Sicilian street food 

The latest Forbes ranking, published in 2017, placed the Sicilian capital in fifth position for variety, quality and genuineness of street food, the only Italian to have entered the ranking. Palermo and street food have a double thread, which has its roots in ancient times, when the art of getting by was a necessity and good food was created from the poorest raw materials. Most of Palermo's street food has, in fact, nothing sophisticated. No elaborate recipes, certainly a non-gourmet style in its original form, preferring instead leftover meat, such as the fifth quarter, and low-cost raw materials. Not even the advent of fast food has convinced the people of Palermo to abandon the delicacies that are bought on the street corner, from street vendors, immediately feeling at home when they hear people speaking in dialect and accompany a good bread ca meusa with a cold beer.

Among the Sicilian culinary specialties, in most cases we refer to humble foods, prepared with a few ingredients that are highly available on the island, but with a unique taste. Thus, Trinacria also rediscovers itself as the homeland of street food, the so-called street food, known to the inhabitants of the island long before this Anglo-Saxon expression was coined. Among the excellences that fully fall into this category we find, without a shadow of a doubt, the panelle, a symbol of Palermo's humble cuisine. Although it would be easier to taste them than to describe them, we can define panelle as "pancakes" prepared with chickpea flour. They have a rectangular (or in some cases round) shape and a thickness that never goes beyond 2-3mm.

Their origin is older than you might imagine. In fact, the first to process the so-called ciciri (chickpeas) were even the ancient Greeks. These, more than two thousand years ago, gave life to a pastry that is commonly identified as the first example of "proto panella". Later, it was the Romans who took up the culinary tradition of the Hellenes, bringing the dough to the ovens for the first time to be cooked. But we will have to wait until the late Middle Ages to have the first version of "panella fritta". At that time, in fact, this food became one of the symbols of the Angevin court: served in the form of savory puff pastry, it used to open banquets and delight guests, whetting their hunger.

Ingredients for the Panelle (Chickpea Fritters)

Chickpea flour 500 gr

Fine salt 10 gr

Water 1.5 lt

Black pepper to taste

Chopped parsley 10 gr

Preparation

Turn off the heat, put the cold water with the sifted chickpea flour in a large pot. Stir vigorously with a whisk and avoid the formation of lumps, then turn on the heat over medium heat and add salt and pepper, stirring constantly. At the end of cooking, the mixture will be firm and compact and can be completed by adding the parsley. Next, spread the mixture on a flat surface, such as the bottom of dishes for example, and let it dry for about 30 minutes. Finally, they will be ready to be fried for a few minutes in seed oil. To date, panelle represent one of the most popular foods of Palermo cuisine.