Italy is famous for its great food especially the traditional Italian food of Southern Italy but don’t overlook the food in Sicily. Sicily boasts a varied cultural heritage thanks to those who colonized it throughout centuries. The cuisine especially reflects this with Arabic, Norman and Byzantine influences readily found in local dishes. The best way to experience it firsthand is by immersing yourself in Sicilian street food and sampling the delicious and sometimes strange authentic food.
Here are some typical foods you can expect to find along the streets of Sicilian cities:
1. Pani ca’ meusa – Literally “bread with spleen”. In this ancient recipe the spleen is boiled along with some pieces of lung. Once cooled down spleen and lung are cut in very thin slices and then browned off in a pan with some lard. The spleen is then seasoned with lemon and served with sesame bread.
2. Sfincioni – this a sort of thick pizza seasoned with a sauce made of tomatoes, onions, anchovies, oregano, and little cubes of caciocavallo, a typical Sicilian cheese.
3. Cazzilli – It may make you laugh but this word in Italian means “little dicks”. Cazzilli are actually made from mashed potato and egg, covered in bread crumbs and fried.
4. Pane e panelle – Panelle are Sicilian fritters made with chick peas flour. They are usually served with typical Sicilian bread or in a paper wrap.
5. Arancine – This is a very known street food also loved in other Italian regions. It is made of rice, stuffed with peas, tomato sauce, béchamel, ham and other delicious staff. They are rolled in bread crumbs and then fried.
6. Quarume – Boiled entrails served with their broth and vegetables such as carrots, onions and celery. It can also be served with bread as the “pani ca’ meusa”.
7. Mussu – i.e. veal gristles from paws and muzzles. These parts are cooked in boiled and salted water for one or two hours. They are dried and rinsed with water, then served with olive oil and lemon.
8. Frittola – This is a dish for a very strong stomach. It is cooked in street markets in a big cauldron but the exact contents are a mystery. The peddler will plunge his hand in the cauldron to come out with a heaping servings of what is probably/hopefully butchers leftovers.
9. Stigghiole – Lamb bowels seasoned with parsley and put on a skewer.
10. Purpo and cicireddu – Little fried fishes served in the streets in a paper wrap. Although they are very cheap, they are very tasty and nutritious.
Keen to experience the local Sicilian street food on this list? Make your way to the island via one of the many ferries to Sicily to immerse yourself in the authentic and unique cuisine.
