The three words that became our favourite Sicilian dessert

We were sitting in a gelateria on the edge of Trapani's old town, towards one of the points where the streets thin out and the sea opens up on both sides. We'd ordered our gelato — perfectly fine, a couple of scoops, delicious as we've come to expect. And then we noticed the table next to us.

Whatever they were eating, it had hot sauce being poured over cold ice cream. Steam rising slightly. A glass dish, a long spoon, the kind of arrangement that suggests this is a Thing.

I asked in the best Italian I could muster, scusi, che cos'è? — excuse me, what is that?

The answer was caldo e freddo. Literally: hot and cold. Gelato with a glossy hot sauce — chocolate, in our case — poured over the top so the contrast becomes the whole point. It's a Sicilian dessert I'd somehow never read about, and as far as I can tell it's mostly local to the western part of the island. We ordered one immediately, despite having just finished. We went back the next day. We talked about it for the rest of the trip.

There are bigger reasons to go to Trapani — the windswept old town, the salt pans, a day trip to the Egadi Islands where the water in one secluded cove was so clear I free dove three metres just to grab a handful of sand and convince myself it was real.

But the part I keep telling people about over dinner here in Melbourne is the gelato. The dessert we had to point at to order. The three words we'll never forget in Italian.

This week's piece is the full deep dive on Trapani and the Egadi: where to stay, what to eat, the day trip that earned the whole week, and the advice I'd give a friend. Read it here.

See you next Friday.

— Robert