Mario Biffarella and Remembrances five years after his passing
A magnificent and enchanting exhibition-event delves into Mario's life, his artworks, his writings, and his dearest relationships
Riccardo Zingone 16/08/2025 0
I believe Mario had an absolute blast last night. He, who always maintained that the dead never truly die but observe us from the afterlife, from another dimension, I saw him sitting on the steps of his house, on a small street near the Church of Santa Caterina in Mistretta. He was watching, watching us, and watching himself.
His clever, deep, and gentle gaze, curious like the goblins he loved to paint, rested on the faces of those who, five years after his passing, had decided to accept the invitation from family and friends to attend a cool August evening dedicated not to his commemoration, but to his memory.
He had a blast, as I said. I noticed it when he was in stitches, listening to the words of his close friend, Tatà. Growing up with a person, sharing their battles, passions, bold and unconventional choices, their successes and failures, is the fertile ground where a sincere, deep, and timeless friendship germinates, grows, and matures. This is why Tatà, in talking about Mario, couldn't help but talk about himself. And vice versa. Mario, sitting on those steps, laughed and Tatà smiled, between one anecdote and another, as he spoke to us about Mario the boy, Mario the artist, Mario the philosopher, Mario the politician, Mario the "communist," Mario the writer, Mario the man.
At a certain point, however, Mario's amused expression changed, becoming more introspective. The scene was changing, and Mario was changing too. His son Alvaro took up his guitar, adjusted the microphone, and, along with Valentina, began to sing the first notes of "La canzone di Marinella," by that De André whom Mario, so long ago, had introduced to his own son.
Mario had sung De André over and over at home, during get-togethers, maybe even with his group, Gli Elfi, but now, hearing it sung by Alvaro, it moved him and, at the same time, pleased him. "Alvaro is really good," he thought to himself, as the magic of the music spread along the narrow street crowded with people. Then I saw him go down the stairs and play the last verse along with them:
"This is your song, Marinella Who flew to the sky on a star And like all the most beautiful things You lived only for a day, like the roses And like all the most beautiful things You lived only for a day, like the roses."
While Alvaro and Valentina continued their musical performance, Mario, Liria, and Ferruccio led us up the stairs into what is now a small museum. It holds paintings, sketches, writings, and various documents produced by Mario during his long artistic life, carefully preserved by his family in that treasure trove of material and immaterial culture that Tatà would like to turn into a Foundation. It is the studio-workshop where Mario unleashed his exceptional artistic sensibility, his ironic, sarcastic, irreverent, bold, and fascinating, yet also gentle, brush. The colors, the painted figures with their almost photographic appearance, the symbols and symbolisms, the gnomes, toads, open books, and faces have always struck me.
The Rimembranze exhibition will also be open today, August 16th, from 7:00 PM onwards. If you look closely, Mario will still be there watching, watching us, watching himself.
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Riccardo Zingone 20/09/2025
Nino Mallaci, the Capramal Project, and his Messina goat salami
The Story of Nino's Goat Salami
To tell the story of the goat salami produced by Antonino Mallaci Bocchio—or Nino, as he's known to everyone—we need to take a big step back and listen to his history, which is rooted in an old family business dedicated to agriculture and animal husbandry.
"I come from a family of farmers and ranchers," Nino says. "I've always been fascinated by this world, which is rich in values and feelings, but also requires huge sacrifices."
As a boy, Nino split his time between school and the family business. After earning his surveyor's diploma, he decided to leave his studies to dedicate himself fully to the work, which at the time was primarily raising cows. "Our grazing lands were located between Mistretta, Cerami, and Agira, which required a lot of organizational and financial energy," he explains. In the late nineties, in his twenties, he and his father decided to build a barn on their land in the Calogno district, in Cerami but adjacent to Mistretta. Since then, all of his work has been focused there.
Like many livestock farms, Nino's also had goats and pigs. "I remember as a child," Nino continues emotionally, "I would often watch the preparation of various cured meats, including goat salami, which was made by mixing goat meat, naturally lean, with the leftover scraps from processing pork. I never forgot those flavors, those smells, and those healthy traditions. For a long time, I set a goal for myself to keep them alive through my business and my retail shop."
