It's no secret that Palermo is well known for its street food, much of which comprises the fifth quarter – or the offal and remains from butchered animals. Once reserved for the poor, these preparations have withstood the test of time and are among some of the most sought-after eats in the Sicilian capital, alongside pane e panelle (a chickpea fritter sandwich), sfincioni (what most know as Sicilian-style pizza), and arancini (fried rice balls).
Here are five of Palermo's fifth-quarter street foods for adventurous eaters should add to their food bucket lists.
Palermo: Glossary of the Fifth Quarter Street Food
U mussu
Even vendors who have been making this generations-old preparation for ages, like Gioacchino Al Capo, don't know why it's called u mussu. The name refers to the cow's muzzle as the preparation actually contains other parts of the animal. U mussu is a collective name, encompassing feet, heel, knees, jaw, udders, its nether regions, and more. They're boiled and served cold, cut into small pieces, and flavored with salt and lemon.
Pane ca' meuse
The same goes for the better-known spleen (milza) sandwich, which also contains calf lungs and other parts. They're pre-cooked and sautéed in lard and then placed in a vastedda, soft sesame-seed topped roll. Thinly sliced caciocavallo or ricotta can be added, or, in local terms, maritatu (which means married or accompanied by something else). It's served with lemon, salt, and pepper. The sandwich is always served hot in bread that's wrapped in paper or paper towels. Most of its vendors, known as meusari, roam the streets, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a fixed spot.
Frittula
The frittula comprises a diverse series of parts leftover from the slaughter – bones and small cartilages of cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. They're collected in butcher shops, heated in an iron container, and then fried in lard. What remains is then boiled several times to soften the results of the long frying. While still hot, the frittularu is placed in a special wicker basket, the panaru, which is always covered with mappini (large red-and-white-checked kitchen towels), that conceal the frittularu from customers while keeping them warm.
To keep it hot inside the basket, the frittula is extracted in small handfuls and then seasoned with salt, pepper, and lemon, or herbs like bay leaves. It varies from time to time and from frittularo to frittularo depending on availability and individual recipes.
A Quarumi
This street food's name derives from the pot it’s cooked in, a quarara, which, in local dialect, means "warm dish" (caldume in standard Italian). It contains boiled innards that are always kept very hot: intestines, tripe, nether regions, and other fatty parts around the stomach. It's always cooked in a carrot, celery, tomato, and onion broth that locals actually use for home cooking. They buy it directly from the quarumaru, who ladles it into a container for them.
I stigghiuòla
Included on the list of traditional Italian food products – Prodotto Agroalimentare Tradizionale or PAT – stigghiuòla comprises veal, young goat, chicken, or lamb stomach. The stigghiularu usually take the parts from slaughterhouses in exchange for participating in the slaughter. They're washed then skewered on long sticks, roasted on a grill, and seasoned with salt and lemon or with parsley and onion.
Photography: Stefano Triulzi