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Palermo, a flavor adventure
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Palermo is a city blessed with thousands of gastronomic delights. All you have to do is stroll its streets to realize this. At each corner your appetite is freshly whetted by a mouthwatering new aroma.
And the temptation is hard to resist because it's constant; there's always something delicious to taste, no matter what time of day or night. |
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Let's begin by a visit to the Antica Focacceria San Francesco, a landmark eatery specializing in focaccia bread. This elegant Art Nouveau focaccia shop, founded in the first half of the 1800's, is located right across from one of the most beautiful churches in all of Palermo, San Francesco.
The list of focaccia breads that have been coming out of this establishment's oven for over 170 years reads like exotic poetry. Topping the list of ingredients, many of which are typical of humble, working-class food, one finds entrails. It's no coincidence that the "maritata" focaccia, one of the pride-and-joys of this Palermo eating place, is composed of bread, spleen, lungs, lard, fresh ricotta and bits of caciocavallo cheese.
But the menu also includes focaccia with potatoes and mint, fritters made from flour and chick peas, but also featuring tuna, tomatoes, sweet peppers, capers and all the other wonderful food products generated by Sicily's rich soils. The only problem is making up your mind, because the aroma that greets you when you enter is truly intoxicating. |
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THE ART OF MAKING ICE-CREAM |
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As an alternative, especially if it's very hot outside, you may want to head toward the "marina" and explore another important category of local gastronomic delights: ice-cream. Palermo's handsome seafront happens to be the best place to sample its fine selection of sherbet, granita and ice-cream specialties, known for their old-fashioned flavor and still prepared using the same authentic ingredients that were used in the old days, whipped together with rare expertise and patient devotion.
You will find some delightfully offbeat flavors, like cinnamon and carob. For people who like to stick with the traditional flavors, however, the thrill of tasting genuine Sicilian pistachio ice-cream constitutes an unforgettable experience. And it's impossible to resist the temptation of the lemon or almond-milk granitas served perfectly chilled; they are best when sipped at a little table overlooking the sea. |
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| If you decide to explore the selection of Sicilian sweets, you will enter a realm made up of elaborate cassata cakes, spongata (an ice-cream specialty), pignolatas (fried honey-cakes) and other marvelous treats often made from almond paste. They are generally very rich, gaily colored and brimming with a symphony of flavors. Be sure you don't forget to try a citrus mousse, one of the specialties of the Costa pastry shop in Via D'Annunzio. This wonderfully creamy, aromatic mousse brings out all the well-known attributes of the island's citrus fruits. |
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| For those of you, on the other hand, who love savory dishes, we recommend stopping by a fried-food shop and trying fried arancini (rice balls) and calzoni (savory rolls), and don't forget to ask for a healthy helping of baked pasta, a dish that includes most of the ingredients typical of the local cuisine, all brought together with tomatoes and cheese. To the Sicilians Arancini represent a veritable art form, witness the fact that writer, Andrea Camilleri, dedicated one of his most famous novels to this savory treat. |
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Seafood dishes are the real specialty of Palermitan and Sicilian cuisine in general - genuine delicacies that should be enjoyed with a bottle of Bianco d'Alcamo. There are a great many restaurants in Palermo where you can enjoy excellent seafood dishes. One place that stands out for the sheer variety of dishes it offers is the Charleston, located in the Mondello district. Here you can try specialties like swordfish, either marinated or rolled into roulades and grilled over charcoal, or dentex (a kind of sea bream) prepared in a very simple fashion. The pleasure of the excellent food is enhanced by the charm of the restaurant's setting; the restaurant is located in the old Kursal Bathing Establishment, one of the most famous in the area.
Generally speaking, the seafood dishes in Sicily are simple, making the most of their fresh, natural ingredients. This is certainly true with swordfish and blue-fish which can be found in a great many first courses, in some cases flavored with a little mint. |
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 Ristorante Charleston
Viale Regina Elena - 90154
Mondello (Palermo)
Tel. 091.455851
Closed: Wednesday (only during the winter)
Seating capacity: 500
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