La Dispensa del Massaro and a Found Dream
Fast forward to today, Nino opened a store in Santo Stefano di Camastra, where he started La Dispensa del Massaro. The goal was to promote and sell cured meats from the Nebrodi Black Pig, a product of local excellence, along with select beef. However, the thought of the goats continued to "graze" in his mind, along with the project of bringing their related culinary traditions to everyone's tables.
At one point, Nino had the opportunity to buy a number of certified Messina goats, an indigenous breed with roots between the Nebrodi and Peloritani mountains, prized for the quality of its milk and the goodness of its meat.
"With the purchase of this flock," Nino says, "I felt I was close to realizing my dream, but I was also aware that I had to acquire more knowledge to be able to produce a quality cured meat that honored both tradition and modern standards."
He decided to attend a specific course in Alba, Piedmont, an area with a long and established tradition in raising goats and producing cured meats. After various experiments, he succeeded in producing his own goat salami, finding the right balance of compactness, resistance to slicing, preservation, flavor, and aroma.
A Product that is a Synthesis of Tradition and Innovation
Nino's long and complex journey, supported by his family, culminated on September 18th with the official presentation of the Capramal project in Santo Stefano di Camastra. The event was attended by administrators, technicians, friends, and curious onlookers, all drawn by this tasty new product.
The gastronomic experience of tasting the goat salami was enriched by specialties produced by other local businesses: the Spina Santa company from Nicosia, which specializes in producing goat cheese, and the Casaleni company, which has long offered excellent gastronomic products. Thanks to these synergies, it was discovered how the Messina goat salami is particularly enhanced when paired, for example, with sweet provola cheese and fig jam.
A perfect synthesis of the values expressed by the Messina goat salami is captured in the words of Dr. Serena Nigrelli, the agronomist who followed Nino during the bureaucratic process: "Nino's salami is one that should be savored with your eyes closed, because that's how we can grasp unique sensations that take us back in time."
All that's left is to wish Nino and his dream-come-true sincere good luck. The territory needs this energy, vision, and enthusiasm so that our beautiful traditions can transform from memories into concrete realities.
Contact info@halaesanebrodi fro more information.
Halaesa Nebrodi 11/05/2025
Workshop on Inner Areas in Nicosia - Sicily
The city of Nicosia hosted the second Sicilian stop of the Grand Tour of Territories and Italian Identity (and eleventh nationally), after the one held in Mistretta on January 26, 2024, through a workshop dedicated to the Culture of Hospitality in Inner Areas.
The event, organized by Andrea Succi (Territori e Italianità), Salvo Burrafato (Nicosia di Sicilia), Samuel Granata and Valentina Bircher (Grandip Group), and Riccardo Zingone (GMT™ Halaesa Nebrodi), was sponsored by the Municipality of Nicosia, the Department of Tourism and the Department of Agriculture of the Region of Sicily, GAL ISC Madonie, ANCI and SIMTUR.
Partners of the Nicosia event included Royal Guest, Aura Mundi, Espereal Technologies, and Maggioli Cultura as media partner.
Following the institutional greetings from Nicosia’s Mayor Luigi Bonelli, and in line with the spirit of the initiative, the event quickly moved into its core discussions with contributions from Salvo Burrafato, Andrea Succi, Riccardo Zingone, Pina La Giusa, and Samuel Granata. The organizing team deliberately used the term workshop to give the meeting a clearly pragmatic and operational angle by presenting the first results of the GMT® Model applied in the nearby Halaesa Nebrodi area,addressing the needs expressed by administrators, operators, and citizens aware that, to build regenerative prospects for inner areas, dedicated models and skills capable of offering real solutions to devastating phenomena such as depopulation and loss of identity are essential.
Andrea Succi described the methodological framework applied to the regeneration of inner areas, starting from the need to adopt a Vision, at the heart of Territori e Italianità through the format of the "Five Steps".
