Maggie's Farm

I haven't been to Sardinia yet (the land of little fish), but I have been to Sicily twice. In Sicily, it is easy to avoid pasta because they are more into rice and couscous for carbs. I still think Italian food would be better if Columbus' followers had not brought tomatoes to Europe.

Sicilian food traditions (a crazy mix of Arab, Greek, French, Spanish, etc) have lots of lemons, blood oranges, raisins, capers, pistachios, mint, eggplant, couscous, fennel, bottarga, and of course fresh seafood. Also, piglet. Also, especially, grilled octopus.

Re the cingihale stew - no, Romans never made that. They did not have potatoes until after Columbus. 

And the chef who puts porcini with vongole? What? No. Procini are one of my favorite flavors, but with seafood? 

Re the Mafia in Sicily - forget about it. They are a shadow government and they prevent crime in their own ways. It is a non-issue unless you have a business there.