WHAT TO EAT IN SICILY? TYPICAL DISHES OF SICILIAN GASTRONOMY

It is well known that Sicilian cuisine It is one of the most varied and rich in all of Italy, and it is not that you eat badly in the rest of the country! It is probably due to its mixture of cultural influences (throughout the centuries, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Spaniards ...), the proximity of the sea or its climate conducive to cultivation. All this makes cooking traditionally in Sicily has been vitally important, and today it is still enjoyed for what it is: a real pleasure. In this post we will tell you what to eat in Sicily and we will recommend you 13 essential typical dishes.

The name is due to its appearance of a small orange (arancia), although there are some arancinas that small have very little. I swear, we got to eat one that was bigger than a fist. But what is it exactly? It is a stuffed rice ball of varied ingredients (ragú, mozzarella and ham, pistachios, spinach and cheese ...), breaded and fried. Yes, healthy is not, but delicious for a while!

It's one of the street food more popular and it won't take long to find it in bakeries or bars (€ 1.5-3). We have been told that its origin is Arabic and it is due to a chef who invented them to make sure his sultan could eat rice, his favorite dish, when he left home.

Rober left Sicily in love with the caponata. I didn't get jealous because I'm not going to compare myself to an eggplant stew either, but happy, happy, I wasn't! The caponata is a kind of stew which is prepared with onion, olives, capers and of course eggplants. It has a bittersweet touch quite interesting and is one of the most famous antipasti of Sicilian cuisine.

Is the Sicilian's most famous pasta, and in this case also its great protagonist is the eggplant, which is accompanied by fresh tomato and salted ricotta. It is a super simple dish but very, very rich. It is usually found in the area of ​​Catania, although it is in practically every corner of the island.

Trapanesa pasta is a tasty and simple proposal. It is prepared with a typical Sicilian pesto, which has little to do with the most famous Genoese. To start it is not green, it's red, due to one of its main ingredients: tomato. To this is added a handful of basil, a pinch of garlic and crushed almonds. It ends by adding a good stream of extra virgin olive oil.

Phew, I can't leave the pistachio pesto pasta out of this list, although I'm actually cheating a little: it's not one of Sicilian's best-known typical dishes. But believe me ... it's the best there is (if you like pistachio, of course). After a recommendation we received via stories (I have forgotten the girl's name, I am the worst, but if you read “THANK YOU”), we went to eat at the restaurant A Putia, in Syracuse. Here we tried the cyclope pasta, which carried pistachios, cream, prawns and olive oil and W-O-W, was the best dish of the trip. And one of the best pasta of my life. If you see pasta with pistachio pesto on the menu, don't hesitate to ask for it!

Before traveling to Sicily we did not know that one of the richest dishes of its cuisine was cous cous. Of clear Arab origin, it is typical of the Trapani area (it is located from San Vito lo Capo to Marsala) and consists essentially of a cous cous which is accompanied by fish (we tried with fish fry) and a broth quite strong that can be added (or not, according to tastes).

With this dish we do not get well: I liked it a lot, Rober nothing ... he knew everything to fritanga. Tss, as if that were bad. It is a sandwich filled with panelle (some kind of square croquettes made of chickpea flour, parsley and spices) and crocché (some croquettes of potatoes). It is ideal to eat in the street, in a small square or in a bank of a viewpoint. You already know that street food in Sicily is something very common!

It is one of the best examples of "Poor cuisine" of Sicily, which comes from the tradition of "getting along with what is at hand". It is a toasted homemade bread, accompanied by fresh tomato, anchovies, cheese, olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano.

The truth is that we have not tried it, but if you are not of a weak stomach, you have to do it since it is the most typical street food (and they assure, delicious) of Palermo. There is only one problem: it is a sandwich filled with veal spleen... too much for our tastes XD

We didn't know how we were going to react after trying this dish, but we were positively surprised, we had never eaten anything similar. Are some swordfish rolls stuffed with bread crumbs, garlic, parsley and lemon, previously cooked on the grill. It has a curious taste and is usually another typical antipasto.

He is the king of the Sicilian pastry, which has managed to cross borders and be present in many countries. Of course, as in Sicily anywhere. Here, in the vast majority of places, the cannoli are prepared at the moment: the fried puff pastry, with its typical cylindrical shape and is filled with a ricotta cream(there are also pistachio and chocolate). Be wary of the places where they are already prepared. Average price: 2-3 €.

We have been told that in Sicily there are two types of people: those who eat granita alle mandorle (almonds) in summer and those who eat lemon granita. That means one thing: there is no good summer awakening without a granita (granita) and its corresponding brioche. These slushies are a work of art, 100% artisans and with an intense flavor that hooks. The most common tastes are pistachio, almond, gelsi, lemon and coffee. Granite prices range from € 2 to € 3 on average. Brioche (a sweet bollito) does not usually cost more than € 1. By the way: always ask for it with cream.

And we finish with another typical Sicilian dessert: the cassata. Is a cake It has so many elements that it looks like a baroque church. Its ingredients are: ricotta, sponge cake, marzipan, candied fruit and icing sugar. It is a typical dessert of Holy Week peeeero, luckily, is its miniature version (cassatina) throughout the year.

Hopefully this post, apart from hunger, has helped you and that Know well what to eat in Sicily. Do you know more typical Sicilian dishes? Tell us in a comment!

* Photocredit: Shutterstock

Video: SICILY FOOD TOUR. Street food in Italy. Palermo street food and traditional SICILIAN food (April 2024).