Palermo

To round off his ten-part series, Rick Stein visits the fascinating city of Palermo in northern Sicily. Like a vibrant carpet, the city is patterned with echoes of Arab, north African, French, Spanish and Italian influences making its cuisine unique and irresistible. Pine nuts, raisins, almonds and golden breadcrumbs are combined with flavours of local sun-ripened tomatoes, lemons and the finest olive oil to create unforgettable dishes that just have to be replicated at back home. Palermo is a grand city with rough edges synonymous with Garibaldi and the setting for one of Rick's favourite novels of all time - The Leopard. He arrives just in time to see locals celebrating a festival in honour of Palermo's patron saint, Rosalia, and even gets a cookery lesson from a real life dutchess. At home, he cooks marsala chicken.