Emerging themes included the participatory approach needed to generate structured internal communication among operators, citizens, and administrators, the conscious knowledge of one’s own identity elements (genius loci) and the transfer of skills, for a renewed work culture, an essential condition to address depopulation.
Based on these principles, good practices must be generated, fueled by mayors aware of their role, motivated and properly trained operators, and engaged and participatory citizens in a forward-looking process where the Destination Temporary Manager and the Territorial Tourism Coordinator™ play a crucial role—the former to effectively organize the tourist destination, the latter to ensure the long-term sustainability of the work initiated.
Salvo Burrafato, who skillfully coordinated the event, also illustrated to the audience the first experiential tourism route proposed by Nicosia di Sicilia, with stays ranging from three to seven nights, offering a deeply immersive experience in the world of rural life, food and wine traditions, and culture. This tourist package was also included among the products in the Halaesa Nebrodi catalog titled The Grain Route , expanding and enriching it with further significant experiences.
Through the words of Riccardo Zingone, the GMT™ Halaesa Nebrodi was presented to the community as a concrete example of territorial tourism work and organization.
The project, launched in 2024, began with a meticulous operator scouting activity and marked several key steps such as the launch of the website www.halaesanebrodi.it, followed by the creation of a first Tourism Product Catalog, thus setting the conditions to fully enter the national and international tourism market, effectively positioning this area as an authentic tourist destination.
The very notion of a “model” implies its replicability, and it is hoped that the GMT™ Halaesa Nebrodi model—first of its kind in Sicily—can be adopted by other inner areas and communities that need practical tools to counteract the social and economic decline they have been facing for decades.
Also very meaningful was the contribution by Mario Cicero, mayor of Castelbuono and President of GAL ISC Madonie, who shared with the audience his twenty-year experience as administrator of the Madonie village, and welcomed the opportunity presented by Territori e Italianità to develop tourism projects in synergy with GAL ISC Madonie. Equally valuable was the testimony of Samuel Granata, a young Nicosian who chose to remain in his homeland, bravely investing his energy in the tourism sector, along with that of Pina La Giusa, entrepreneur and President of the Petra D’Asgotto Ecomuseum, who focused her speech on the projects carried out by the Ecomuseum, including the archaeological excavation project on Mount Altesina, which led to new and interesting discoveries in March through a second agreement with the University of Paris and the involved local authorities.
The lively and educational debate was joined by Giacomo Consentino, owner of the 24 Baroni craft brewery, Maria Scavuzzo from the Albereto dairy, Francesco Dipasquale of Espereal Technologies, Antonino Noto, President of the Pro Loco of Motta d’Affermo, Fabio Bruno, President of the Movement for the Defense of Territories, Giuseppe Lo Furno of the Italian Farmers Federation, Anna Maria Gemellaro, deputy mayor of Nicosia, and Giacomo Giaimi, geologist and hiking guide. In particular, Anna Maria Gemellaro, deputy mayor of Nicosia, proposed the inclusion of the GMT Model and the innovative figure of the Territorial Tourism Coordinator® in the call for experiential tourism projects that the Municipality intends to apply for.
The event concluded with a pleasant and mindful wine tasting accompanied by local products, curated by ONAV.
Riccardo Zingone 22/11/2024
Mistretta was selected as a finalist to become the Italian Capital of the Book 2025-Sicily
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Today Mistretta experienced a truly emotional afternoon as the long-awaited official news arrived: it has been selected as one of the six finalist cities vying to become Italian Book Capital 2025. This achievement is truly exceptional, the result of a candidacy submitted on July 8th, following an excellent team effort involving intellectuals, administrators, associations, journalists, residents and non-resident Mistrettesi, as well as many citizens.
On the 29th of this month, the six selected cities (out of twenty competing cities) will be called upon to present their project to the jury via video conference. The chosen project will then immediately go to the table of the Minister of Culture, Giuli, for final ratification. The full text of the dossier can be downloaded here: