathers are at sea for months
at a time. Mazara boasts the only int­act Kasbah in an Italian
city, a Muslim quarter.
Here, a muez­zin calls to pray­er from the mos­que twice a day
; enchan­ting wall cera­mics in the narrow
alleys are remi­nis­cent of Arab old towns. In the 1970s,
hundreds of Tunisians came here, many of them
fisher­men. In Mazara, they were warm­ly wel­co­med as skil­led professionals
and con­tri­bu­ted to the port city­’s fame and wealth.
Numerous impo­sing palaces,
dozens of magni­fi­cent churches, and the city cen­ter with
its white marb­le slabs used for roads and sidewalks
bear wit­ness to the suc­cess that fishing has
always brought to the city. It is also the Gambero Rosso, die
Luca Bianchi nach Mazara del Vallo brin­gen. Seine erste
„busi­ness trip“ to the deep south of Italy — „so far I haven’t made it past Rome,“
says Bianchi.

Together with his cou­sin Dario, he has been lea­ding the fifth gene­ra­ti­on of the deli­ca­tes­sen and food busi­ness sin­ce 2021, which was foun­ded in Zurich’s old town in 1881. Bianchi has been working with the tra­ding com­pa­ny Ittica Sud for a long time, as Fortunat Gregori con­firms. He has been with Bianchi for 37 years, curr­ent­ly ser­ving as the Head Buyer for Frozen Goods. This inclu­des the Gambero Rosso, which are flash-fro­zen at minus 50 degrees Celsius right on the traw­lers while fresh from the catch. Thus, after Easter, Luca Bianchi and Fortunat Gregori visit their Gambero Rosso sup­plier, the tra­ding com­pa­ny Ittica Sud, for the first time. Its CEO, Antonino Lo Presti, is, like so many locals, the sci­on of a fishing dynasty. The Lo Presti fami­ly sold their own ships, inclu­ding the „Sirio,“ about twen­ty years ago to devo­te them­sel­ves enti­re­ly to trade. The boss proud­ly leads the two-man Bianchi dele­ga­ti­on through the new­ly built pro­duc­tion rooms. Here, in the bit­ter­ly cold rooms, the pre­cious sea­food is stored fro­zen, just as it comes off the ships. Here they are packed into con­tai­ners of various sizes desti­ned for export. And here, women are at work, hea­vi­ly bund­led up against the cold and hygie­ni­cal­ly wrap­ped for hand­ling food.

They peel the Gambero Rosso, which are then cut into car­pac­cio and pres­sed. In addi­ti­on to who­le ani­mals in four sizes, Ittica Sud also offers por­tio­ned appe­ti­zers such as car­pac­cio or sphe­res made from the bright red cru­stace­an meat. The Bianchi men dis­cuss whe­ther to add the­se inno­va­tions to their ran­ge. The heads of the prawns are also available for par­ti­cu­lar­ly aro­ma­tic con­cas­sés. „This could cer­tain­ly inte­rest the chefs who order Gambero Rosso from us,“ says Gregori, pla­cing an initi­al order. Around four and a half tons of Gambero Rosso from Mazara del Vallo arri­ve at Bianchi in Zufikon every year, inclu­ding 400 kilos of tar­ta­re. Ittica Sud alo­ne dis­tri­bu­tes around 20 tons per year, being one of seve­ral pro­vi­ders in the prawn mec­ca of western Sicily. IN MAZARA DEL VALLO, you will, of cour­se, find the famous prawns in every local eatery. The best are ser­ved at the ele­gant „Altavilla“ in the cen­ter or the rustic „Al Pescolino d’Oro“ on the Lungomare. For Baldo Margiotta, the cap­tain of the „Sirio“ which sails for Ittica Sud, Gambero Rosso is a rare tre­at — „at most on a Sunday. Troppo caro“ — too expen­si­ve, says the sea­man, who was home for the Easter holi­days. Only for a few days, then it’s time to cast off again in pur­su­it of the Gambero Rosso.

