The origin of sicilian street food
Frederick II of Svevia once said, “I don’t envy God’s Paradise for I am satisfied with living in Sicily,” can you blame him!
Sicily has everything: history, landscapes, culture and excellent food. To find all the delicacies, included the sicilian street food, this region offers, you simply should walk around its beautiful and characteristic streets.
Let ‘s start with… Arancino or arancina? That’s the question! It is considered the sicilian street food icon par excellence. The arancino or arancina is a delicious, crispy, deep fried ball of rice. The classic version is with meat sauce, peas and mozzarella cheese filling or with ham and mozzarella cheese. Nowadays there are as many tasty and worthy variants of the recipe such as the one with pistachio. Arancini can be found throughout the entire Isle of Sicily, yet be careful of how you pronounce it because the war on the name is still fiery and bloody between Palermo and Catania.
If Palermo is your destination, tasting “panelle” is a must. They are chickpea flour pancakes inside two slices of bread with sesame seeds and – for the greedy ones – they can also be served with potato croquettes. For those who like to be adventurous, the ‘câ meusa’ sandwich is the right choice. Calf spleen, served in bread with grated cheese and a bit of lemon juice. Believe us… it tastes better than it sounds.
Catania is the perfect destination for meat lovers. It is full of butcheries and street vendors who specialize in the “Arrusti e mancia”. You will smell the classic aromas of grilled meat and try the typical horse steak. For the strongest, it is highly recommended the “Bistecca e sangeli”: giblets and sanguinaccio, a sausage made with pork entrails and blood.
Discover all the delicacies of sicilian street food with our Catania Street food walking tour!
If you are going to visit Messina, you have to try a very typical sicilian street food, the “fried pitoni”: calzone stuffed with escarole, cheese and anchovies. If you want to get the perfect combo try it with a Messina beer!You will find granita in every Sicilian city, but you can only try the mezza with cream in Messina: the coffee granita with cream to eat with the typical “brioche with tuppo”: a brioche with a round shape and a protuberance above called “tuppo”.
Moving from east to west, you’ll find Trapani and Erice. There you can taste the typical Sicilian couscous and sardines cooked with the Trapani recipe. While you are in Erice, eating the genovesi is a must: they are delicacies made with short pastry stuffed with custard and sprinkled with icing sugar.
And now Insideaters let’s talk about the king of Sicilian cuisine: the Sicilian cannolo. You can find it everywhere, but it seems that the origins of cannolo are in Caltanissetta. Story goes that the recipe was invented by the women who used to live in the Harem of the master of Qalc’at al-Nissa (the ancient name of Caltanissetta). By mixing ricotta cheese with sugar and filling the fried waffles with this cream, they created one of the most iconic desserts of Italian pastry.
We can’t say for sure that after trying all these delicacies you will keep your target weight, but we can guarantee Sicilian street food is one of the most delicious ones in the world!
Dear Insideaters, keep reading our blog and find out all the secrets, recipes and places where you can try the enogastronomic italian delicacies. Be part of our traditional and tasty journey!
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