Cooking on the street is an art!
Having a work place to prepare traditional delicious plates is certainly an advantage.
But cooking in the streets of Palermo and being able to involve all five senses is really an art!
You cannot learn it by studying, it is an innate dowry that only a few people have…
Taste some of the best street foods in and around Palermo!
Arancina
Can I order an Arancino, please? Do not try to order a Arancino in Palermo, you can receive bad surprises!
Golden, round, perfumed and fried, Arancina in Palermo is a female.
You can’t go wrong!
Need a few ingredients to face the day with the right mood.
Typically there are two types: the first one with butter (ham and cheese) and the second one with meat. You can enjoy them at any time of the day.
On December 13, people in Palermo eat exclusively arancina, rise, legumes and cuccìa (boiled wheat seasoned with oil or with sheep’s ricotta, chocolate and zuccata).
This is why if you come in Palermo on this date you will not find bakeries open but you’ll only hear the scent and sound of the Arancina frying in boiling oil.
Pani Ca a Meusa
For non-insiders, bread with spleen.
A round and soft sandwich covered with sesame seeds, called “focaccia”, flavored with spleen and fleshy lungs.
The focaccia is “schietta” (single) or “maritata” (married). In the current tradition, it is meant to be married when, in addition to the offal, the ricotta and the cheese are added, but dating back to the etymological origins, the one served only with ricotta was defined as whimsical for its semblance of white candor.
Tips: To taste u pani ca a meusa you should definitely accompany it from a nice iced beer and on your feet to savor it at best.
Stigghiola
This is a lamb or kid’s gut, carefully washed with salt and patiently threaded into a long skewer, sometimes seasoned with onion and parsley. It is cooked directly on the bracelets from the “stigghiolaro”, a recognizable peddler for the flame-burning smoke column.
Sfincione
Typical local pizza with a smoother and spongy consistency than the dough of normal pizza. It is seasoned with a sauce full of onions, anchovies and plenty of caciocavallo.
The historic and true version is sold by so-called “sfincionari cu lapino” (peddler with a three wheeled motorcycle called ape). They shout the most famous slogans:
• Chi beddu ciavuru, ora u sfurnavu, uora (what a good scent, now I have baked it, now)
• Chistu è sfinciuni ra biedda veru, chi ciavuru (this is the really good spin, wich smell),
• Scarsu r’oghhiu and chinu ri privulazzo (lack of oil and full of dust).
Absolutely to taste!
Panelle e crocchè
Panelle are a must of the poor kitchen.
They are obtained from chickpea flour, dissolved in water, seasoned with salt and parsley and cooked to become a puree. The dough is then spread on special forms, once cooled it is cut into slices and then fried in hot oil. Flavored with salt, pepper and lemon juice is the top.
Crocchè or cazzilli are small of mashed potatoes, simple or with bechamel, his right company is along panelle. Nowadays the classic sandwich stuffed with panelle and crocchè is one of the most native specialities of street food in Palermo and its best companions is an iced beer.
Download the free app to know where you can taste the best delicacies of Palermo Street Food!