The gastronomic tradition in Sicily can be seen as an expression of the mix of peoples and cultures that have lived on the island. This is most evident in Sicily’s capital Palermo, where street food has been part of life here for centuries.  All over Palermo, amongst the beautiful architecture and around the monuments you can always find something good and traditional to eat.  Palermo is a mosaic of culinary habits, brought here by the Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Normans and up to the Bourbons. The street food tradition in Palermo will win you over with its aromas, colours and flavours. 

There are fantastic historic markets around the city such as Vucciria, Ballarò and Borgo Vecchio, where you can find street food stalls preparing good food from very early in the morning. Walking through the alleys of the city you'll hear the voice of Purparu, the octopus seller shouting and the cooks who fry their frittularas and immediately put them up for sale. Frittularas are bits of animal fat fried in lard and served on paper or in a sandwich, a humble snack created by the poor in Palermo.  There is also caldume (in Italian) or quarumi (in Sicilian dialect) which is a Sicilian dish containing veal tripe stewed with vegetables, tomato and onion. It is served hot, with salt, pepper, oil, and lemon.

The street food menu continues with panelle, which are fried rectangles of chickpea flour and are similar to Middle Eastern falafel.  Do not forget about Sfinciuni, a type of deep pan rustic style pizza, topped with plenty of onions, tomatoes, anchovies, caciocavallo, cooked vegetables and mixed cold cuts. The shape and ingredients vary from area to area, but they all have one thing in common: they are exquisite…!

Walking around the squares and markets the street food continues, one not for the faint hearted is bread with Meusa, which is a sandwich containing spleen and ricotta! Finally, you can’t leave Sicily without eating arancini, truly one of the most famous Sicilian street food dishes. These fried rice balls contain everything from meat, peas, to butter and cheese! In ancient times the street vendors travelled around the city selling this delicacy on bikes. 

The Palermo street cuisine has ancient roots and history and today, the street food tradition has overcome hygiene regulations, faced the advent of fast food, and has resisted healthy food fashions and still knows no limits!

Ferries to Sicily

Visiting the NetFerry online booking centre to plan your trip to Sicily and Palermo. Sicily is connected with the Italian mainland ports of Civitavecchia, Livorno, Naples, Salerno and Genoa. The destination ports in Sicily are Palermo, Messina, Termini Imerese, Trapani and Catania. Sicily also has connections to and from Sardinia and Malta.

To get to Palermo from Genoa with Grandi Navi Veloci it takes about 21 hours and the journeys are daily. From Livorno, the Grimaldi Lines ferries leave several times a week and the journey takes about 18 hours. There are ferries once a week from Civitavecchia on Grandi Navi Veloci ferries and the journey takes about 14 hours. Palermo can also be reached from Salerno onboard Grimaldi Lines ferries, twice a week taking about 10.5 hours. Tirrenia and Grandi Navi Veloci ferries depart from Naples each day and the journey takes about 10.5 hours. Tirrenia ferries leave from Cagliari twice a week to Palermo, taking about 11 hours.

Netferry provides you with a sea of ferries!