The Swordfish Agghiotta, in dialect **\u201c\u2019u piscispata \u2018agghiotta\u201d**, is a historic dish of the culinary tradition\nof the town of Scilla and of Messina, for whose recipe Scilla obtained official inclusion in the List of Traditional\nItalian Food Products (PAT) compiled by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry.
\nScilla and Messina have been closely linked for centuries through swordfish fishing and, inevitably, through\ngastronomy as well.
\nAgghiotta represents one of the most authentic expressions of this connection: a simple yet intense recipe, infused\nwith the scent of the sea. Tradition holds that, to obtain the most delicate and authentic version of the\ndish, it is preferable to use cuts of fish locally known as \u201cscuzzetta e cutigghiuni,\u201d namely the part corresponding\nto the nape and the section near the tail, which are considered the most suitable because they are fattier\nand therefore more flavorful. Naturally, the recipe also includes other typical products of this land: cherry\ntomatoes, preferably small and still on the vine, capers, and green or black olives. Along the Messina coast, the\nrecipe is often enriched with raisins and pine nuts, which make the seasoning sweeter and more delicate. The\nfirst step in the preparation is making the sauce that will season the dish. To prepare it properly, the cherry tomatoes\nmust first be cooked: cut in half and placed in a pan with salt and two generous drizzles of extra virgin\nolive oil, they should be left to soften over low heat, stirred occasionally with a spoon so that they release their\njuices and form the sauce that will give the swordfish additional flavor. Once cooked, the sauce is set aside\nand, in the same pan, two more drizzles of oil and finely chopped onions are added and left to soften. At that\npoint, the desalinated capers and pitted olives are added so that they can release part of their flavor, and only\nafter 4\u20135 minutes is the previously prepared tomato sauce added. The swordfish is then placed in a separate\npan, seasoned with salt and extra virgin olive oil\u2014carefully, so that the final result does not become too salty\ngiven the presence of capers\u2014and cooked for about 15 minutes over low heat, occasionally basting it with the\npreviously prepared sauce. The combination of flavors from both land and sea that emerges makes this dish a\ntrue emblem of Scilla\u2019s cuisine, a recipe capable of evoking the historical, geographical, and cultural context\nfrom which it originates.
\nIt is no coincidence that the most famous gastronome of antiquity, Archestratus of Gela, who lived in the 4th\ncentury B.C. and is considered the first food critic in history, mentions both this fish and this place. In his hexameter\npoem Hedypatheia (\u201cThe Life of Luxury\u201d), composed around 330 B.C. and preserved in 56 fragments\narranged by Athenaeus, Archestratus celebrates the gastronomic excellences encountered during his travels\nthroughout the Mediterranean, indicating precisely the finest foods and the places where they could be found:\nhis work is therefore considered the first gastronomic guide in history. In one passage of the poem, Archestratus\nmentions swordfish in relation to Scilla and Cape Peloro. He specifically recommends obtaining a slice of\nswordfish in the Strait, from Scilla toward the far reaches of Cape Peloro (today the northern entrance to the\nStrait of Messina), indicating it as an area renowned for the quality of its catch.<\/p>\n
\u201cArriving in Byzantium, take a piece
\nOf swordfish, and let it be from that flesh
\nWhich clothes the joint of the tail.
\nThis fish, so flavorful, is also caught
\nIn the Strait, from Scilla toward the end of Pelorus.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
The mention of Scilla is not accidental. For millennia, Scilla has been a renowned center for swordfish hunting,\na practice still carried out today using traditional methods rooted in history and myth. Archestratus thus unites\nmythological geography and gastronomic knowledge, indicating with precision the exact place where the\nfinest raw material can be found.<\/p>\n<\/div>
Giuseppe Ribuffo<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/i>Next page: 99. Seneca, *Hercules Furens*, between 41 and 62 AD.<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1413","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nArchestrato da Gela - Discover Scilla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/archestrato-da-gela-hedypatheia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Archestrato da Gela - Discover Scilla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/archestrato-da-gela-hedypatheia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Discover Scilla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-19T08:43:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/archestrato-da-gela-hedypatheia\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/archestrato-da-gela-hedypatheia\\\/\",\"name\":\"Archestrato da Gela - 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