It is said of the Mazarani that most have always grown up like semi-orphans becau­se their fathers are at sea for months
at a time. Mazara boasts the only int­act Kasbah in an Italian city, a Muslim quarter.
Here, a muez­zin calls to pray­er from the mos­que twice a day; enchan­ting wall cera­mics in the narrow
alleys are remi­nis­cent of Arab old towns. In the 1970s, hundreds of Tunisians came here, many of them
fisher­men. In Mazara, they were warm­ly wel­co­med as skil­led pro­fes­sio­nals and con­tri­bu­ted to the port city­’s fame and wealth.
Numerous impo­sing palaces, dozens of magni­fi­cent churches, and the city cen­ter with
its white marb­le slabs used for roads and side­walks bear wit­ness to the suc­cess that fishing has
always brought to the city. IT IS ALSO THE Gambero Rosso that bring Luca Bianchi to Mazara del Vallo.
His first „busi­ness trip“ to the deep south of Italy — „so far I haven’t made it past Rome,“
says Bianchi. Together with his cou­sin Dario, he has been lea­ding the fifth gene­ra­ti­on of the deli­ca­tes­sen and
food busi­ness sin­ce 2021, which was foun­ded in Zurich’s old town in 1881. Bianchi has been working with the tra­ding company
Ittica Sud for a long time, as Fortunat Gregori con­firms. He has been with Bianchi for 37 years, curr­ent­ly ser­ving as the
Head Buyer for Frozen Goods. This inclu­des the Gambero Rosso. They are
flash-fro­zen at minus 50 degrees Celsius right on the traw­lers while fresh from the catch. Luca Bianchi and Fortunat Gregori
visit their Gambero Rosso sup­plier, the tra­ding com­pa­ny Ittica Sud, for the first time after Easter.

Its CEO, Antonino Lo Presti, is, like so many locals, the sci­on of a fishing dynasty. The Lo Presti fami­ly sold their own ships, inclu­ding the „Sirio,“ about twen­ty years ago to devo­te them­sel­ves enti­re­ly to trade. The boss proud­ly leads the two-man Bianchi dele­ga­ti­on through the new­ly built pro­duc­tion rooms. Here, in the bit­ter­ly cold rooms, the pre­cious sea­food is stored fro­zen, just as it comes off the ships. Here they are packed into con­tai­ners of various sizes desti­ned for export. And here, women are at work, hea­vi­ly bund­led up against the cold and hygie­ni­cal­ly wrap­ped for hand­ling food. They peel the Gambero Rosso, which are then cut into car­pac­cio and pres­sed. In addi­ti­on to who­le ani­mals in four sizes, Ittica Sud also offers por­tio­ned appe­ti­zers such as car­pac­cio or sphe­res made from the bright red cru­stace­an meat. The Bianchi men dis­cuss whe­ther to add the­se inno­va­tions to their ran­ge. The heads of the prawns are also available for par­ti­cu­lar­ly aro­ma­tic con­cas­sés. „This could cer­tain­ly inte­rest the chefs who order Gambero Rosso from us,“ says Gregori, pla­cing an initi­al order. Around four and a half tons of Gambero Rosso from Mazara del Vallo arri­ve at Bianchi in Zufikon every year, inclu­ding 400 kilos of tar­ta­re. Ittica Sud alo­ne dis­tri­bu­tes around 20 tons per year, being one of seve­ral pro­vi­ders in the prawn mec­ca of western Sicily. IN MAZARA DEL VALLO, you will, of cour­se, find the famous prawns in every local eatery. The best are ser­ved at the ele­gant „Altavilla“ in the cen­ter or the rustic „Al Pescolino d’Oro“ on the Lungomare. For Baldo Margiotta, the cap­tain of the „Sirio“ which sails for Ittica Sud, Gambero Rosso is a rare tre­at — „at most on a Sunday. Troppo caro“ — too expen­si­ve, says the sea­man, who was home for the Easter holi­days. Only for a few days, then it’s time to cast off again in pur­su­it of the Gambero Rosso.