The pizza competition

The contest “pizza with fish”.

Every year in Catania there is a pizza contest with fish where almost all the pizzaioli of Catania participate and also our school participates. The contest takes place in Pala Cannizzaro.
The competitors must have an area on their own where they prepare the “mise en place”.
Afetr having prepared their pizza which must contain any kinds of fish, competitors are asked some questions by the jury about pizza in general.
Only three students gain a prize, the other participants get a certificate.
Last year a student of our school won the third prize with her pizza called “green sea”. At the end of the competition pizza with coke was offered to all the guests.

The castles in Sicily

DONNAFUGATA Castle is located a few kilometers far from Ragusa, one of the nine provinces of Sicily. This is a magnificent noble palace of the '800, previously inhabited by the rich family Arezzo De Spuches.

The “Ursino” castle

The Ursino Castle is located in Catania. It was founded by Frederic II of Swabia in the XIII th century (1239). .Its most suitable name is that of stronghold because it was designed and built with this purpose.It has a square plan, with sides of m.63 and thick walls of m.3; 4 angular towers the names of which are: Martyr tower, Flag tower, Salt tower and stores tower.
On the front door there a niche (trilobe) containing the statue of the an eagle, the Swabian symbol catching a lamb which represents Catanesi dominated by Frederic II.In the south and east sides there are some beautiful XV th century windows; over one of them there is a strange “Pentalfa”, a five-ended star, made of limestone and pumice of lava, perhaps it was Frederic’s precious talisman.It’s one of the most important examples of medieval fortifications.

The ”Norman castle of Adrano”

The Norman castle of Adrano is a symbol of this town (Adrano); it was built by Count Roger Ist of Sicily in the XIth century. After the Norman domination, the castle became property of the different famous Sicilian dynasties during the centuries.

The Castle “Utveggio of Palermo”

Utveggio castle is an important building in Liberty style similar to a Gothic castle with its characteristic pale pink color. It is situated on the promontory of Mount Pellegrino with a view over the city of Palermo.

This work has been written by Daniele and Ignazio.

The coffee competition.

Last year in my school was held a competition totally dedicated to “COFFEE”. This competition dealt with the origins of coffee .
I with another boy participated in it. I have got the specialization as barman.
The purpose of the competition was that of verifying our knowledge in the field. During this competition you are asked many questions about for example, the various stages of coffee and of other products too, such as the “CAPPUCCINO”.
Those who better answered were given the highest mark. It was really a good experience which was very useful to improve our technical skills and knowledge.

The barman competition.

Among the different activities that normally take place in our school there are many competitions which regard different fields. One of these was the barman competition which was held in Florence last year. I took part in it together with my schoolmate Carmelo.

It consisted in preparing an international cocktail and a fantasy cocktail ( the latter was a cocktail whose ingredients were chosen and mixed by the participants themselves).

The participants were 36 taking part in preliminary heats.

Carmelo was unlucky because due to a mistake he made he was excluded ,while I took part in the final round even if I gained the second place.

It was really a good experience that we hope to repeat in the future.

This work has been written by Alessandro and Carmelo.